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Attitude of Iranian Female University Students to Sport and Exercise

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Hamidreza Mirsafian ,
Tamás Dóczi  and
Azadeh Mohamadinejad
Hamidreza Mirsafian
Affiliation:
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary and Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
Tamás Dóczi
Affiliation:
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
Azadeh Mohamadinejad
Affiliation:
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
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Abstract

Women's sport has always been a challenging subject in Muslim countries and Muslim women have had to face various constraints regarding their participation in sport and exercise, which also influence their attitudes to sport. This study aims to explore the attitude of Iranian female university students toward sport by survey method (N = 1,120) and qualitative interviews (N = 50). The results indicate that the majority of the participants have negative attitudes to sport, and accordingly they do not practice it. Various macro-, meso- and micro-level factors were found as perceived barriers. From the results it can be concluded that the media as a tool for raising awareness to providing role models and shaping the social values of mainstream society does not take a positive role in order to develop the culture of women's sport, and to change the attitude of female students and their social environments to sport in Iranian society.

Type
Articles
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 951 - 966
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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