Emotions According to Type of Motor Task, Sports and Gender Experience

Abstract

Physical activity generally, and motor play in particular, are an ideal framework for creating emotional experiences of great educational value. Based on the theoretical foundations of motor praxeology and Bisquerra and Lazarus’ emotional education model, the aim of this study was to find out which emotions are triggered by different types of motor activities (motor action domains). An additional aim was to discern whether sporting experience and gender are determining factors in the expression of these emotions. To this end, a study involving 69 university students was designed. The students were given theoretical and practical training related to emotions and they were subsequently asked to carry out different physical activities and assess the emotions these triggered, using the Games and Emotion Scale (GES) questionnaire. The results showed that physical-sport activities generate more intense positive emotions than ambiguous or negative ones, and that socio-motor activities generally trigger more intense emotions than psychomotor activities. Individuals with sporting experience express positive and ambiguous emotions more intensely, and males express positive emotions more intensely than females.