Article

The Meaning of Play that Adolescents Perceive and The Content Analysis of Psychological Changes after Play

Author

배미랑,박희현

Information

pp. 93~113 / 2011 Vol.18 No.3

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify the characteristics of adolescents play content and their attitudestoward the meaning of “a teenager who plays well” and what having “played well” entails. In addition, thisresearch observed the physical and psychological changes which took place in adolescents after a period of play.The subjects of this research were 302 middle and high school students residing in Gwangju Metropolitan Cityand Jeollanam province. First, the most common activities for both male and female adolescents were found tobe entertainment; Internet, games, and watching TV, in that order. Second, when surveyed about thecharacteristics of “a teenager who plays well” in relation to sports and talents, male students generally respondedwith “being good at sports,” whereas most female students responded with “being good at playing.” Concerningpersonality, the most frequent answers were; being outgoing, cheerful, and positive(leadership). In the areas ofsociety and languages, most of the feedback was positive. Third, the answers of most adolescents in this studyregarding their understanding of or definition of what having “played well” actually constituted were related tophysical forms of play and sports. Most adolescents recognized having “played well” when they played sports, orengaged in games or singing. In the area of emotions and thoughts, they saw “playing well” as having playedas much as they wanted to, having done what they wanted to do, and having had fun while playing. In thesocial category, most answered that “playing well” was best defined as spending time with friends and family.In the area of language, they felt that talking, laughing a lot, and reading books constituted having playedwell. Psychological changes after play for both males and females were positive; the common emotions meantioedwere ‘feeling good’, ‘happy’, and ‘satisfied’, etc.

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