| This study focused on the factors that hinder Michigan State University students' participation in Recreational Sports Activities. Two groups of respondents, regular participants and nonparticipants in recreational sports activities, were examined separately with an emphasis on the last group. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to examine the perception of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints among nonparticipants. The independent variables for the nonparticipants were gender, interest in participation, and past experience with RSA.;A stratified random sample of 600 students was selected by university officials from the 1995 spring semester enrollment. From the 240 respondents, 144 were identified as not regularly participating in recreational sports activities (RSA). These were classified "nonparticipants" and made up the major sample of this study. From the 96 regular participants, 76 expressed a desire for an increase in their participation. Those were classified as "participants" and made up the second sample used in this study.;The self administered questionnaire consisted of three sections: the first focused on demographic information, the second section measured perception of constraints to increased participation; the third section consisted of a multi-dimensional constraints scale to be completed by the nonparticipants. Beyond the general descriptive information, the analysis of nonparticipants data started with a confirmatory factor analysis to examine the applicability of the hierarchical model of leisure constraints to RSA. One way analysis of variance and t-test were used to test the proposed hypothesis and to examine the perception of constraints to increased participation.;A major finding of this study, related to the nonparticipants, was the insignificant gender differences on perception of constraints and expressed interest in participation. In addition, the study findings supported the existence of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints, as identified by the hierarchical model, but did not rule out the existence of more constraints types. Findings from an item based analysis of constraints to increased participation indicated significant gender differences on perception of some constraints items and supported the hierarchical model continuation position after participation. |
