College Students’ Perceptions of Social Interactions in College Physical Activity Classes

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) has been found to benefit a person in many ways. One benefit of being physically active is the social component. This deals with interacting with someone before, during, or after the activity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of social interactions on college-aged students during their PA class. Participants for this study included 408 college-aged students (272 males, 136 females) who were surveyed regarding their interactions during their PA class. The survey contained Likert scale questions and open-ended questions, which required the students to respond with written answers. In short, these students thought that their interactions during their PA were important and that the interactions were enjoyable. These results, along with other results from this study, highlight the positive benefits that come from being involved in PA.