INFLUENCE OF PRE-PERFORMANCE PROPAGANDA ON THE ATTITUDE OF FOOTBALLERS TOWARDS WINNING A GAME

INFLUENCE OF PRE-PERFORMANCE PROPAGANDA ON THEATTITUDE OF FOOTBALLERS TOWARDS

WINNING A GAME

OKORO CHARLES ONYEWUCHI

10/6961

BEING A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THEDEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, FACULTY OF SOCIAL

SCIENCES.

IMO STATE UNIVERSITY, OWERRI

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FORTHE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.Sc) HONOURS

DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

1

MARCH, 2015.

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CERTIFICATION PAGE

This is to certify that this project is an authentic

record of the work carried out by Okoro Charles

Onyewuchi with natriculation number 10/6961, under the

supervision of Dr. I. C. Mbaeze of the Department of

Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imo State

University Owerr.

…………………………………. ………………………

Okoro Charles .O. Date

Researcher

…………………………………. ………………………

Dr. I. C. Mbaeze Date

Supervisor

…………………………………. ………………………

Prof. Nkwam Uwaoma Date

HOD

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…………………………………. ………………………

External Examiner Date

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to God Almighty for his guidance

and protection over me.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge this work to God Almighty for hiswisdom and guidance throughout the entire work. Myprofound gratitude goes to my supervisor, Dr. I. C.Mbaeze, who made me sit up and work very hard, Godbless you sir. My head of department (HOD) Rev. Prof.Nkwam Uwaoma, my distinguished lecturers Mr. RichardEbeh, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Sydney Agbor, Miss Ann Madukwe,Mrs. Helen Annozie, Mr. Ethelbert Njoku, Dr. NwabuezeCletus Offor, Dr. Harry Obi Nwosu, Dr. Mrs. Ossai whonurtured me throughout my stay in the university, Godbless you all.

My parent Mrs. Beatrice Nkem Okoro, my lovelymother for her moral, financial and intellectualassistance throughout my stay in the university, Icouldn’t have done it without your support. To my oneand only brother Okoro Anthony C. for your assistanceand love you showed to me throught my stay in theuniversity, I say thank you. My Uncle Prof. U. O.Nkwogu and his family for the great opportunity theygave to me to become a graduate, God will continue tobless your family.

My dear cousins and friends Ebuka and Chima Nkwogu,Mrs. Chiamaka Udemba (Amaka), Iberi Pascal Passy,Okwara Willi Willi Williams, Chigbo Jennifer, I JNneke, Nmagu, Mercy, Martins, Ikemba, Prisca Okwuchi,Joshua, K.C. Nzeji & Romanus, for your financial,moral, intellectual support, God bless you all and tomy sweetheart Nwamba Promise Uchenna (Sniper J.), foryour care and support.

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ABSTRACT

The study investigated the influence of Pre-PerformancePropaganda on the Attitude of Footballers TowardWinning a Game. One Hypothesis was postulated andtested. (200) participants from four faculties of ImoState University Owerri, Nigeria were drawn for thestudy. The participants were all male with age rangingfrom 18-30 years with the mean age of 23.37. theparticipants were measured with Pre-performancePropaganda Scale (PPS) and Footballers Attitude TowardsWinning Game Scale (FATWGS) which was all developed andvalidated by the researcher. The design is a surveydesign, while the statistics used for the study is aOne Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The result showedthat the hypothesis was rejected at the probabilitylevel of 0.5. The result indicated that Pre-performancePropaganda has influence on the attitude of footballerstowards winning a game. Implications andrecommendations of the study were also made

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page - - - - -- -- i

Certification- - - - - -- ii

Dedication - - - - - -- iii

Acknowledgments- - - - - iv

Abstract- - - - - - - v

Table of contents- - - - - vi

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION - - - 1

Statement of Problem - - - 12

Purpose of Study - - - - 13

Operational Definition of Terms - - 13

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review- - -- - 15

Theoretical Review - - - -- 15

Empirical Review- - - -- 20

Summary - - - --- - 32

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Hypotheses - - - - - 34

CHAPTER THREE

Method - - - - - - 35

Participants - - - - -- 35

Instrument - - - - 35

Procedure - - - - - 36

Design/Statistic - - - 38

CHAPTER FOUR

Results - - - - - 39

CHAPTER FIVE

Discussions- - - - - - 41

Implication of Study - - - - 42

Limitation of Study - - - - 42

Suggestion for Further Studies - - 43

Summary and Conclusion - - 45

References -- - - 47

Appendices

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

In everyday life, we often carry certain notion

based on past successes or failure we made so far in

life with respect to our beliefs. These beliefs are

transferred from one individual to the other, one media

house to the other, group to other and sometimes they

become part of our existence. These beliefs are so

often propelled and carried by a source to his subjects

or targets for the accomplishment of his sole purpose.

The beliefs thus linger on as ‘facts’ or ‘truth’ till

they have been disapproved. They, on the other hand, go

a very long way in determining how we will react or

behave in subsequent events. These deliberately10

transferred beliefs are thus known as propaganda (Berg,

1988).

Propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to

manipulate other people’s beliefs. Attitudes or actions

by means of symbols, words, gestures, banners, moment,

music, clothing, insignia (Vaugh 1991).

For instance, during the World War I, the Japanese

with the intentions of launching some missiles on

America indirectly passed on a warning message which

looked as though they had a different target in mind.

This in turn made the Americans concentrate on a wrong

location whereas the Japanese main target was the

mighty Naval Base known as the Pearl Harbour. The

launch or attack proved to be successful because the U.

S. had acted in accordance with the information they

got abnitio (Ohio weekly report 1980). From the above

insight we can understand that deliberateness and a

11

relatively heavy emphasis on manipulation distinguishes

propaganda from casual conversation or the free and

easy exchange of ideas, passage of information was

stated by Craw Ford, (1989).

Studies have shown that propaganda as a concept has

been fields today. Thus, it has a very huge effort on

the attitude of sports, propaganda is most times

carried before an athlet goes into the field of play.

This thus, has an influence on the attitude of these

athletes towards achieving victory in their respective

sports.

Pre-performance propaganda in sports is a key

concept which can be a great factor that influence the

way sports men perform or their attitude towards the

sporting events or match. In most cases, it tends to

enhance or otherwise deteriorate the performance of

sportsmen in sporting activities as it affects their

12

attitude towards winning. Michelle (1994) stated that

these propaganda are sometimes carried to ensure a high

level of seriousness and attentiveness or alertness on

the part of the athletes. Whereas in some other case,

they are propelled to produce the athletes level of

seriousness or devotion towards the event. In which

ever case, the end point of this ideology is that the

result gotten after the propaganda has been carried,

remains that which was desired or expected by the

source or carrier.

According to Hocker and Luis (1989), the concept is

propelled by a source and often carried through the

media. This sums up the relevance of four elements

which are deeply or chiefly associated with propaganda.

They are as follows,

a)Communication – with the influence of changing

attitude opinions and behaviour of others.

13

b)The media of communication.

c)The symbols – written, spoken or behaviour often

used by the communicator.

d)The audience or target – in (this contest, the

sportsmen).

In a situation where the goodwill or success of a

certain sports team (football team) is the main aim of

the propagandist, he carries the propaganda based on

relevance or importance of the trophy which is competed

for. On the same ground, a propagandist may with the

intentions of boasting the spirit or morale of the

athletes towards winning decide to visit their past

records as far as that competition is concerned.

On a clearer detail, the past result of the

encounters between Nigeria cannot beat Brazil. This was

not done because the propagandist believed the ‘fact’

but with the intentions of booting or uplifting the

14

spirit or morale of the Nigerian players to do what

they are believed not to have done before. In the bid

to prove the media wrong, the Nigerian players level of

seriousness increased and thus a better performance was

achieved. (World soccer monthly, 1998), with this, we

can see to what extent the pre-performance propaganda

can have on sportsmen will depend on the way they

believe or achieve to the propaganda.

Furthermore, Kimball (1963) saw propaganda as a

more or less deliberately planned and systematic use of

symbols chiefly through suggestions and related

psychological techniques with a view to altering and

controlling opinions, ideas and values and ultimately

to changing over actions along predetermined lines.

According to the above statement, propaganda involved

essentially a process of persuasion; it cannot be

equated with scientific efforts to drive at some truth.

15

It is not logically discussed or dialectically

investigated. It relies more on selection of facts,

partial explanation and predetermined answers (Drawson

et al 2001).

The content of propaganda is therefore seldom

completely true but neither is it wholly false, as is

often assumed. Moreover, the propagandist is concerned

with maximizing persuasiveness not with adhering to

some standard of scholarship or uncovering some new

facts.

Operational Definition of Terms

PROPAGANDA: The definition of propaganda is as

plentiful as the books and attitudes that have been

written on the subjects. But in a near to general view,

we can say that propaganda is a deliberate attempt by

some individual or group to form or control or alter

16

the attitude of other groups by the use of the

instruments of communication, with the intention that

in any given situation the reaction of those so

influenced will be that desired by the propagandist.

PRE-PERFORMANCE PROPAGANDA: It is a self explaining

concept which means before performance. It is also how

pre-informed a player is, before going into a game. It

can come as a personal belief or by information by

people around or via the media. The information that

comes before a match may infer the necessity as well as

irrelevance gravity of the upcoming performance. This

variable will be measure by Pre-performance Propaganda

Scale (PPS).

ATTITUDE: Oxfprd dictionary define attitude as a way of

thinking or a way of behaving which can be changed by

circumstance or condition or state of the mind.

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FOOBALLERS: They are players who engage in the game of

football for the purpose of winning matches or games.

WINNIN A GAME: Firstly, to win means to be victorious

or to obtain as the result of a contest by effort in a

game, winning a game here underlines getting good

results and achieving set objectives in a match.

PURPOSE OF STUDY

- The primary aim of this study is to determine the

influence of propaganda on the attitude of

footballers toward winning a game

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STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Day by day people tend to underestimate the power

of propaganda in our daily lives and thus the influence

and effort it has on us. The issue of propaganda has to

be thoroughly learned so as to know the benefits and

shortcomings it brings to our attitude.

Psychologists have tried to apply the concept of

pre-performance propaganda on how it influences the

performance of sportsmen. In this contest, pre-

performance propaganda is believed to be highly

influenced and effective in determining how footballers

react toward winning matches.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

THEORITICAL REVIEW

INFLUENCE THEORY (Cognitive Dissonance Theory). Sturn

1941. This theory simply process that people tend to

seek consistency in their lives. Thus it explains why

people are likely to react when information conflicts

with the already marked lane they have been following

all the while.

This theory goes on to say that people are

sensitive to contradictions and inconsistency. For

instance, when news is carried to the discomfort of a

certain group of footballers or football team, it tends

to influence their attitude, thereby affecting their

attitude towards winning in the subsequent matches or

events.

20

This theory relates to my work. I agree with it

because it says that propaganda affects the attitude of

people which in this case appears to be footballers.

For example, when one is doing poorly in sports and

possibly a propaganda is carried to his discomfort, he

will tend to work hard to improve so as have a better

performance.

Dissonance as a matter of fact, goes in line with

discordance, discomfort disagreement and thus it

employs the feeling of doubt and guilt in an individual

thereby fostering attitude change (Whalshe 1999). The

above statement clearly underlines how near to

impossible it is to ignore the influence of pre-

performance propaganda on the attitude of sportsmen or

footballers. This is because when there is a propaganda

before a certain sporting event or match, there is

bound to be a change in attitude of the players

21

involved, hence their attitude towards winning, which

is the aim of playing, hence reaction to the propaganda

is inevitable (Moris, 2003).

In most cases where the information or the message

contained in the pre-propaganda challenges the

athletes’ or players’ ability to win matches, he may as

a result work on his flaws, imperfection or weakness

for a better or understanding performance to acquire

enviable results (Balden, 2000).

In addition, a propaganda which hammers or stresses

on the imperfection of a certain group of athletes may

as a result make them not to be confidence in

themselves or even have a huge feeling of doubt about

their strength. In other words, it has a way of

throwing sportsmen off balance, making them lose focus

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and concentrating on the strength of their opponents

rather than maximizing their own (Greening, 2000).

THEORY OF REASONED ACTION – (Boldwin Tushe, 1936)

This theory proposes that human behaviour is so

influenced by two factors;

(a) Attitude towards the behaviour

(b) The influence of social environment and general

subjective norms on the behaviour.

Here, it is believed that social norms are determined

by examples that significant others set for us and by

the attitudes they convey to us. According to this

theory, we develop attitudes towards behaviour and

understand social norms through learning.

The social learning assumptions of this theory are

as follows:

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(a) Behavioural dynamically influenced the

environment and personal construct

(b) Likewise, the environment and personal

characteristics affect each other and the person’s

behaviour.

(c) For a person to perform a particular behaviour,

he needs to know what the behaviour is and know

also that he has the skills to do the behaviour.

- Individuals learn what to expect through their

experience and through their social groups.

- Individuals act in their self interest to get

likely outcomes they value and desire.

- Individuals learn through imitating the behaviour

of others around them.

- Individuals learn through reinforcements and

rewards they receive from their behaviour.

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EMPIRICAL REVIEW

Public Opinion Quarterly, 20 (1956) in their study,

depicted that people are resourceful in resisting

information that does not fit their own pictures of

reality.

Voting behaviour studies in Africa indicate that

the more Partisan a voter is before election, the less

likely he is to subject himself to the campaign appeals

of the party for which he will not vote. That is to say

that those who do subject themselves to information

that contradicts their views may lose confidence in

their opinion, but will frequently go out of their way

to seek any information that substantiates their

original position (Melvin, 2002).

25

Paine (1989) in his study on players’ attitude

towards pre-performance propaganda stipulated that

footballers are more vulnerable to pre-match propaganda

as it greatly affects their attitude towards the game.

In other words, players’ attitude and behaviour tend to

be re-constructed, reshaped or manipulated by the

information (propaganda) they are bathed with before

they go in for the match proper. As a matter of fact,

their attitude towards winning is determined by their

reaction towards the propaganda. This is because their

state of mind immediately before the match determines

the level of morale or spirit with which they will play

(Mclaren, 1997). Hugh, (2002), in his work ‘the reds’,

cited a clear case where Manchester United players went

into the field of play with little or no zeal because

an information was passed on before the match stating

26

that the club management has some intention of

deducting the weekly earning of the players.

Smith (1999) in his study on ‘Approach to games’

says that… others when exposed to unfriendly

information may reject it or perhaps distort its

meaning and significance or they might as well question

the credibility of the information or its source and

authenticity and pass it off as mere propaganda.

Certainly, the individuals/players initial attitude

towards the communicator will have an important bearing

on his reception of the information (World Soccer May,

2001 edition).

Smiths study in throwing light on the concept of

pre-performance propaganda posits that ‘players may as

a result of non-authenticity and incredibility of the

information or source, neglect or reject the propaganda

and in neglecting it, the influence it has on players

27

may become avertable. But Goebbels work

on ‘effectiveness of propaganda’ states that the common

tendency to equate propaganda with falsehold may itself

be as a result of propaganda. That is to say that there

is bound to be a change in attitude towards the match

as a result of propaganda. Whether a neglect or an

embrace or welcome of the information regardless of the

erodibility or authenticity of the source, the

influence pre-performance propaganda has on the

attitude of players is inevitable.

Despite rapid development of communication

media in the past century, only relatively small number

of people in any given society are likely targets of

foreign-originated information (Lemin 1978).

Various

studies consistently reveal that even in industrialized

societies with high literacy rates and mass consumption

28

of news only small percentage are interested or

involved in international affairs.

Going by the above statement, a smaller percentage of

persons are likely victims of propaganda. In this

contest, it is obvious that not more than eleven

players make up a football team (not including the

substitutes), and for that reason we can ascertain that

a football team is a relatively small group and hence

they are prone to attitudinal change by pre-performance

propaganda.

Nilmar (1981), in addition said that it is easier

to change the attitude of small associational group or

categorical groups such as classes, football teams

which already share similar attitudes. This study

further clearly entails that pre-performance propaganda

is effective on a small groups of people than on a

29

large population because small associational groups are

most likely to have a definite or one objective and a

common goal as such, their attitude can easily be

influenced by propaganda.

Denniel (1988), in his study on attitude and

condition reveals that under certain circumstances,

communication can be effective in changing attitudes,

where no strong predisposition against the communicator

and his ideas already exists. He goes on to say that

these information (propaganda) can form attitudes

towards new objects and also they can change attitudes

that are weakly held, or when several attitudes are

fairly evenly balanced, they may be able to strengthen

one of them.

Annis & Norman (1934) said that propaganda has a

huge effect or influence on the attitude of her

victims. Another study on propaganda entails that it is

30

likely to be effective among youths and apathetic

people. That is to say that propaganda has a gigantic

influence on the attitude of football players who as a

matter of fact are within the same age bracket of the

youths stated above and are also very apathetic people

when it has to do with winning football matches as well

as attaining their goals.

More to that, Busher (1988) posits that youths are

more vulnerable to suggestion and persuasion because

they are the least likely to hold right beliefs or

attitudes. Results of research project suggest that

children are particularly more open to persuasion

between the ages of 4 and 8 and that their

suggestibility declines steadily with increasing age.

Apathetic people are also not left out in the effect of

pre-performance propaganda on attitude. This is because

they do not hold rigid views and tend to be unsure of

31

the opinions they adopt. Where such uncertainty

persists, persuasion is facilitated, although arousing

interest may be difficult (Dwayne, 2001).

Bauchan (2001) found that propaganda seems to have

effect when directed towards groups whose members share

similar attitudes.

Linke (1993) sad that attitudes and beliefs are

mechanism that satisfies social adjustment. A person is

not a likely propaganda target if the content of the

propaganda conflicts with the values and opinions that

circulate among his closest social connections.

It is not yet clear why people are suggestible in

crowd, but many observers have noted that individual

credibility tends to fall to low level when emotions

are raised in large gathering. In their domestic

propaganda, the Nazis were all aware of this

characteristics and put on fantastic parades and party

32

allies to impress the people (Brown, Techniques of

Persuasion, 1&3).

In october 18, 2004, the Department of Homeland

security notified seven U.S. cities – out if an

abundance of caution – that the stadiums of their

professional football teams had been named in websites

as possible targets for radiological bomb attacks.

Although the DHS and the FBI both characterized the

substantial coverage for the story throughout the day,

offering viewers repeated updates on the subject and

conducting interviews with coverage was any

announcements for political gain the single expectation

came on the October 19 edition of CNN’s the situation

room, when Democratic strategist Paul Begala stated -

“It is interesting that these things always seem to

spike right before an election” and went on to note Tom

Ridges 2005 comment that, as DHS secretary, he had

33

regularly been pressured by administration officials to

raise the terror threat level even though he did not he

did not believe that negligence warranted it. Of the

three major cable networks, CNN devoted the most air

time to the story. Indeed, the situation room aired

seven segments on the stadium threat, including

separate interviews with former inspector general for

the DHS clark, Kent Ervin. On the October 19, the FBI

released on official statements describing the stadium

plot as a “hoax” which CNN and others two networks then

reported. But a media matters for Americas survey of

the October 18 coverage listed above found only one

instance in which a reporter broached the topic of

whether policies have played a role in the governments’

disclosure of the alleged threat. (As portrayed by Fox

news on May 12, 2005 via Chicago tribune):

34

It is worthy to note that the hype attached to the

news on impending threat was all powered by the

president in his campaign to win the election coming up

in some day’s time. As a matter of fact, the over

pubilicity of the terrorists plot was to gain favour

for himself since the Americans were so keen on

demolishing terrorist after the September 11 saga.

Secondly, President Bush was and is till known as

“the war presidents” and for the reason, he used the

terrorist intending plot to ginger the Americans

soldiers for “fight against terror” which was perceived

as a just cause. This indeed yielded desired results as

almost all the young teenagers in America signed up for

war against the Terrorists and a support for presidents

Bush.

Freeman (2008) posits that skilful propaganda is

capable of manipulating its audience at the emotional

35

level. Psychological studies done in the United States

two days ago proved the disastrous impact of widespread

racism on children of African descent. Black children

in one test all believed a doll with light skin to be

more desirable than one with darker skin- a measure of

the “self-hatred” instilled by social attitudes so

prevalent as to be taken for granted.

Bosque (2004) adds, in much the same way,

protestant missionaries from the U.S have long promoted

various forms of “biblical capitalism” which instill in

followers the belief that the “good” are rewarded by

God with material “blessings”, and that poverty

confirms the moral inadequacy of an individual, a group

or a class of people – in that way did good for more

“blessings”.

Hazelle (2001) in his study organized a contest in

which college students or news reporters were offered

36

generous prizes for the best essay on how to bring

about world peace and global property by exploring moon

oil. Contestants were free to research the issue for

themselves, but to find why text sporting the existence

of petroleum on the moon far outnumbers those that

suggest otherwise. More importantly, they became eager

to propagandize themselves because they wanted to

please the contest judges and claim the prize money. In

essence, they fell into one of the most pernicious of

all propaganda traps-one in which targets are duped

into equating their own self-worth with the success of

the disinformation campaign.

Thus it is worthy to not that the propagandist

clearly wants to sell something, and is trying to keep

a particular product or service on the minds of the

audience or to make it more appealing to potential

consumers (Ibeadi, 2004).

37

Morgan (2001), purports that a false or incomplete

news reporting, presented as truth or objective facts

spark up emotion more. For example, a report that war

has broken out nearby or that a highly contagious and

deadly disease is spreading among the local population

would certainly produce a more immediate reaction among

people.

The Bird flu saga was hyped more than ten times

over, not actually with the intentions of getting

people frightened, but for the purpose of having a

quick counter-measure against the Worlds dreaded

disease so people won’t take it for granted (World

Vanguard 2005).

Political commentary is nearly always recognized as

much and while it is intended to persuade its audience,

it is far more useful as means to inform or inspire

those already in agreement with the speaker.

38

Phlounder (1998) further says that audiences

likewise recognize that religious programming is

intended as much to motivate followers to take a

particular cause of action (Such as donating money) as

it is to change the spiritual orientation of non-

believers. Thus, they are convinced to embrace the

ideas of the speakers or to follow their instructions

only if they are already inclined to do so.

Kruger, (2001) in his propaganda study states that

audiences are more likely to accept an idea if they

believe it was heard inadvertently in other words,

there is a natural tendency to resist a message that is

presented in an assertive way, while there will be a

far less negative reaction if the audience hears the

same theme in a context that is relatively matter-of-

fact.

Summary of Literature Review

39

The review of the literature comprises of the

theoretical review and empirical review in which they

emphasize on the theories and research work conducted

by different scholars on the variables.

The theories used in this study are Influence

Theory (Cognitive Dissonance Theory) by Sturn (1941).

This theory simply process that people tend to seek

consistency in their lives. This theory goes on to say

that people are sensitive to contradictions and

inconsistency. Theory of Reasoned Action by (Boldwin

Tushe, 1936). This theory proposes that human behaviour

is so influenced by two factors;

(a) Attitude towards the behaviour

(b) The influence of social environment and general

subjective norms on the behaviour.

40

The emprirical review, which stipulates the

research work or study being conducted by different

schlars on the different variables relating to

performance propaganda. Paine (1989), Mclaren, (1997).

Hugh (2002), all agree that propaganda has a huge

influence of group, team, and player’s attitude to

perform in the task ahead.

Annis & Norman (1934) said that propaganda has a

huge effect or influence on the attitude of her

victims. Morgan (2001), purports that a false or

incomplete news reporting, presented as truth or

objective facts spark up emotion more. Freeman (2008)

posits that skilful propaganda is capable of

manipulating its audience at the emotional level. Linke

(1993) sad that attitudes and beliefs are mechanism

that satisfies social adjustment. A person is not a

likely propaganda target if the content of the

41

propaganda conflicts with the values and opinions that

circulate among his closest social connections.

HYPOTHESIS

i. There would be no statistically significant

effect of pre-performance propaganda on the

attitude of footballers towards winning.

42

CHAPTER THREE

METHOD

Participants

Two hundred (200) participants were used in this

study, they are players from four (4) different

faculties of Imo State University Owerri, Imo State.

(35) from Social sciences, (40) from Law, (60) from

Business Administration and (65) from Engineering

faculty. They are all males drawn from the above

faculties, using stratified random sampling technique.

Their ages ranged from 18-30 years respectively with

the mean age of 23.37.

Instrument

The researcher used two (2) questionnaire forms

which were developed and validated by the researcher.

The first questionnaire is Pre-performance propaganda

scale (PPS), measuring the independent variable which

43

is ‘the influence of pre-performance propaganda’. The

second questionnaire is Footballers attitude toward

winning game scale (FATWGS) which is measuring the

dependent variable ‘the attitude of footballers toward

winning a game’.

The first questionnaire (PPS) is a 17 item scale

with 6 reversed items; (3,5,8,12,16). After the pilot

study was conducted, 8 items remained

(3,4,9,10,12,13,15,16), others were removed because

they couldn’t reach the cutoff point of 0.3. The scale

had internal consistency reliability of .772

(cronbach’s Alpha). The second questionnaire (FATWGS)

is 20 item scale with 7 reversed items;

(2,3,4,7,12,16,20). After the pilot study was

conducted, 11 items remained

(3,4,6,8,9,10,11,14,17,18,19), others that couldn’t

meet the cutoff of 0.3 was removed. The scale had

44

internal consistency reliability of .783 (cronbach’s

Alpha).

The scale is designed in a likert format of 5 point

ranging from 1 = strongly agree to 5 = disagree. For

the purpose of quantitative analysis, the instrument

was scored as follows: Strongly agree-1, agree-2, not

sure-3, disagree-4, strongly disagree-5.

Procedure

The instrument was administered to the players of

the four faculties. The researcher asked them to read

the instructions on the questionnaire and carefully

answer the questions. The instruction on the instrument

is; please indicate your level of agreement with the

items below using the following scale. Answer all

questions honestly. They were encouraged by the

researcher to fill the questionnaire and answer from

45

their personal point of view. They were all asked to

fill in their ages on the instrument. The researcher

stayed with the respondents to finish and also

collected the filled forms and crosschecked them to

ensure no item was omitted and took them for scoring

and analysis.

Design/statistics

This study is a survey design. The statistics that was

employed is a One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

This is because the work has only one independent

variable and one dependent variable.

CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

Table 1: Summary of Means and Standard Deviations for

Pre-Performance Propaganda on Footballers

46

Attitude to Winning a Game.

Mean Standard Deviation NNot Informed 45.68 5.91 38Pre-Informed 50.62 8.14 162

Table 2: Summary Table of One-Way ANOVA for Pre-

Performance Propaganda on Footballers Attitude

to Winning a Game.

Source Sum of Squares df

Mean Square F Sig.

Within Group 749.038 1 749.038 12.408 .001

Sig

Between Group 11952.482 198 60.366Total 12701.520 199

Note: Sig = Significant

Hypothesis One: There will be no statistically

significant influence of pre-performance propaganda on

attitude of footballers towards winning a game.

A one-way between-groups analysis of variance was

conducted to explore the influence of pre-performance

47

propaganda on attitude of footballers towards winning a

game. Participants were divided into two groups

according to pre-performance level (Group 1: Not

Informed and Group 2: Pre-Informed). There was a

statistically significant difference at p<.05 level in

attitude of footballers towards winning a game scores

for the two age groups [F(1, 198)= 12.408, p=.001].

Further look at the means obtained (Table 1) indicated

that the mean score for the not Informed (M=45.68,

SD=5.91) was significantly lower from the pre-informed

group (M=50.62, SD=8.14) in terms of their attitude to

winning a game. The result implies that level of pre-

information significantly influences footballer’s

attitude towards winning a game.

48

CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION

The researcher formulated one hypothesis which

stated that there will be no statistically significant

influence of pre-performance on the attitude of

footballers toward winning a game. The result stated

that level of pre-information significantly influenced

footballer’s attitude towards winning a game.

This purely shows that pre-performance propaganda

influences the attitude of footballers towards winning

a game. This is in agreement with the work of Michelle

(1997), stated that propaganda targets or audiences are

more likely to actually change their opinions if they

receive a message from foreign sources that mutually

reinforce one another. The work also agrees with the

work of Danniel (1988), states in his study that

propaganda can change attitudes that are likely held or

49

when attitudes are fairly evenly balanced, they may be

able to strengthen one of them.

Further, it was found that the pre-informed players

score higher (M=50.62) than the not-informed players

(M=45.68) in terms of their attitude to winning a game.

This study also agrees with the work of Nilmar (1981)

that it is easier to change the attitude of group such

as school classes and football teams. Thus, there is no

question that propaganda which discreetly and

consistently applies these principles can produce

profound and far reaching changes in the societies

against whom it is directed.

Implications of Study

The findings of this study would be of great help

when applied in contemporary state or society as a

whole. The findings of the study tries to point out

50

that the pre-performance propaganda really have

influence on the attitude of players towards winning

games.

I will also point out that club managers, coaches

and the media should seriously watch the type f

propaganda or pre-match information that comes into the

group or team as it will affect the players’ attitude

towards winning a game. In a case where the propaganda

is self demoralizing, the players zeal to win may be at

risk.

In any case, the content of the propaganda will go

a long way in determining the attitude of the players

towards winning games.

Limitations of Study

Some factors may have acted as limitation to the

study, some of which are stated below;

51

- Research materials and journals and even books were

not easy to find.

- Financial constraints was also a major limitation

in this research study as the researcher was

financially unstable during the time of the

research.

- Lastly, the humorous and jovial nature of the

researcher made it uneasy for him to carry out the

survey as the participants hardly took him serious.

Significance of the Study

This study could be relevant in various areas and

ways: in high institutions, pre-performance propaganda

when positively administered

towards students will be a good way of making them sit

up in class and prepare thoroughly for an outstanding

performance.

52

Of course, the aim of any firm is to wax stronger

and even more. Propaganda in this case may cause a

competition in the market as to who has or deals on a

better quality or who offers better services. This in

turn gingers the various organizations involved to work

and in producing goods and services of better quality.

In medical world, propaganda could be used as a

tool to motivate Doctors in the profession. Here, a

huge pay may be placed on night call services so as to

motivate the doctors to attend to patients even in odd

hours without complaints.

Suggestion for further research

Having conducted this research, other researchers

should attempt to find if a negative propaganda could

actually breed a negative result or outcome. Other

researchers should also investigate if the age as a

53

factor can influence the way people show adherence to

propaganda.

And lastly, other researchers should try to

determine if the presence of a positive propaganda

reduces the performance level of footballers.

Conclusion/Recommendation

The research work aimed at investigating the

influence of pre-performance propaganda on the attitude

of footballers toward winning a game.

The researcher through the work showed that when

players are pre-informed tend to increase their zeal

towards winning in other words affecting their

performance towards achieving their desired goal.

54

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58

APPENDICES

RAW SCORES OF PARTICIPANTS

S/N AGE PRE-PERFORMANCEPROPAGANDA

FOOTBALLATTITUDE

1. 18 Pre-informed57








9. 24 Not Informed34



59















60















61















62















63















64















65















66















67















68















69















70















71















72








Statistics

AgeFootballAttitude

N Valid 200 200Missing 0 0

Mean 23.37 49.68Std. Deviation 3.300 7.989Variance 10.888 63.827Skewness .206 .399Std. Error of Skewness .172 .172Kurtosis -1.076 .068Std. Error of Kurtosis .342 .342Minimum 18 34

73

Maximum 30 75

Pre-Performance

Frequency PercentValidPercent

CumulativePercent

Valid Not Informed

38 19.0 19.0 19.0

Pre-informed

162 81.0 81.0 100.0

Total 200 100.0 100.0

DescriptivesFootball Attitude

N Mean

Std.Deviati

on

Std.Error

95%Confidence

Interval forMean

Minimum MaximumLowerBound

UpperBound

Not Informed

38 45.68

5.914 .959 43.74 47.63 34 61

Pre-informed

162 50.62

8.136 .639 49.35 51.88 34 75

Total 200 49.68

7.989 .565 48.57 50.79 34 75

74

ANOVAFootball Attitude

Sum ofSquares df

MeanSquare F Sig.

Between Groups

749.038 1 749.038 12.408 .001

Within Groups

11952.482 198 60.366

Total 12701.520 199

75

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

The researcher, Okoro Charles Onyewuchi is from

Inyishi in Ikeduru L.G.A. in Imo State, Nigeria. He was

born on 6th March, in the family of Mr. & Mrs. Okoro. He

is the last born of the family. He attended his primary

education at Bishop Okoye Memorial N/P school, Enugu

where he obtained the first school leaving certificate

with credit level.

After his primary education, he forged ahead to a

post primary at Uwani Secondary School Enugu wehere he

obtained his WASCE certificate.

Currently he is undergoing research work (project)

in the Department of Psychology, Imo State University,

Owerri in partial fulfillment for the award of Bachelor

of Science B.Sc. (Hons) degree from the department.

76

He love engaging himself in these activities; mind

games, table tennis, pool, swimming, listening to cool

music and most especially playing/watching football.

77

INFLUENCE OF PRE-PERFORMANCE PROPAGANDA ON THE ATTITUDE OF FOOTBALLERS TOWARDS WINNING A GAME

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