Sport priorities of St. Petersburg residents: sociological survey data

Фотографии: 

ˑ: 

Dr.Sc.Soc., Professor M.V. Sinyutin
Dr.Sc.Soc., Professor E.E. Tarando
Dr.Sc.Soc., Associate Professor L.A. Lebedintseva
PhD, Associate Professor R.V. Karapetyan
PhD, Associate Professor O.A. Nikiforova
Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg

 

Keywords: opinion poll, sport priorities, leisure-time physical practices, Saint Petersburg residents.

Background. Sports and sport-related interests play an important role in the modern lifestyles commonly appreciated as the leisure-time and individual discretion dependent activity. Competitive sports may be described as a form of competitive physical and/or intellectual activity strictly regulated by the relevant rules and intended to improve health and entertain those involved.

It is natural that modern megalopolises draw in and accumulate sports and sport services. Urban residents’ lifestyles are normally determined by a certain dichotomy of job responsibilities and leisure time and this is particularly true for the contracted population groups selling their services to industrial or service companies. Leisure time normally implies certain degree of freedom from the everyday chores, family responsibilities and compulsory forms of cultural activities, and in this sense leisure time may be referred to as the fully autonomous individual domain albeit still dependent of the social conditions. It should be noted that the line between job and leisure is traditionally more blurred in Russia than in western countries [2], although interrelations of these two domains of the modern lifestyles are still pivotal in the leisure time preferences of urban residents.

It is typical for the Saint Petersburg city that the local residents’ lifestyles tend to give some priority to leisure-time sports. This proneness is supported, on the one hand, by a well-developed sport service infrastructure and, on the other hand, a wide range of business services catering for the natural public interests in competitive sports. In view of this dualism of leisure-time services, the residents’ involvement in sports may vary in a wide range from the most active engagement to passive watching and from different health practices and competitive sports. As reported by the Saint Petersburg Municipal Government on its official website, about a quarter of the local urban population was engaged in different sports in 2013-2015 versus 26.46% in 2014. It is important, however, to obtain some data on how this engagement correlates with personal sport priorities of the residents actively doing sports.

Objective of the study was to perform a sociological survey and analyze the Saint Petersburg residents’ sport priorities classified by those doing and watching sports.

Methods and structure of the study. For the purposes of the study, we analyzed the relevant data arrays of other study reports characteristic of the roles of sports versus multiple aspects of the Saint Petersburg residents’ lifestyles. We applied findings of the telephone survey of the Saint Petersburg residents performed by the Saint Petersburg State University Sociological and Internet Research Centre in the period of February 5 to March 18, 2016 using “CATI’ system. Subject to the survey was a quoted stratified sample of 18+ (n=1000) adult residents of Saint Petersburg, with an individual standard interview form applied. The interviews were designed to obtain, among other things, the gender-, age-, education- and residence-specific data of the residents. The sample representativeness was secured by the telephone numbers being selected on a random basis from the Saint Petersburg district telephone directories.

Study results and discussion. The study showed a serious disagreement of the Saint Petersburg residents on the question what sports to do (Table 1) and watch (Table 2). The highest-priority active sports (preferred by at least 10% of the sample) included swimming, fitness and gym practices indicative of the Saint Petersburg residents clearly favouring indoor sports. Ranked within the range of 5-10% were some active outdoor sports dominated by skiing and jogging. As for watching sports, the highest-priority sports (supported by at least 10% of the sample) included football, figure skating, ice hockey, swimming and biathlon. Ranked within the range of 5-10% were track and field sports, skiing, rhythmic gymnastics, basketball and volleyball. It may be pertinent to note that only swimming was ranked high on both lists and, therefore, this sport discipline may be considered the most favoured by the Saint Petersburg residents, with 19.7% actively engaged in swimming and 12.6% watching swimming events.

Table 1. Saint Petersburg residents’ grouping by active sport interests

Sport discipline

%

Gender

Age

 

 

Male

Female

18-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60 +

Swimming

19,7

16,9

21,8

10,9

21,0

20,1

27,7

21,2

Fitness

15,6

10,3

19,8

21,7

21,8

19,5

4,0

7,1

Gym practices

13,2

18,8

8,9

22,5

14,3

16,1

6,9

2,7

Skiing

9,0

9,9

8,3

2,9

4,2

10,1

16,8

13,3

Jogging

8,5

14,0

4,3

13,0

6,7

9,4

5,9

6,2

Yoga

4,5

1,1

7,2

4,3

5,0

6,7

5,0

0,9

Exercise therapy

4,4

2,6

5,7

1,4

2,5

5,4

5,9

7,1

Gymnastics

3,9

3,3

4,3

5,8

0,8

2,7

5,9

4,4

Walking, walking tours

3,9

4,8

3,2

0,0

0,8

3,4

6,9

9,7

Wrestling/ martial arts

3,5

7,0

0,9

8,7

4,2

2,7

1,0

0,0

Cycling

3,5

5,1

2,3

2,2

1,7

4,7

5,0

4,4

Aerobics

2,9

0,0

5,2

4,3

2,5

3,4

4,0

0,0

Football

2,7

5,9

0,3

8,7

1,7

2,0

0,0

0,0

Stretching

2,6

1,1

3,7

3,6

1,7

2,7

2,0

2,7

Dancing

1,9

0,0

3,4

3,6

3,4

0,7

0,0

1,8

Callisthenics

1,8

1,5

2,0

1,4

0,0

0,7

3,0

4,4

Scandinavian walking

1,8

0,7

2,6

0,0

0,0

2,0

2,0

5,3

Volleyball

1,5

2,9

0,3

2,2

1,7

2,0

1,0

0,0

Skating

1,5

0,7

2,0

1,4

1,7

1,3

3,0

0,0

Workout grounds in yards

1,5

2,9

0,3

3,6

1,7

1,3

0,0

0,0

Basketball

1,0

2,2

0,0

2,9

0,8

0,7

0,0

0,0

Ice hockey

1,0

2,2

0,0

1,4

0,8

1,3

1,0

0,0

Other

8,4

8,8

8,0

9,4

7,6

6,7

9,9

8,8

Uncertain

6,3

5,1

7,2

1,4

10,1

6,0

7,9

7,1

Neither 

16,3

15,1

17,2

7,2

16,0

16,1

17,8

26,5

 

Table 2. Saint Petersburg residents’ grouping by passive (watching) sport interests

Sport discipline

%

Gender

Age

 

 

Male

Female

18-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60 +

Football

24,9

39,9

13,4

27,4

19,8

26,1

26,9

24,1

Figure skating

18,4

2,0

30,8

8,1

18,7

21,6

19,9

22,5

Ice hockey

17,6

26,8

10,7

15,2

18,2

23,4

18,1

13,7

Swimming

12,6

6,3

17,4

14,7

15,0

11,9

11,1

10,8

Biathlon

12,1

7,7

15,5

6,6

11,8

11,0

18,7

13,3

Track and field sports

9,3

6,3

11,5

8,6

7,5

11,9

5,8

11,2

Skiing

7,5

4,1

10,2

5,1

7,0

7,3

7,0

10,4

Rhythmic gymnastics

6,4

1,4

10,2

3,0

3,7

6,4

4,7

12,0

Basketball

5,3

7,9

3,3

10,7

5,9

2,8

2,9

4,4

Volleyball

5,0

5,9

4,3

6,1

3,2

2,3

3,5

8,8

Boxing

2,7

5,0

1,0

4,6

3,7

1,8

1,8

2,0

Cycling

2,6

3,9

1,7

2,5

3,2

2,3

2,9

2,4

Martial arts

2,3

3,9

1,2

4,6

1,6

1,8

2,3

1,6

Tennis

2,3

0,9

3,4

3,0

1,6

3,7

1,8

1,6

Motor races

1,3

2,9

0,0

1,0

2,7

0,9

1,2

0,8

Wrestling and martial arts

1,3

2,5

0,3

1,0

1,1

2,3

1,8

0,4

Dancing

1,2

0,2

1,9

2,0

2,7

0,0

0,6

0,8

Equestrian sport

1,1

0,0

1,9

1,5

1,1

1,4

1,8

0,0

Weight lifting

1,1

1,6

0,7

1,5

3,2

0,5

0,0

0,4

Table tennis

0,8

1,4

0,3

2,0

0,5

0,0

1,2

0,4

Billiards, snooker

0,6

1,4

0,0

0,5

0,0

0,0

2,3

0,4

Skating

0,6

0,7

0,5

0,0

0,5

1,4

0,6

0,4

Motor races

0,6

1,4

0,0

1,0

1,1

0,5

0,6

0,0

Artistic gymnastics

0,6

0,5

0,7

1,0

1,1

0,0

1,2

0,0

Rowing

0,5

0,7

0,3

0,0

0,0

0,0

1,8

0,8

On the gender scale, women population was found more prone to active sports; and men – to passive interests. Male Saint Petersburg residents prefer gym workouts and like watching football versus female Saint Petersburg residents who practice swimming and watch figure skating events. With age, the Saint Petersburg residents tend to become more actively engaged in swimming and skiing practices showing some sag of interest in fitness and gym practices. The interest in watching swimming events tends to drop with age although versus other core sport disciplines staying virtually the same with some traceable changes being unstable.

On the education scale, the respondents’ interest in swimming was found to expressly grow with the education level from 6.7% for the primary vocational education to 26.7% for the higher humanitarian education. Active fitness interests were found similar to gym practice interests in their structure, with the secondary school and university graduates being most interested (15-20%) and secondary vocational school graduates being least interest (5-10%) in fitness practices. The least educated Saint Petersburg residents reportedly prefer workout grounds in yards (33.3%) and basketball (33.3%). It should be noted that the Saint Petersburg residents with primary or incomplete secondary education were found the most disinterested (33.3%) in doing sports; whilst the proportion of the sport-ignoring group was the lowest (9.9%) for the humanitarian university graduates. People with secondary education were mostly interested in football (30-35%) and ice-hockey (20-25%) matches versus the humanitarian university graduates who were the most disinterested to watch these sports (17.6% and 13.7%, respectively).

On the income scale, the respondents’ interests in the sports showed a few notable trends. It should be emphasised, however, that the respondents with income levels close to the present official survival level were found always extreme in their responses. The higher were the income levels of the respondents, the more they were engaged in fitness, gym and swimming practices and the less they were interested in skiing, with some still reporting no active sport engagement. With the growing income they tend to watch more football, ice hockey and biathlon; swimming and figure skating become less popular.

Married residents of Saint Petersburg were found prone to skiing, swimming and fitness practices and less prone to jogging, gym practices and workouts in yards. Marriage was found to be of no distracting impact on the respondents’ interests in watching football, ice hockey and swimming events; with an insignificant distracting impact on figure skating; but significantly increased their interest in watching biathlon events. In the most popular sports segment, families having children were more engaged in active swimming, fitness and gym practices; and showed growing disinterest in skiing sagging from 10.4% to 3.9%. With the children’s aging, however, the past interests tend to restore. In this case, children tend to reduce the family interest in watching football, biathlon and figure skating events (the latter, however, generally grows when children grow up) and increase their interest in ice hockey and swimming events.

On the employment scale, the Saint Petersburg residents were ranked as follows. The least engaged in active sports were the disabled people and dependants (50%), unqualified workers (42.9 %) and government officers (33.3%). The most engaged in active sports were military service, police and court personnel (100%) plus students (95.6%). In the most popular sports segment, fitness was preferred by the disabled and dependants (50%), housewives (33.3%); military service, police and court personnel (33.3%); gym practices - by the disabled and dependants (50%), military service, police and court personnel (33.3%) and individual entrepreneurs (27.8%); swimming - government/ municipal officers (33.3%), military service, police and court personnel (33.3%) and mid- to top-level management officers (32.6%); skiing - unqualified workers (28.6%) and individual entrepreneurs (22.2%); jogging - qualified workers (16.3%), technical personnel with secondary education (15.6%), individual entrepreneurs (11.1%) and mid- to top-level management officers (10.9%).

On the sport watching scale, the Saint Petersburg residents were ranked as follows. Prone to watch football were military service, police and court personnel (40%), government/ municipal officers (38.5%), individual entrepreneurs (36.4%); ice hockey - military service, police and court personnel (50 %), qualified workers (31.5%) and individual entrepreneurs (27.3%); figure skating - temporarily unemployed people (27.1%), military service, police and court personnel (26,1 %) and unemployed pensioners (25.3%); swimming - housewives (24.4 %), military service, police and court personnel (21 %) and the disabled and dependants (20%); biathlon was reportedly preferred by the disabled and dependants (40%), individual entrepreneurs (22.7%) and military service, police and court personnel (20%).

Conclusion. Both the active and passive attitudes to sport reported by the respondents were found largely dependent on the leisure time and job intensity. The preferred active sport practices were found expressly gender-, age- and education-specific. The respondents’ scope of interests was found to be job-specific albeit in the priority sports segment the respondents’ interests were found stable and job-unspecific.

References

  1. Sinyutin M.V., Karapetyan R.V. Fenomen sporta v diskurse ekonomicheskoy sotsiologii. [Phenomenon of sports in the discourse of economic sociology]. Vestnik SPbGU. Ser. 12, vol. 1, 2015, pp. 128-134.
  2. Lovell S. Dosug v Rossii: “svobodnoe” vremya i ego ispolzovanye. [Leisure in Russia: "free" time and its use]. Antropologicheskiy forum, no. 2, 2005, pp. 136-173.
  3. Ofitsialny sait Komiteta po fizicheskoy kulture i sportu Pravitel’stva Sankt-Peterburga: bazy dannykh. [The official website of the Committee for Physical Culture and Sports Government of St. Petersburg: database]. Available at: http://kfis.spb.ru/

Corresponding author: m.sinutin@spbu.ru

Abstract

The article presents findings of a sociological survey of the Saint Petersburg residents’ sport priorities classified by those doing and watching sports. The survey performed in the period of February 5 to March 18, 2016 was based on quoted stratified sample (1,000 people) being surveyed by a standard telephone interview using “CATI” system. The study revealed a serious disagreement of the Saint Petersburg residents on the question what sports to do or watch. When the sport preference is determined by the leisure time and job-specific stresses, active sports help create certain mental comfort and improve self-control under different stressors. The sport watching interests were found to depend on the sport competitiveness and team spirit. The preferred active sport practices were found expressly gender-, age- and education-specific. The respondents’ scope of interests was found to be job-specific, and the individual sport preference was found income-, marital-status and children-specific.