Facilitators and Impediments for Elective Music and Sport in Adolescent Males

Within the culture of an all-male private school, sport often holds a special status as compared with music. As an area of learning and participation, sport is typically associated with masculinity and receives broad social acceptance, whereas music is often seen at the margins of the curriculum and considered as an activity for a select few who are innately talented. Because of these perceptions, participation rates for males are often higher for sport than they are for music. With this as our context, this study examined differences between the two elective subjects of music and sport, by seeking to investigate boys’ motivation to choose whether or not to elect music and sport in the final years of high school. The study utilized an online survey that was completed by 293 subjects (13 to 16 years old, school years 8 to 10). Results indicate that the boys were more motivated to select elective sport rather than music (42.7% vs. 4.8%, respectively), with 49.8% choosing neither music nor sport. A comparison of facilitators of elective music and sport revealed similarities across the two domains, with interest in the subject (music or sport) receiving the highest mean rating for elective facilitation. Seven of the nine impediment scales were significantly higher for music (only importance of the subject and parental influence were statistically identical across sport and music). The study is the first of which we are aware that directly compares music and sport as school subjects, and as such, offers insight into the different motivational forces that act to either facilitate or impede students’ choice of these subjects within an all-male private school.