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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1387420
This article is part of the Research Topic Theory and Practice of Soccer Psychology View all 5 articles

Exploring Adolescent Participation in Football

Provisionally accepted
Xiancheng Zeng Xiancheng Zeng Wei He Wei He *
  • Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This paper explores the intersection of gender and sports participation in adolescence, focusing on traditionally male-dominated sports like football. We aim to develop a structural model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine gender-differentiated patterns and factors influencing adolescent participation in football. We analyzes data from 1,147 adolescents using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicate that a blend of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and past behavior effectively predicts adolescents' willingness to engage in football. Moreover, the study investigates the roles of perceived behavioral control, past behavior, and behavioral intentions in actual football participation, uncovering significant gender disparities in the progression from past behavior to intentions and subsequent behavior. This research highlights the complex role of gender in football participation and provides strategic insights for increasing girls' involvement in the sport. Our study sets the stage for future research on enhancing girls' participation in football.

    Keywords: Theory of Planned Behavior, Adolescent, Football participation, gender differences, Structural Equation Modeling

    Received: 17 Feb 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zeng and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wei He, Guangzhou Sport University, Guangzhou, 510500, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.