The effects of university students’ physical activity experience on communication skills and anxiety

In this study, we will focus on extracurricular activity experiences as a result of taking a physical activity. In recent years, the Japan Business Federation has stressed the importance of communication skills for Japanese university students. However, the effect of physical activity on communication skills and feelings of anxiety due to physical activity experience is not sufficiently considered in Japan. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of physical activity experiences, especially on communication skills and feelings of anxiety (State-Trait anxiety). This study compared the degree of progress of communication skills and feelings of anxiety of the intervention group, consisting of students who participated in extracurricular activities, with the control group who did not engage in any sports clubs. The subjects were about 500 students aged 18 to 23 at a university in the Kanto region of Japan. A paper-based survey asked respondents about extracurricular activity experiences and sport performed in their school days, what type of sport they did, how frequently they engaged in sport, and the purpose of engaging in sport. The survey also consisted of a “communication skills scale” developed by Fujimoto et al. (2007) and the STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) developed by Charles D. Spielberger (1983), which was a well-known questionnaire designed to evaluate anxiety. The communication skill scale was divided into six factors: “self-control”, “expressiveness”, “decipherability”, “self-assertion”, “acceptance of others”, “relationship adjustment”. Our data shows correlations between the amount of sports activities and the improvement of communications skills, as well as a decrease in anxiety. Thus, we conclude that group sport activities seem to help students improve their communication skills and to lower their anxiety.