AN INVESTIGATION OF THE SOCIALIZATION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN INTO SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the socialization process of children into sport and physical activity. Specifically, the focus was on: (1) the sport and physical activity patterns of children in grades four through six; (2) their attitudes toward physical education; (3) the significant others influencing their participation; and (4) the socializing situation and geographical location relative to their sport and physical activity involvement.;A fixed alternative questionnaire was administered to seven hundred thirty-two children in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades attending public elementary and middle schools in urban, suburban and rural geographical areas of the State of Maryland, during the Fall, 1980. The application of factor analysis and multiple regression analysis techniques resulted in the following findings; (1) Sport and Physical Activity involvement is a two factor variable, consisting of a team sport factor and a recreation physical activity factor. (2) The personal attributes of sex, grade and attitude have a differentially significant influence on sport and physical activity involvement, sex being the most significant predictor of the dependent variable; attitude contributing significantly in the team sport factor, and grade a significant contributor to the recreation physical activity factor. (3) Of the significant others examined the family and peer group were the most significant influences on sport and physical activity involvement with boyfriends and fathers being the same sex influence for the team sport factor; girlfriends, mother and sister were found to be the most influential significant others for the recreation physical activity factor; physical education teachers were not significant for either factor of the dependent variable. (4) The geographical location of the city environment was found to be the significant predictor of both factors of sport and physical activity involvement. All three activity environments (school, recreation, and neighborhood) were significant predictors of the team sport factor while neighborhood was the significant predictor for the recreation physical activity factor of sport and physical activity involvement.;A social learning paradigm that had been previously applied to adults, athletes and children served as the theoretical basis for this investigation. The use of this model of the socialization process applicable to the sport and physical activity involvement of children allowed for an exploratory examination of sets of variables and a comparison of their relationship to one another. The hypotheses developed were in reference to the influence of the following concepts depicted by the social learning model: personal attributes, significant others, and socializing situation. Each of these concepts was studied relative to its influence in the child's socialization into sport and physical activity.