International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences Vol. 3(3), pp. 35 - 39
DOI: 10.13189/saj.2015.030302
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Participation Motives of Saudi Arabian School Children towards Physical Activities and Sports: A Comparative Study

Mohammed Hamdan Hashem Mohammed ^*, Varghese C Antony
Department of Physical Education, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to identify and compare the participation motives of school children towards engagement in physical activity. Two hundred and eighty students (Mage=17.65±0.95 years) were selected from two different types of schools, namely government school (N=134) and private school (N=146), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The instrument used to collect the data was Motivation for Physical Activities Measure- Revised by (Ryan et al., 1997). Ranking order was applied to identify the ‘most important reasons' and ‘least important reasons' for participation, and t- test was applied to compare means between the groups. Government and private school children showed higher mean values on interest/enjoyment and competence. Significant difference was observed on interest/enjoyment and fitness factor among school children. No significant difference was observed on competence, appearance, and social factors. Government school children ranked three important reasons for participation in physical activities as ‘because I wanted to be physically fit', ‘because I wanted to look or maintain weight so I look better', and ‘because I wanted to maintain my physical well-being'. Whereas private school children ranked best three reasons for engagement as, ‘because I want to look or maintain weight so I look better', because I want to improve my appearance, because I wanted to be physically fit'. The least important reason for participation was social factors for both types of school children.

KEYWORDS
Participation Motivation, Physical Activity, Private High School, Government High School, Fitness

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Mohammed Hamdan Hashem Mohammed , Varghese C Antony , "Participation Motives of Saudi Arabian School Children towards Physical Activities and Sports: A Comparative Study," International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 35 - 39, 2015. DOI: 10.13189/saj.2015.030302.

(b). APA Format:
Mohammed Hamdan Hashem Mohammed , Varghese C Antony (2015). Participation Motives of Saudi Arabian School Children towards Physical Activities and Sports: A Comparative Study. International Journal of Human Movement and Sports Sciences, 3(3), 35 - 39. DOI: 10.13189/saj.2015.030302.