Prior research has documented that: 1) Student motivation levels decrease as students progress through grades. 2) Male students are more likely to be physically active than female students. and 3) Caucasian students are more likely to be physically active than minority students. It was the purpose of this study to examine physical education teacher education (PETE) students’ beliefs about those trends and their causes as well as to compare PETE students’ attributions with a control group of university students. Participants were 215 PETE (n=77) and control (n=138) students. PETE students were recruited from teacher education programs in four states. Control students were enrolled in various activity classes (from fencing to aerobics) at one university. There were both male (n=141) and female (n=74) participants. The majority of the participants reported their ethnic heritage as Caucasian (n=160). There were also Hispanic-American (n=17), African-American (n=8), American Indian (n=6), Asian-American/Pacific Islander (n=9), and other (n=15) backgrounds reported. Participants ranged from 17-51 years of age (M=22.57, SD=3.95). They all responded to a written survey that included demographic information as well as open-ended questions about how they would explain the three participation trends noted above. Data were analyzed via a constant comparative process. In general, the two groups were similar. They primarily attributed decreased student motivation levels to more distractions/options in upper grades and to social factors like “being cool”. The gender differences were attributed to either natural and genetic differences or cultural influences. The non-PETE participants also identified homophobia as a reason for decreased female participation. With regard to ethnicity and participation levels, many respondents did not believe the trend to be true. For those who did believe it was true, a majority identified socioeconomic factors as a key cause. These findings are significant because attributions for behavior determine reactions to behavior. For example, if a teacher believes that minorities are just as active as Caucasians then there is no reason for the teacher to design intervention strategies. Similarly, if students believe that physical activity is “not cool”, then they are unlikely to participate. These results can be used to better understand teacher and student actions as well as to design pre-service and in-service interventions to prompt teachers to reflect on and change practices related to physical activity in physical education.
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