The New Horizon (“Ofek Hadash” in Hebrew) educational reform agreement was signed between the Israeli government and the Teachers’ Union in 2008. The purposes of the educational reform document were (a) to improve students’ achievements, (b) to provide fair recompense to teachers, and (c) to strengthen teachers’ status in society. Research goals were to clarify the ways in which New Horizon was implemented among physical education (PE) teachers, and to examine their attitudes toward the reform and to the changes entailed in implementing it. A survey questionnaire was completed by 381 PE teachers. The study participants reported that changes were positive following the implementation of the reform.
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Physical Education Teachers and Their Attitudes Toward Change: Implementation of the New Horizon Educational Reform
Sima Zach and Varda Inglis
The Effects of Elaboration on the Strength of Doping-Related Attitudes: Resistance to Change and Behavioral Intentions
Javier Horcajo and Andrew Luttrell
This experiment analyzed whether attitudes toward the legalization of several doping behaviors would resist change and predict behavioral intentions when they were initially formed through thoughtful (i.e., high elaboration) versus nonthoughtful (i.e., low elaboration) processes. Participants were randomly assigned first to a persuasive message either against or in favor of the legalization, which they read with relatively high or low degrees of deliberative thinking. Attitudes and intentions regarding legalization were assessed following that message. Next, each participant received a second message that was opposed to the first one, serving as an attack against the attitude that participants had just formed. Finally, attitudes were again assessed. As hypothesized, participants showed greater attitude-consistent intentions when they formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) consideration of the first message. Moreover, the second message resulted in greater resistance to attitude change when participants formed their initial attitudes through thoughtful (vs. nonthoughtful) processes.
Prescription of Physical Activity: How Does the Internist Perceive it?
Pilar Lavielle Sotomayor, Gerardo Huitron Bravo, Analí López Fernández, and Juan Talavera Piña
objectives of the health care system. 16 , 17 To implement PA-based preventive action, it is essential to understand physicians’ perceptions and attitudes toward PAP and to evaluate their readiness to undertake it. Qualitative and quantitative studies are required to better understand the opinions, beliefs
Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Physical Education: A Qualitative Look
Sharon R. Phillips, Risto Marttinen, Kevin Mercier, and Anne Gibbone
Although students in middle school have access to physical education (PE), access to physical activity opportunities is often limited when compared with opportunities for high school students ( Yecke, 2005 ). It has been widely suggested that student attitudes toward PE may influence future
Cypriot Urban Elementary Students’ Attitude Toward Physical Education
Panos Constantinides and Stephen Silverman
Attitude is defined as the degree to which a person likes or dislikes something ( Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980 ). A person’s attitude toward any given object can have either a positive or negative impact. Attitude has the ability to strongly influence a person’s behavior. The idea, that attitude guides
The Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior Applied to Exercise: A Meta-analytic Update
Danielle Symons Downs and Heather A. Hausenblas
Background:
Statistical reviews of the theories of reasoned action (TRA) and planned behavior (TPB) applied to exercise are limited by methodological issues including insufficient sample size and data to examine some moderator associations.
Methods:
We conducted a meta-analytic review of 111 TRA/TPB and exercise studies and examined the influences of five moderator variables.
Results:
We found that: a) exercise was most strongly associated with intention and perceived behavioral control; b) intention was most strongly associated with attitude; and c) intention predicted exercise behavior, and attitude and perceived behavioral control predicted intention. Also, the time interval between intention to behavior; scale correspondence; subject age; operationalization of subjective norm, intention, and perceived behavioral control; and publication status moderated the size of the effect.
Conclusions:
The TRA/TPB effectively explained exercise intention and behavior and moderators of this relationship. Researchers and practitioners are more equipped to design effective interventions by understanding the TRA/TPB constructs.
Attitudes Toward Implicit Bias Among Athletic Trainers
S. Andrew Cage, Meredith Decker, Luzita Vela, Ramonica Scott, and Cristina Gonzalez
Implicit biases are attitudes, emotions, or stereotypes that manifest in an unconscious manner and can potentially negatively affect behaviors, actions, and decision making. 1 , 2 These unconscious attitudes are not activated by conscious means, making them difficult to acknowledge and address. 3
Self-Affirmation Promotes Physical Activity
Richard Cooke, Helena Trebaczyk, Peter Harris, and Alison J. Wright
The present study tests whether a self-affirmation intervention (i.e., requiring an individual to focus on a valued aspect of their self-concept, such as honesty) can increase physical activity and change theory of planned behavior (TPB) variables linked to physical activity. Eighty young people completed a longitudinal intervention study. Baseline physical activity was assessed using the Godin Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (LTPAQ). Next, participants were randomly allocated to either a self-affirmation or a nonaffirmation condition. Participants then read information about physical activity and health, and completed measures of TPB variables. One week later, participants again completed LTPAQ and TPB items. At follow up, self-affirmed participants reported significantly more physical activity, more positive attitudes toward physical activity, and higher intentions to be physically active compared with nonaffirmed participants. Neither attitudes nor intentions mediated the effects of self-affirmation on physical activity. Self-affirmation can increase levels of physical activity and TPB variables. Self-affirmation interventions have the potential to become relatively simple methods for increasing physical activity levels.
Cohesion and Heterosexist Attitudes in Men’s Collegiate Athletics
Elizabeth M. Mullin, Meghan K. Halbrook, Ryan Socolow, and Anna Bottino
. Despite these promising recent trends, researchers continue to document that sexual prejudice, or “negative attitudes toward an individual because of their sexual orientation” ( Herek, 2000 , p. 19) persists within sport ( Knoester & Allison, 2023 ; Mullin et al., in press ). Experiencing antigay slurs
Self-Regulation and Implicit Attitudes Toward Physical Activity Influence Exercise Behavior
Avelina C. Padin, Charles F. Emery, Michael Vasey, and Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser
-reported attitudes about exercise influence whether people decide to engage in PA or avoid it ( Rhodes, Fiala, & Conner, 2009 ). However, attitudes alone do not determine exercise behavior, and interventions targeting self-reported exercise attitudes do not typically result in long-term increases in PA ( Baranowski
