46 Juhas I., et al., The Attitude of the Facultyof Sport... PHYSICAL CULTURE 2011; 65 (1): 46-51 Irina Juhas Ana Orlić Dušanka Lazarević Nenad Janković 796-057.875:159.9.072 Milan Matić Original Scientific Paper Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Belgrade THE ATTITUDE OF THE FACULTY OF SPORT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS TOWARD CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNING Abstract The syllabus of the track and field subject at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education includes cross-country running - running in nature. The main objective of this study was to determine the structure and intensity of students’ attitude toward the cross-country running. Besides, the objective was to check the connection of the students’ attitude towards the cross-country running and the achieved results of cross-country running, as well as of doing sport and recreational running. The sample comprised 69 students of the second year of studies who attended the cross-country running classes. For measuring the attitude toward the cross-country running, the Connotative differential instrument was used consisting of 15 pairs of opposite adjectives presented in a form of seven-part bipolar scale grouped into three dimensions: affective, cognitive and conative. This instrument was applied within an extensive questionnaire which included questions about doing sports, jogging, as well as the results of cross-country running at the end of the teaching period. The descriptive analysis has shown that students have a positive attitude of moderate intensity toward cross-country running, observed through all three dimensions of attitude. The correlation analysis between the dimensions of attitude toward cross country running and the results achieved at cross country running showed that the correlations are negative and statistically significant, suggesting that if the result of running is better, the students’ attitude toward cross country running is more positive. Competitive sport is not connected with the quality of attitude toward cross- country running. The results obtained by the study give grounds for assuming that, given that attitudes are an important component of the motivational aspect of personality, it can be expected that the students’ positive attitude toward cross country running would contribute to cross country running application in their future professional activity and encourage this form of physical activity. Key words: TEACHING / CONNOTATIVE DIFFERENTIAL / RUNNING INTRODUCTION One of the efficient ways to eliminate the harmful consequences of sedentary way of life is to use running as a natural form of movement. Running provides the necessary quantities of oxygen to the body, improves heart and lungs function, activates blood circulation and metabolism, improves sleep, work ability, and plays an important role in health preservation (Stefanovic, Juhas, Jankovic, 2008). In addition, it has numerous positive psychological ef- fects such as emotional tension and anxiety reduc- tion as well as good general psychological condition (Weinberg & Gould, 2007). With this in mind, it is important to develop interest in this type of physi- cal activity in young people through the educational process, so that it would become an integral part of their daily lives as a component of a healthy lifestyle. A teacher of physical education and sport, who shall influence the development of these interests in young Correspondence to: Irina Juhas, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Belgrade Blagoja Parovića 156, 11030 Belgrade, e-mail: irina.juhas@fsfv.rs