Children's Attitudes Toward Play: An Investigation of Their Context Specificity and Relationship to Organized Sport Experiences

Authors

Donald L. Greer, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Michael J. Stewart, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1989

Publication Title

Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology

Volume

11

Issue

3

First Page

336

Last Page

342

Abstract

Beginning with the work of Webb (1969), a line of research has developed attempting to explain how the socialization experiences of children and adolescents help transform their attitudes toward play. In Webb's view, the transformation to a state of being "professionalized" has occurred when an emphasis on equity and fairness, which are pronounced at earlier stages of development, has been replaced by a focus on winning. The body of research that hasdeveloped from this original formulation has consistently identified age and gender differences (Loy , Birrell, & Rose, 1976; Maloney & Petrie, 1972; Mantel & VanderVelden, 1971) in play attitudes, with males being more highly professionalized than females, and adolescents and young adults more professionalized than preadolescents.

Comments

© 1989 Human Kinetics as accepted for publication http://journals.humankinetics.com/jsep-back-issues/jsepvolume11issue3september/childrensattitudestowardplayaninvestigationoftheircontextspecificityandrelationshiptoorganizedsportexperiences.

Recommended Citation

Greer, Donald L. and Stewart, Michael J., "Children's Attitudes Toward Play: An Investigation of Their Context Specificity and Relationship to Organized Sport Experiences" (1989). Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications. 4.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/hperfacpub/4