Study shows that girls in sports develop conflict-resolution skills
May 12, 2009 By Quinn Phillips(PhysOrg.com) -- Most parents understand the importance of keeping their kids active in a time when childhood obesity is becoming a serious problem. But one University of Alberta researcher wants to go a step further and find out how sports also teach social skills.
Nick Holt and his research crew from the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation followed two girls' soccer teams for one season to monitor how they interacted. Nolt said the teams fit well into his study because they were competitive.
"These teams were made up of different people who wouldn't normally be friends," he said. "We found some interesting stuff."
The biggest finding was that the girls learned to manage conflict like grown-ups: "They figured out, if situations came up, how to go to the other person and try to resolve them."
These girls dealt with conflict so well that Holt's research team, the parents and the coaches didn't know there was a problem until researchers did post-season interviews.
"The girls realized when someone was having an argument with someone else, and that it wasn't helping the team. So they'd group together and try to mediate the conflict. In sport you've got to work with the people you might not get along with."
Holt and his team also found the girls would make an effort to accommodate new team members. The researchers focused on girls because there is a higher drop-out rate among teenagers and adolescence, and it's particularly important to understand what is going on with girls since they tend to place greater emphasis on their social lives.
"We know social relationships are more important to girls than they are to boys," said Holt.
He says these findings are most important for coaches and parents of young athletes and advises them to encourage girls to face conflict and deal with problems head on.
"It's not about being afraid of conflict and just keeping everyone happy all the time; it's about encouraging the girls to deal with conflicts when they arise because those are growth experiences. Those things will transfer outside of sport, because that's what you've got to do when you start working."
-
Supportive soccer moms have better relationships with kids, says study
Feb 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Obese girls less likely to attend college
Jul 23, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Girls in sports at record high, yet many not active enough, report says
Apr 14, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Anti-social behavior in girls predicts adolescent depression seven years later
Feb 17, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Friends' school achievement influences high school girls' interest in math
Feb 07, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Can I forget a language?
6 hours ago
-
The Biggest Lie Ever
Feb 09, 2012
-
What are the limits of learning?
Feb 06, 2012
-
Isn't that grammatically wrong?
Feb 06, 2012
-
What does it mean when traders are indifferent?
Feb 04, 2012
-
Peak of Our Civilization
Feb 04, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Social Sciences
More news stories
A frank discussion of the power law and linking correlation to causation
(PhysOrg.com) -- Michael Stumpf a mathematics professor at Imperial College in London, and Mason Porter a lecturer at Oxford have teamed together to write and publish a perspective piece in Science regarding the in ...
Employers feel no love for unscrupulous practice of 'service sweethearting'
A new study led by two Florida State University marketing professors finds that some frontline service employees who are rewarded for hikes in customer loyalty and satisfaction also may engage in "service ...
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
3 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
4
The question of life in the ancient world
Theres a general feeling that we dont get the Greeks ancient or modern. Many, including heads of state like Angela Merkel, visibly shake their head in exasperation, rightly or wrongly, at ...
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
9 hours ago |
1 / 5 (1) |
3
Sonic Cradle lands spot in TED exhibition
A Simon Fraser University graduate student project that melds music, meditation and modern technology has landed a rare spot as an exhibit at TEDActive 2012 in Palm Springs, California this month.
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Chilean miners' rescue capsule on show in London
The capsule used to rescue Chilean miners trapped underground for two months goes on display Saturday at the Science Museum in London -- the first time it has been seen in Europe.
8 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
NASA sees wide-eyed cyclone Jasmine
Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean.
NASA sees Giovanna reach cyclone strength, threaten Madagascar
Tropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead. Residents of east-central Madagascar should prepare for this cyclone to make landfall ...
CIA website offline, Anonymous takes credit
The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was unresponsive on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.
Complex wiring of the nervous system may rely on a just a handful of genes and proteins
Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. ...
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission
Error-correcting codes are one of the triumphs of the digital age. Theyre a way of encoding information so that it can be transmitted across a communication channel such as an optical fiber o ...