Re-examination of favorable attitudes toward corporal punishment in extracurricular school sports settings

Abstract

Corporal punishment in the setting of extracurricular school sport activities (bukatsu in Japan) has attracted public attention since 2013. Previous research studies attempted to characterize the actual conditions of corporal punishment in bukatsu. Several studies have demonstrated that direct experience with corporal punishment in bukatsu led to a favorable attitude toward corporal punishment among those that received it. However, these studies did not take into consideration extraneous variables (e.g., sex, age, aggression) that may contribute to the development of favorable attitudes. The purpose of this study was to re-examine the results of previous studies using a modified research design and statistical analysis plan. Participants were 287 individuals, aged 18 to 65 years. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that direct experience with corporal punishment in bukatsu positively influenced favorable attitudes toward corporal punishment even after controlling for several extraneous variables. Moreover, the direct effect of experiencing corporal punishment in bukatsu was fully mediated by the perceived effectiveness of corporal punishment. These results extend this field of research by complementing previous research.