ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS RECREATION IN BIDA-NIGERIA

 
Attitudes are essentially important in determining a people’s peculiarities and response to services provided. This study, titled ‘assessment of residents’ attitudes towards recreation in Bida-Nigeria’ was achieved through field observation and the administration of 969 structured questionnaires using systematic sampling to select respondents from four strata of men, women, youths and children in Cheniyan and Nassarafu wards. With the aid of the SPSS and EXCEL packages, data were coded and presented in statistical diagrams and tables, and analyzed using percentage, Chi-Square Test and the Spearman’s Rank Correlation. Study evidence revealed that though residents commonly preferred recreational activities such as dancing, gardening, walking, traditional recreation and football, they were constrained from participating in active recreation due to pre-occupation with family and fear of sustaining injuries. The result of the Chi-Square Test, which showed that men and women demonstrated poor attitudes towards physical exercises, confirmed that finding, and revealed that though gender did not influence residents’ attitudes towards active recreation, occupation and marital status did. Further findings indicated that though youths and children had positive attitudes towards active recreation, the recreational facilities desired by the youths were lacking in Bida. The study concluded by suggesting enlightenment programmes, building and maintenance of desired neighbourhood recreational facilities for residents, recreation insurance schemes and recreation with pay to address poor attitudes and encourage more residents’ participation in the active form of recreation.
 
Every human being needs a leisure time which could be utilized in certain recreational activities for rejuvenation. Positive recreation is neither a luxury nor unproductive activity, but a fundamental human need required to stay healthy. However, attitude can be one of the most difficult barriers to recreation participation (Bedni, 2000; Smith et al., 2005). Obinna et al. (2009) equally contend that attitude to recreation is one of the recreation challenges in the rural and urban areas of Nigeria. Kachoub (2010) reports that attitude is an intrinsic component that reveals one’s thoughts and beliefs on a language, culture, people or an activity which consequently helps to predict the behaviour of the individual. Crow and Crow (1999) describe attitude as the effective by-product of an individual’s experience, have their bases in his inner urges, acquired habits, and the environmental influences by which he is surrounded. Henry (1991) explains attitudes as serving as an index of how we think, and feel about people, objects and issues in our environment. They provide clues to future behaviour, predicting how we will act when we encounter the objects of our beliefs. All peoples of the world have their peculiarities, likes and dislikes, which distinguish them from others and explain the manner they accept or reject a programme or service. Peoples’ response to services is a function of their culture and belief. These are important factors that shape the way they behave (their attitudes). Moinpour and MacLachlan (2009) emphasize that attitude toward a product is a function of the sum of perceived attributes weighted as to the importance possessed by that product. That is, an individual’s attitude toward any product is a function of his perception about the product in terms of product attributes and the importance of these attributes; people prefer the product toward which they express more favorable attitude.