Participation in Adventure-Based Activities and Self-Concepts of College Men and Women

A sample of 18 students (8 women, 10 men) enrolled in a semester-long adventure-education class and 32 (17 women, 15 men) enrolled in a general health class were administered the Tennessee Self-concept Scale to assess the effect of participation in adventure-based activities on self-concept. Using analysis of covariance, with the pretest scores as the covariate, significant differences were found between the two groups on total self-concept and on subscale scores of Physical self, Social self, and Behavior subscales for men, with the scores of the adventure-education class being significantly higher than those of the control group. Significantly higher scores were found for women in the adventure-education class on total self-concept and on subscale scores than on the Physical self and Personal self scales.