The present paper focuses on the problem of shaping the attitude towards health-hazard factors according to individual’s extroversion level, neuroticism and reactivity in various phases of the studying process at the Academy of Physical Education in Poznań. It has been ascertained, among others, that physical education studies have a positive influence on students’ tested attitudes, and moreover, that shaping advantageous health-orientated attitudes is accompanied by individual’s high extroversion level, low neuroticism and reactivity.

The interest in health-hazard factors is justified taking into account the common opinion that the life-style preferred by an individual is one of chief determinants of health [19]. Such an approach to the problem results from the analysis of interrelations between environmental factors and the nervous system, immunity system, and the type of behaviour conditioned by some mental properties of the individual. Such a view is in full consistent with the bio-psychosocial concept of health and sickness [4] stipulating that physical health of an individual is closely interrelated with his mental state and the relationship with the surrounding world. This opinion emphasizes a particular meaning of the complex relations occurring between man and his environment [10].

Hence, optimal and full health manifests itself in human capability to gain one’s own physical, mental, and social abilities, and in replying to environmental challenges [16, 20]. Therefore, health is not considered to be the aim in itself but a mean enabling man to make use of existing possibilities as to render his life more satisfying and efficient. In a situation in which the attempts are made aimed at maintaining the health or preventing a sickness, a health-promoting behaviour is observed which should be based on appropriate attitude, regarded as a motive factor leading to suitable behaviour. Hence, it becomes clear that in order to expect people to manifest a given health-promoting attitude one should previously exert pressure on them to form appropriate attitudes with respect to health-among others by stimulation of positive emotions and motivation – and provide them with suitable information [8].

The studies of Physical Education include forms of action which – apart from the subject called “health-promoting education”, deal with health problems, inclusive of summer and winter training camps. Hence, it may be assumed that the studies of Physical Education positively influence the health-promoting attitude among young people taking part in the education process. Such an assumption is of great importance, as formation of the attitude and health-promoting behaviour of future physical education teachers and coaches should result in formation of advantageous attitude and behaviour modes among young people under their care. It should be noticed that recently these attitude and behaviour modes are often improper [14].

One of the motives for researching health-promoting attitudes in students of physical education was the research carried out by M. Gacek [7] on individual conditions with respect to health-hazard factors among academic students. There were comparative studies on the group of sophomores from the University of Physical Education (UPE) and the students from other universities. On the other hand, we were especially interested in drawing a comparison between the attitudes of UPE students commencing their education to the ones being about to graduate, with an attempt of finding interrelations between the attitudes and some personal features of the individuals under examination. This was performed on the group of 200 (100 women and 100 men) students in their 1st and 4th years at the Faculty of Physical Education in Poznań. The study was carried out in 2000 with the use of the following tools: 1) H. J. Eysenck inventory of personality in the field of extraversion, introversion, and neuroticism measurement [15]; 2) J. Strelau temper questionnaire related to the measurement of the reactivity process; 3) the questionnaire of attitude with respect to health-risk factors, developed by M. Gacek [7] (we would like to express our gratitude to Mrs. Maria Gacek, Ph.D., for her consent to make use of the “Inquiry Sheet of the Attitudes toward Health-hazard Factors” of her authorship for the purpose of the present study) enabling measurement of attitudes related to inappropriate feeding, low physical activity, use of dependence-inducing substances (nicotine, alcohol, drugs), exposure to stressors, and incidental sexual contacts. A 5-points scale was adopted, formulated as growing values of the attitude index according to 43 assumptions of the Likert type mean strengthening of the health-promoting attitude.

The obtained results are presented starting from students’ attitudes with respect to various health-hazard factors, taking into account the students’ sex and the year of studies (Table 1). According to the data from Table 1 the students’ attitudes toward most of the health-hazard factors become more and more health-promoting, irrespective of the sex of the examined individuals. In the case of women this is related to the kind of feeding, physical activity, and dependence-inducing substances. In the case of men, it is the matter of the kind of feeding, dependence-inducing substances, and sexual contacts. What concerns sexual contacts in women and physical activity in men is that changes observed in the course of their studies tended to improve slightly, without reaching, however, the level of significance.

Table 1. Attitude index among physical education students towards health-hazard factors according to sex and age

The regularity found above is not observed with respect to the stress. The 4^th-year students showed less positive attitudes with respect to this factor, as compared to the freshmen, irrespective of their sex. This disadvantageous trend of the changes towards stress was conducive to the fact that the global health-promoting index, in general much improved by the end of studies, reached a significant level of its differences only in women.

Relatively small inter-sex differences were found in the range of attitudes in the same years of education. In the case of the 1^st year students a significantly more advantageous attitude (0.05) towards sexual contacts was displayed by women. The 4th year female students predominated in the field of feeding and addictions.

The discussion of the results related to the extraversion level and average indexes of the students’ attitudes with respect to health-hazard factors in various years of the studies is referred to in Table 2. The data obtained during the tests indicate that the extraversion level may be the parameter that differentiates the attitude indexes with respect to particular factors. More advantageous attitude indexes accompany higher extraversion levels nearly in all cases. The diversification, in principle, does not depend on the sex. Such regularity was observed both in initial and final years of the studies. Only few cases were found in which the subjects manifesting decidedly different extraversion levels showed no significant differences in the values of their attitudes towards the examined health-hazard factors. This feature was directly manifested in the global factor, in which extraverted individuals presented more advantageous attitudes with respect to the introverted ones.

Table 2. Attitude index among physical education students towards health-hazard factors according to extroversion level

The data from Table 3 show the neuroticism level interrelated with the average index of students’ attitude toward health-hazard factors at various years of the studies. Table 3 gives evidence that the neuroticism level may serve as a diversification factor of the attitude towards various health-hazard factors, as it was in the case of extraversion. In principle, a high level of the observed property was accompanied by less advantageous attitude indexes. On the other hand, better indexes were found in even-tempered persons. The above principle was found in all examined individuals, irrespective of their sex and the year of their studies.

The difference did not reach the significance level only in few cases. The observed attitude indexes in the individuals of different neuroticism levels and related to particular health-hazard factors found their obvious manifestation in the global index, in which they achieved the significance level amounting to at least p<0.01 in all the cases.

Table 3. Attitude index among physical education students towards health-hazard factors according to neuroticism level

The numerical data from Table 4 related to the reactivity level and average indexes of the students’ attitudes towards health-hazard factors in various years of their studies, indicate that the level of temperamental reactivity is a property diversifying the attitude indexes with respect to the examined health-hazard factors, as in the case of extraversion or neuroticism. However, the individuals characterized with a high reactivity level presented less advantageous attitude indexes, as in the case of neuroticism. Such regularity occurred in general, irrespective of the sex and the year of the studies. The only exception occurred in the group of the 1^st-year female students, among whom no dependence was observed between the reactivity level and the attitude towards addictions. In result, the individuals of different reactivity levels showed significantly different attitudes towards the health-hazard factors that affected the relative global index.

Table 4. Attitude index among physical education students towards health-hazard factors according to reactivity level

A comparison of attitude indexes presented by the seniors and the freshmen clearly shows that, in general, the studies in physical education positively affect the attitudes conducive to health-promoting behaviour. Relatively advantageous attitudes of the UPE students as compared to the students of other universities observed in other research trials [7] improve in the course of their studies (except for the attitude towards the stress). It is a highly optimistic result, as the attitude and, in consequence, health-promoting behaviour of physical education teachers or coaches shall directly determine the attitude and behaviour modes among children and young people under their care. The attitudes subject to the research are expressed by a positive emotional-volitional relation with respect to reasonable diet, high physical activity and high resistance to stress; and negative with respect to psycho-active substances and risky sexual contacts.

These results indicate, at the same time, that some of relatively permanent personal-temperamental features of the students may also significantly affect their health-promoting attitudes. Extraverted persons, as opposed to introverted ones, are usually characterized by a more healthy style of living. This might be a result of their tending towards the outside world that, together with low plasticity and low susceptibility to outside conditions, makes them resistant to the “charms” of the health-hazard factors.

Another pattern of relationship was observed in the case of neuroticism and temperamental reactivity, i.e. the factors related to high emotional sensibility with worsened resistance to stress conditions. These both features show a significant interrelation [17]. Low resistance to stress conditions in highly reactive persons results presumably from their low tolerance to divergence between the actual and optimal situation, i.e. insufficient or excessive stimulation with regard to the needs [3]. A less advantageous system of health-promoting attitudes among excitable, inclined to anxiety, or emotionally unbalanced young people may result from their higher activation resulting in lower demand for stimulation and lowered tolerance to stress [18].

On the other hand, low-reactive and even-tempered individuals are more inclined to constructive strategies, without opposing increasing or decreasing activation. Therefore, they are able to adapt to a much wider range of different conditions and, in particular, operate better under excessive stimulation. At the same time, they may be less susceptible to the “temptations” and health-menacing attitudes. Similar results were obtained in other studies [12].

On the other hand, the present research showed no important difference between the attitudes observed among women and men, as opposed to the studies carried out in Cracow. The difference presumably results from the varying social situation. Thus, within the 2-years interval between both search trials the attitudes of women and men might approximate. Nevertheless, the observed differences confirmed the previous results of more advantageous attitudes of women in the scope of feeding and addictions (the 4^th year of studies) and sexual contacts (the 1^st year of studies). The opinion that sex may diversify the life style, which would give rise to the need of different prophylactic actions, was proclaimed by Fenczyn [5]. He argued that women should be more extensively encouraged to physical activity, while men should abstain from consumption of condiments. Women manifest another attitude toward health – their life style is healthier, they follow a more reasonable diet, use tobacco or alcohol more seldom, but, at the same time, are less inclined to athletics or motor recreation.

A relatively high assessment of health as an important value in the opinion of academic students is confirmed by other studies carried out with students of physical education and of other majors [6, 11]. Nevertheless, the UPE students are positively distinguishable as a group manifesting a health-promoting behaviour.

Due assessment of health declared by the observed attitude is not a prerequisite for the appropriate care of one’s own health. The relationship between health consciousness and health activity is very often surprisingly incoherent. It is probably the case of frequent discrepancy between thinking and action in the range of health consciousness [2, 9]. At the same time, the health-promoting behaviours conducive to improving health are seen as culture indices of contemporary man. Active, alcohol-abstaining style of living is, after all, the expression of social health, the formation of which is significantly affected by health education [13].

According to the salutogenetic approach [1], the essence of which consists in seeking health conditions instead of asking for the reasons of sickness, the questions concern factors that are friendly to health and the reasons why people keep well in spite of harmful stresses. As it seems the present work may provide answers to the above questions and advocate the individual education approach in this field.

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