Badminton Essay Essay

Self-efficacy and social influences are two guiding principles in the study of sociology of sport. Self-efficacy is an individual’s personal estimate of confidence in his or her capability to accomplish a certain level of performance, whereas social influence occurs when others affect one’s emotions, opinions, behaviors and choices. These sociocultural factors are linked to Figueroa’s framework, which influence my participation in badminton. In this essay, the focus in on self-efficacy and social stigma-related socio-cultural factors, which are constituent elements in the sports socialization process and have influenced my active involvement in Badminton. The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate the impact that sociocultural influences have had on my decision to play on the Moreton Bay College badminton team. Professor Peter Figueroa developed a tool also known as Figueroa’s Framework, which investigates the issues surrounding access, equity and equality in sport and physical activity. It is structured over five different levels: individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural, these areas are used to investigate the ways in which inequities challenge the area of sport and physical activity. All five levels connect within each other and they all influence the shaping of the overall effect. They show the different functions that reinforce, create, remove and eliminate barriers and inequities within sport and physical activity. The level of Figeuroa’s Framework that affects my participation in badminton the greatest was the interpersonal level and individual level. The interpersonal level of Figueroa’s framework is used to investigate the relationships that affect whether an individual will develop a lifelong association with sport. Most individuals ar e influenced directly or indirectly by the people around them such as parents, peers, siblings, teachers, coaches, or sporting role models. In particular, one barrier that had an impact upon my participation in Badminton is self-efficacy. The theory of self-efficacy â€Å"was developed within the framework of social cognitive theory, which views individuals as proactive agents in the regulation of their cognition, motivation, actions,  and emotions.† When playing badminton I feel vulnerable to this problem of self-efficacy as my self-esteem is affected by my performance because I feel as if I am judged by how well I perform. As I have such high expectations to perform well in badminton, I am very critical and hard on myself. This leads to poor self-efficacy which forces me to believe I do not have the capability for success in Badminton. Someone with high self-efficacy is confident and motivated to work toward a learning goal and someone such as myself with low self-efficacy in badminton is not as motivated, which effects how much effort is put into a particular task. Self-efficacy is based on a social learning theory and is a construct that affects motivation and thus can promote or inhibit learning different skills. Consequently, as Allender et al. (2006) suggests, when an individual has limited confidence in their own ability to perform, enjoyment levels decline and inevitably, participation ceases. Pratt et al. (1999) found that perceived competence and sport ability beliefs had a â€Å"strong and direct impact on enjoyment†. As enjoyment is a precursor to ongoing participation, it is thus evident that self-efficacy is an important factor in my participation in Badminton. A study by McCarthy, Jones and Clark-Carter (2008) investigated the sources of enjoyment reported by youth sport participants and found that positive parental involvement was one of the most frequently reported results by young males and females. This implies that when children in sport perceive parental involvement as positive, they are more likely to enjoy their sporting experience. When we are young, our families influence us more than outsiders do. If your parents played sports, took you to sporting contests, helped you learn basic sport skills, and encouraged you to participate, chances are you gave sports a try. It has been proven that parental influence extends to the parents perception of the sports their children choose to participate in. That is, parents can transmit values through communicating their beliefs, acceptance, and support to their child’s participation in sport. Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of parental interpretation, often showing th at too much parental feedback causes undue stress in young athletes and can cause them not to participate in certain sports, but the appropriate amounts of encouragement and support can increase enjoyment and longevity of the athletes’ involvement. Parental  interpretation is a powerful mechanism because it communicates expected and valued behaviors. Children internalize parental values and expectations therefore; children try to behave in ways that maximize their acceptance in the social setting. Thus, as my parents communicate that they do not value badminton as an exceptional sport, it is unlikely for me to participate in this sport. Also as my parents are not actively involved, nor intentionally provide sporting experiences for the sport of badminton; it is very unlikely that I was ever exposed to the sporting world of badminton as a child. In conclusion, self-efficacy and social influences are two of the central motives that have influenced my decision to play on the college badminton team. These sociocultural factors target the Interpersonal and Structural level of Figueroa’s framework. The influence of outsiders such as family and peers and my perceived capability at a particular time to perform the specified badminton skills has led me to the decision of not participating in the Moreton Bay College badminton team.