Attitudes of Iranian Male University Students Toward Sport and Exercise with Reference to Age, Educational Level, and Field of Study

This article aimed to discover the attitudes of Iranian male university students toward sport and exercise. This study is based on the same research as another published paper regarding the attitudes of Iranian female students toward sport and exercise. Participants (N = 821) were selected from different educational levels and fields of study from among 12 public universities. Data were collected by a modified and developed version of Kenyon's scale (1968), which measures the attitudes of people toward physical activity. For the analysis of the data, independent sample t-test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were employed (p < 0.05). The results indicated that the attitudes of the respondents can be identified as fitness (3.96 ± 1.02), catharsis (3.84 ± 0.80), social (3.82 ± 1.10), aesthetic (3.03 ± 1.14), vertigo (2.15 ± 1.16), and ascetic (2.07 ± 0.79). Furthermore, it was found that various demographic and social characteristics affected participants' attitudes toward sport and exercise (p < 0.05). Based on the results, it was concluded that the sport programs should be organized around students' dominant attitudes toward regular activities. In addition, planning and organizing sport programs with regard to the wide attitudinal differences between male and female students could be a big step toward improving students' participation rate in sporting activities at Iranian universities.