Running Head: Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

Analyzing Peoples Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

Andrew Murrell and Mason Vodry
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

Introduction
A simple walk to class could be made much more enjoyable if someone is having
fun while doing it. Many people experience boredom on a daily basis; its one of the most
common emotions (Danckert, 2005, paragraph 1). Since boredom is such a common
emotion what can we do to minimize it? Can there be a way that will make a simple walk
to class more enjoyable? This could affect a large amount of people because everyone
deals with this emotion.
Exercise is one way to minimize boredom, not only is it entertaining and healthy,
but its also proven to reduce tension, anxiety, and stress (Cohen, Shamus, 2009, p. 4).
There can be a large impact to be made if the common emotion of boredom can be
minimized. However, there is one problem when using exercise to reduce boredom, many
people dont have the initiative to actually exercise or are open to exercising but have no
one to do it with. A viable solution is to find an exercise buddy. People are more
willing to participate in an activity if they believe other people will also participate
(Oliver, 1984, p. 601). One part of the experiment will actually be attempting to simulate
an exercise buddy; this comes in the second part of the experiment where one
experimenter went through the course periodically to serve as a form of motivation for
participants who may not have participated otherwise.
Participants
In this experiment, participants were random students who were walking on the
University of North Carolina at Charlottes campus. In total, two hundred participants
were a part of this experiment and none were aware that they were a part of an
experiment. Any student who walked by or participated in the course was recorded as a

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

participant in the experiment. All of our participants were college students who go to the
University of North Carolina Charlotte, making that the only demographic in common
among all of our participants. The reason that this demographic was chosen is because
boredom and depression is commonly associated with college students. Many students
get tired of the same routine every day, causing them to be less happy. This could
eventually cause a decline in their health. The goal was to target an audience that could
be significantly affected by the experiment. It was believed that college students had
much to gain from this experiment.
Measures
For the measures, people were observed and each person that participated in the
hopscotch course or walked by it was recorded. The gender of the person was also
recorded, so it can be compared whether males or females are more likely to participate
in a physical activity. The results were recorded while sitting in a place where the
hopscotch can be observed without letting the participants know that its an experiment.
The hopscotch course was placed so that it can be viewed clearly, and analyzed easily.
Procedure
The procedure for this experiment began with drawing a hopscotch course using
chalk in a designated location. The location was in a well-traveled area so the experiment
would have a sufficient amount of participants. It was also placed in a location with a
nearby area, which would work to be able to observe and record from.
Any student who took notice to the course or participated in it was recorded as a
participant in the experiment. How many students participate in the course compared to
how many walked by it was recorded, along with each of those students genders. The

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

experiment was testing to find how much more likely people are to participate in the
hopscotch course when someone else is already on it, in comparison to how many will
participate when no one else is on the course. The likeliness of a male to participate in
physical activity in comparison to a female was also tested.
During the first part of the experiment, one hundred people were observed with
the course unoccupied by either of the experimenters. During the second part, one
experimenter participated in the course during the observation of the second one hundred
people, as an effort to encourage others to participate. The purpose of the first and second
sections of the experiment was to allow comparison between whether people are more
willing to participate in an activity if other people are already participating. Whether
males or females are more likely to participate in physical activity, was tested throughout
the entire experiment.
Results
During the first part of the experiment, seventeen people participated in the course
out of one hundred. In the second part of the experiment, twenty-six people participated
in the course out of one hundred. Overall, thirteen males and twenty-eight females
participated in the course out of the two hundred participants.
The results found in this experiment were much lower than anticipated, the
prediction was that thirty-three percent of people that walked by would participate, but
the results show that on average, twenty-point-five percent participated in the hopscotch
course. The results also show that females are seven-point-five percent more likely than
males to participate in physical activity. Seven-point-five percent may not sound like a
lot, but that is solely because out of all the participants, only twenty-point-five percent

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

participated. The amount of women that participated in the course was actually over
double the amount of men.

83

90

74

80
70
60
50
40
30

Participants

26

Non-participants

17

20
10
0
Hopscotch course with
nobody on it

Hopscotch course with

researcher one going
through in two-minute
intervals

Number of men vs. women who

participated in the Hopscotch course

13
28

Men
Women

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

Discussion
This experiment has shown that fewer people will participate in an activity no one
else is participating in. It could be assumed through the results that most people are less
likely to lead and more likely to follow others.. Many people may not want to participate
if theyre going to be the only one. This backs up Olivers article, showing that people
dont want to be singled out in a crowd. They would rather do what everyone else is
doing.
The experiment also shows that women are much more likely to participate in a
physical activity than men. However, this experiment was not perfect. One way the
experiment could be improved is by using a different activity. Although it may not be
scientifically proven, Hopscotch is an activity that is considered to be more popular
among girls. This would explain the lack of interest by the men for this activity. An
interesting idea which also could have improved the experiment, would be to have a third
section of the experiment which tested to see how many people participated after being
informed about the opportunity before they saw the hopscotch course. If the participants
were approached and told about the opportunity to participate in a fun activity that they
can do on their way to class, and also about all of the benefits of exercising, the results
would have most likely shown more people involved in the activity.
Another observation from the experiment is that people, who did participate,
seemingly had a much better time than the others. This was the entire goal of this
experiment, to see if the activity would make people have more fun while on their way to
class. The people that participated in the course continued to laugh and talk about it and
also look back to see if anyone else did it well after they had completed the course. The

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity

people that didnt participate just looked at it then ignored it and continued to go on, they
didnt seem affected in any way by the course.

References
Cohen, G., & Shamus, E. (2009) Depressed, Low Self-Esteem: What can exercise do for
you? The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, 7(2), 1-4.
Danckert, J. (2005) Time flies when youre having fun: Temporal estimation and the
experience of boredom. Brain and Cognition, 59(3), 236-245.
Oliver, P. (1984) If you dont do it, nobody else will: Active and token contributors to
local collective action. American Sociological Review, 49, 601-610.

Willingness to Participate in Physical Activity