A comparitive study on attitude towards physical activity, selected psychological attributes and academic achievement among college students

Scientific evidence is piling up that shows regular exercise provides important cognitive benefits that could make your scholarly efforts a little less taxing. The importance of exercise is nothing new. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that to be successful in academic studies, a person should "give about two of them [that's hours, people], every day, to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes the mind strong." The purpose of the study was to investigate the differences between the students of both the genders on attitude towards physical activity, self-esteem, self-efficacy and academic achievement. 600 students doing various under graduate programmes at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam participated in this study. It was hypothesised that there would be significant differences between the genders in their attitude towards physical activity, self-esteem, self-efficacy and academic achievement. The population consists of 300 (50%) male students and 300 (50%) female students. Three instruments were used in this study, namely: a) Children's Attitude towards Physical Activity Inventory (Simon and Smoll, 1974), b) Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (Morris Rosenberg, 1965) and c)General Self-efficacy Scale (Schwarzer, R & Jerusalem, M., 1995). The percentage of total marks scored in the university degree examinations was calculated by the researcher with the help of their mark list. The data pertaining to the attitude towards physical activity, self-esteem, selfefficacy and academic achievement were tested using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Demographic characteristic information was analysed using mean and standard deviation, and percentage for discrete variables. The study revealed that the gender difference is a significant factor determining self-esteem, and self-efficacy of under graduate students in Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam; It was futher concluded that Female student's overall subjective emotional evaluation about their worth is higher than that of their male counterparts and male students have more positive internal attributions regarding failure and success and positive attitude towards evaluation than female students. When compared to female under graduate students, male students have stronger belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations in Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.