The influence of social group, past experience, and attitude on participation and nonparticipation in sports and physical activities

The present study represented an attempt to determine the relative effect of attitudes toward participation, social group influence and past experience on the present level of participation of college age persons in sports and/or physical activity.

A four page questionnaire was given to three hundred students in the registration line at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the fall of 1983. Of the questionnaires distributed, 277 were used in the statistical analysis. Sections of the questionnaire were grouped under the topics of level of participation, past experiences in sports and/or physical activities, influence of the social group, personal participation and attitudes toward participation. A Likert scale was used to assess the strength of subjects' responses to each category of items with the total score for each category being the primary independent measure. Pearson's r was used to determine the relationship between level of participation and past experience, social group influence and attitudes. Analysis of variance was used to determine if the level of participation was influenced by past experience, social group influence and attitudes. Multiple regression was used to explain the percentage of variance in participation level attributable to past experience, social group influence and attitudes. Path analysis was used to determine possible causal determinants among the sets of measured variables. The results indicated that nearly all of the respondents had positive attitudes toward participation and that increases in the level of participation were associated with an increased positive attitude toward participation, an increased social group influence, and an increased amount of past participation experience. Path analysis procedures further suggested that attitudes influence participation behavior through an effect on a person's intention to participate. Furthermore, the social group appeared to have a greater influence on persons who participate than on those who do not. Finally, the level of past experience appeared to be one of the major determinants of the level of a person's participation in sports and/or physical activities.