Attitudes of Female Students at the University of Bahrain Towards Physical Activities A Comparative Study

Abstract

The study aims at identifying the attitudes of some female students towards physical activities at the University of Bahrain. The sample of the study consists of 300 female students whose average age is 19.7 years with a standard deviation of 0.7. The sample is divided into three equal groups representing students from the College of Arts for theoretical studies, the College of Science for theoretical and practical sciences, and the College of Education-Classroom Teachers representing students of theoretical study who took university courses at the College of Education. The study used Kenyon Scale for measuring attitudes towards physical activity. A comparative analysis was made between the responses of the three sample groups according to the measured dimensions. Results indicate that female students have positive attitudes towards physical activity as a social experience - as an experience for health and fitness - as an aesthetic experience – to reduce stress, an experience of pursuit of vertige and risk, and finally as an experience of sports excellence. Results did not show any significant differences between the attitudes of female groups belonging to practical and theoretical studies. However, there were significant differences between the attitudes of these two groups and the attitudes of female students who took courses at the College of education who showed more positive attitudes than the two other groups.