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The study of factors affecting junior high school students'' leisure
activities: Kaohsiung county as an example
Jen-Ya Wang ABSTRACT The
purpose of this study is to identify factors influencing the preference andact
ual choices of junior high school students'' leisure activities. Data were col
lected from a stratified random sample of 16 public and 3 private juniorhigh s
chools in Kaohsiung County. Total of 1108 students participated in a questionn
aire survey. Statistical analysis included frequency distribution, T-test,fact
or analysis,multiple regression and path analysis. Major finding of the study
are summarized below:1.Significant differences were found between the prefere
nce of leisure activities andthe actual choices of activities among the junior
high students.2.The most significant intervening variable affecting students''
preference andactual choices of their leisure activities is peers'' leisure ac
tivities. When students''leisure activities were misconduct one,the peer influe
nce is especially pronouncing.3.Among background variables,"gender" was found
significantly affectingstudents'' preference and actual choices of their leisur
e activities, followed by "grade".It is worth noting that among students with
higher grade, males were found involvedin more misconduct leisure activities t
han females.4.After controlling intervening variables, "gender" was still sign
ificantly affectingstudents'' preference and actual choices of their leisure ac
tivities, followed by the"grade".The same is true when analysis of variance in
cludes intervening variables.5.Differences were also found between public and
private school strdents in theirpreference and actual choices of leisure activ
ities. Private school students were foundto less prefer"singing-dancing style"
and"petting animal style"activities than publicschool counterparts. In terms o
f actual choices, private school students involved in"audio-vedio style" activ
ities more than the public school students did. Compared tothe large number of
various activities, the differences between public and privateschool students
in their preference and actual choices of leisure activities were onlyminimal
ly divergence. Based on the above findings,implications and suggestions for go
vernmentpolicies, parents'' guiding, and school leisure education were proposed
. Suggestionsfor further investigation in the issues are also discussed.Keywor
ds:junior high school strdents,leisure activities, peer influence, leisureeduc
ation
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