The effects of participation in a competitive program on the child's self-concept

Competition and awards are playing increasingly important roles in the _programs of today's youth serving agencies (i.e., Scouting, 4-H). Many of these organizations are now instituting competitive events and activities for younger members. The generally accepted rationale for this action is that these experiences positively contribute to the child's overall development. However, a sound research base to support this assumption does not exist. The purpose of the present study was to determine if participation in a competitive program affects the self-concepts of male and female children of different ethnic origins. Two possible inter-· actions were also investigated. The sample consisted of 148 children, 7 to 14.years of age, who were participating in a five day 4-H camping program. These youngsters were from two Virginia cities. The sample was predominately black and female. A majority of the children had received special federally funded camp scholarships. The median age of the sample was 11.13 years. A modified form of Campbell and Stanley's "Solomon Four-Group Design" was employed. Subjects were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. On the first day, subjects in Groups 1, 2, and 3 completed the first half of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, all children participated in a fifty minute crafts class. The completed crafts of those in Group l were judged daily under the "Dani sh System." Each child received either a blue, red, or white ribbon. Those of Group 2 members were judged daily under the "English System." Only six awards were presented. The work of the children in Groups 3 and 4 was not judged. Neither were ribbons awarded. On Friday, all children completed the last half of the Piers-Harris. The findings are as follows: 1. Participation in a competitive program employed the "Danish System" resulted in a significant increase in self-concept scores. 2. A significant increase in self-concept scores for males who participated in a competitive program employing the "English System" was revealed. 3. For males, an interaction between race of the child and the type of competitive program with level of self-concept was discovered. More specifically, white males had a higher level of self concept under the "Danish System" while black males had' higher scores under the "English System.11 4. No interaction between age of the child and the type of competitive program with level of self-concept was revealed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Management, Housing, and Family Development

Department dc:contributor.department

Management, Housing, and Family Development

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1978

Author dc:creator

• Beasley, John Julius

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/71174

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/71174