Auswahlbibliografie

Auswahlbibliografie

Auswahlbibliografie     

Childhood football play and practice in relation to self-regulation and national team selection; a study of Norwegian elite youth players

Childhood sport participation is argued to be important to understand differences in self-regulation and performance level in adolescence. This study sought to investigate if football-specific activities in childhood (6–12 years of age) is related to self-regulatory skills and national under 14- and 15-team selection in Norwegian elite youth football. Data of practice histories and self-regulatory skills of 515 youth football players selected at Norwegian regional level were collected and further analysed using multilevel analyses. The results revealed that high self-regulated players were more likely to be selected for national initiatives, and increased their involvement in peer-led football practice and adult-led football practice during childhood, compared to players with lower levels of self-regulation. While national level players reported higher levels of peer-led football play in childhood, the interaction effect suggest that the regional level players increased their involvement in peer-led play during childhood compared to national level players. In conclusion, the findings indicate that childhood sport participation may contribute to later differences in self-regulation, and highlights the importance of childhood engagement in football-specific play and practice in the development of Norwegian youth football players.     

First adoption of consumer innovations: Exploring market failure and alleviating factors

Consumers innovate usually for non-commercial motives. They generally lack incentives to diffuse, and this is expected to hamper first adoption – even if consumer innovations are valuable to many other people. We confirm this market failure with survey data of 164 German consumer innovators. First adoption by others is unrelated with general use value, unless the innovator is highly willing to commercialize. Next, as classical diffusion theory does not explain when consumer innovations become available to others, we propose an individual-object-process (I-O-P) framework to study factors alleviating the market failure. The viability of the framework is explored by studying the moderating role of entrepreneurial experience (I), product newness (O) and community engagement during the innovation process (P). First adoption of generally valuable consumer innovations is enhanced when a community was involved. We also find tentative evidence for a moderating role of entrepreneurial experience and product newness.     

Sport and Christianity: Historical Perspectives – An Introduction

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of a collection of works related to sport and Christianity from historical perspectives. After a brief general historiographical introduction, the material connected to the burgeoning field of sport and religion is summarized. In particular, it is noted that the works concentrate on diverse geographic locations and different time periods. The investigations are not limited to a narrow definition of Christianity, but encompass a wide range of denominations, related philosophies, and viewpoints. In terms of variety, it is noted that different methodological and theoretical approaches are adopted, and, given the existing state of play, it is clear that there is still much to be uncovered, documented, and written about when it comes to the enduring topic of sport and Christianity. The conclusion is that any research agenda which emerges from observations on historical perspectives concerning the relationship of sport with aspects of Christianity will continue to resonate and add value to wider understandings of sport, culture, and the human condition.     

Development and validation of the environmental literacy instrument for adolescents

Environmental education (EE) practitioners struggle to consistently and rigorously evaluate their programs, particularly when little time is available for evaluation. Since environmental literacy (EL) is the goal of environmental education, a very short EL instrument – amenable to use when longer tests are not practical for practitioners – would address an important EE need. We describe the development and validation of the Environmental Literacy Instrument for Adolescents (ELI-A) that is short enough for use in field applications (i.e. 5–15 min) and measures four domains of environmental literacy (ecological knowledge, hope, cognitive skills, behaviour). Factor analysis, item response theory, and concurrent validity tests were used in the validation process. Structural equation modelling supported the fit between the ELI-A and prevailing EL frameworks. The results support a valid and reliable instrument that is short enough for practical use but comprehensive in measuring four primary components of EL. This instrument could help fulfil the call to evaluate EE programming in both formal and informal settings.     

Variables affecting students' intrinsic motivation for school mathematics: Two empirical studies based on Deci and Ryan's theory on motivation

The self-determination theory of Deci and Ryan, developed in order to explain the intrinsic motivation of human behavior, was tested empirically by a cross-sectional and longitudinal study related to a school subject (mathematics). The studies were conducted to examine the effects of the mathematics teacher's controlling strategies (as perceived by the students) on students' intrinsic interests for mathematics, their achievements, and their self-concept in mathematics. The samples in Study 1 (the cross-sectional study) consisted of 171 seventh-graders and 164 eighth-graders. Based on previous research, Model 1 was developed and tested by means of LISREL (path-analysis of cross-sectional data). Model 2 was constructed and tested in Study 2, i.e., data from the two samples were collected one year later and used (longitudinal path-analysis of panel-data). The findings of the two studies indicate that students' intrinsic interest for mathematics, their performance in mathematics, and their mathematical self-concept vary as a function of the mathematics teacher's controlling strategies.     

Self-concept,Attributional Style and Depression

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how self-concept and attributional style are related to depression in a student group. On the basis of an inventory, 166 advanced teacher students were scored on general and academic self-esteem, attribution for positive and negative events, and depression. The two self-esteem variables were found to constitute important predictors of depression, while the contributions of the attributional variables were of minor importance. In addition, pessimistic attributions to both positive and negative events resulted in higher depression than pessimistic attributions to either kind of events, and to neither kind of events. Finally, factor analysis resulted in interpretable solutions.