The effect of gender on the attitute towards "dance" in terms of culture and sports: An Analysis on the students in the department of physical eduation

Abstract

The aim of this research is to produce information about in what ways the attitudes of the university students in the department of physical education towards the concept of dance change regarding their gender and discuss what affects this if there is a significant difference between the females and males. This research was made with the participation of the 4th grade students in the departments of physical education in Ankara University, Gazi University and Kırıkkale University in spring semester of 2006-2007 Academic Year. There were 241 participants, 121 of whom were males and 120 of whom were females. To utilize in the period of research, an attitude scala was designed. According to the data obtained by this scala, the students who participated in this research classified the concept of dance as folk dances and other dances. Without any gender differences, dance was regarded as a branch of sport by the participants. It has been found out that the female participants' attitudes towards folk dances and other dances were more positive than the male participants'. The female students perceived dance as a more enjoyable branch of sport than the male students did. It could be said that the female students were more willingness and ready than the male students to participate in dance. However, when looked at the results from the point of view of folk dances, there were almost no differences between the participants cocerning their gender. According to the data obtained by this research, the male participants liked watching folk dances in the same way with the female students. Moreover, the male participants were of the opinion that a physical education teachers should be knowledgeable about folk dances as the female participants were.