Abstract
This studyexaminedcampcounselors' perceptions of campers' personalities within the group inorganized camping.Specifically, how do camp counselors perceive campers when they observe them during camp activities and what kind of factors influence the counselors' perceptions. The effects of counselors' gender, the extent of campers' problem behavior, and four camp situations were examined. Twenty-four camp counselors, 10 males and 14 females, rated, in rank order, the ten campers in their group according to their perceived behaviorproblems. Sixcampers were selected, numbers 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, and 10. Then, each of the campers was rated on a 24-item scale as related to participation personality in four camp situations-at the end of first day, group initiatives, backpacking, and after breaking the tent on the final day. A factor analysis with oblique rotation was performed on the ratings to obtain perception dimensions. The results showed six perception dimensions: cheerfulness, familiarity, neatness, self-confidence, positive, and emotional stability. There was higher correlation between emotional stability, neatness and campers' problem score than the other dimensions. With regard to the differences ofgender, female counselors recognized campers' personality more positive than male counselors. And, there was no difference in the effect of the four situations on counselors' perceptions.
