Understanding personality traits of students and their physical activity engagement: A convergent design

Abstract

The observed low level of physical activity among the students drives the curiosity to understand the dominant traits of Grade 10 students and whether these traits would associate with their physical activity engagement. Using a mixed method, convergent design, 150 student-respondents were selected from schools in the Cotabato province to respond to the survey questionnaire. At the same time, seven participants were invited to join the In-Depth-Interview and ten participants in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The statistical tools used were frequency, mean, standard deviation, and Chi-Square Test for Association. Results revealed that agreeableness was the most dominant personality trait possessed by the Grade 10 students. Their physical activity engagement was moderate. The results further showed no significant association between personality traits and physical activity engagement among the participants. Moreover, the qualitative findings revealed five essential themes: a healthy and active lifestyle, school and home-based physical activity, positive emotion, social and physical demands, and personal belief and support. As to how participants’ physical activity shaped their values, attitudes, and commitment, essential themes such as attention focus, positive disposition, prioritized task, and trying new physical activities emerged. Finally, data integration revealed nine merging-converging, and two of them were merging-diverging in nature.