Motivation of 10-12 years old Cypriot students toward sports participation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Greek version of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) on Cypriot students. The sample consisted of 152 children aged 10-12 years old, all players in football, basketball and volleyball school teams. Analysis of results using factor analysis procedure from the statistical software SPSS revealed seven factors, with "entertainment / socializing" emerging as the main reason for participating in sports. No statistically significant differences were noticed according to gender. The results of this research are consistent with the common reasons for participation in sporting activities which were identified in similar studies. However, differences arose in relation to residence and preferred sport of the participants, with reference to questionnaire's factors. © JPES.