The choice of extra curricular activities of secondary school students as a function of psychological differentiation.

Abstract

Rosenberg has demonstrated that the high school student is influenced by several factors in choosing an extra-curricular activity. Witkin, on the other hand, has shown that an individual's characteristic mode of perceiving the environment, that is his degree of psychological differentiation, can be reliably identified. A specific link between Rosenberg's notion of perceived choice of extra-curricular involvement and Witkin's psychological differentiation has yet to be established. Rosenberg identified two distinct types of perceived involvements, Inclusive and Exclusive. Witkin and others have developed measuring instruments to determine a subject's degree of psychological differentiation. The purpose of the present study is to test the hitherto undetermined connection between the student's degree of psychological differentiation and his perceived choice of extra-curricular activities as measured on the continuum of Inclusivity-Exclusivity. In addition, a second purpose of the study is to develop a testing instrument to measure Inclusivity-Exclusivity. In the current research, scores on the degree of psychological differentiation were measured by Jackson's version of Witkin's Embedded-Figures Test, the Hidden Figures Test-V (HFT-V). The constructed Inclusivity-Exclusivity Questionnaire (I-E) was used to measure the perceived choice of activities. The research sample included one hundred and fifty-one students from grades nine to thirteen. The hypothesis that field-dependent subjects, as determined by the HFT-V, exhibit significantly higher scores on the I-E than field-independent subjects was supported. The study concludes with the following suggestions for further research: (1) The Questionnaire could be further validated for the use of future research of student's perceived choice of activities by investigating its consistency as a measuring instrument across cultures, socio-economic groupings and with different races. (2) It would be of interest to do an exploratory investigation to determine some of the other factors involved in the choice of an extra-curricular activity. (3) A number of correlational studies of extra-curricular involvement with academic success, leadership, self-esteem, school completion, and career choice is suggested.