Leisure-time sport among physical education students

The aim of this study is to uncover a time trend analysis of styles in active sport participation. Basic styles of sport participation are selected and compared from a time trend perspective, covering a 27-year period. The data were collected via questionnaire from different samples of male and female first-year university students in physical education. Sport participation data from 1972 (males only), 1976 (females)/1977 (males), 1982, 1988/93 and 1998/99 are considered and compared. Principal components analysis was used to explore basic dimensions of sport participation at each time interval. The 1972-82 style analysis of the males’ sport participation resulted in a triptych of styles consisting of competitive/traditional, local recreational, and conspicuous recreational sport activities. For the girls, the 1976-82 period yielded a competitive/traditional versus an ostentatiously recreational style pattern. Between 1982 and 1999 active sport participation as a leisure activity did not basically further diverge into different styles of participation. Rather, participation in the different modes of sport participation seems to have intensified. The results are interpreted in a broader approach of style analysis in leisure research and from the perspective of societal changes with regard to sports. It is concluded that style analysis may offer a valuable contribution to research on active sport participation.