Predictors of Poor Sportspersonship in Youth Sports: Personal Attitudes and Social Influences
Poor sportsmanship in children is a direct result of youths’ perceptions of their parents’ and coaches’ behavior, concludes a report by a team of researchers from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and the University of Notre Dame.
The report also found that poor sportsmanship was likely to increase in degree and frequency with grade level, and that boys self-reported more bad behavior than girls.
The study examined the experiences of 381 males and 285 females in 5th to 8th grade in Philadelphia, South Bend, Ind., and San Francisco.
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