Traditional Practices Influence Student’Motivation at School and in School Athletics in the Republic of Benin.docVIP

Traditional Practices Influence Student’Motivation at School and in School Athletics in the Republic of Benin 　　[a] PhD. Assistant-Professor， Social Psychology Applied to Sport， University of Abomey-Calavi （Benin Republic）； National Youth and Sports Institute of Benin， 01 PO Box. 169 Porto-Novo， Benin Republic. *Corresponding author. 　　Received 1 December 2012； accepted 14 January 2013 　　Abstract 　　In their daily activities， men are influenced by various factors. These factors， which can be environmental， social and/or cultural， vary according to the types of activities in which these people are engaged. For the Beninese， everything has meaning， which is why， they regularly practice their traditional cultural heritage， as it strengthens their morale during professional activities. Students from this environment can not escape this reality. Therefore， they do not hesitate to call on traditional， cultural practices to manage stress more effectively and increase their motivation. The results of two questionnaires that were administered to 271 non-sports students and to 138 student athletes， revealed that the Beninese traditional cultural practices （prayers， charms and offerings）， are making their entry to school and into school athletic associations. The presence of such practices in secondary schools varies between rural and urban students and between animist， Christian and Muslim students. 　　Key words： Traditional practices； Stress； Motivation； School； Sport 　　Edoh Koffi Pierrot （2013）. Traditional Practices Influence Student’ Motivation at School and in School Athletics in the Republic of Benin. Canadian Social Science， 9（1）， -0. Available from： http：///index.php/css/article/view/j.css.1923669720130901.1017 DOI： http：///10.3968/j.css.1923669720130901.1017 　　INTRODUCTION 　　Beliefs can be defined as intellectual attitudes that people hold to be true， such as statements， ideas or facts without having any objective demonstration of their existence. These bel