Traditional Sporting Games as Emotional Communities: The Case of Alcover and Moll's Catalan-Valencian-Balearic Dictionary

The Feeling of Pleasure for Overweight Children during Different Types of Physical Activity

The feeling of pleasure during physical education (PE) could increase with physical activity participation and adherence for overweight children. While traditional games are known to have positive benefits on motor skill development, especially for children with poorer motor skills, and on the body mass of children, little is known about overweight children's feelings of enjoyment when playing these games. To identify a program of physical activity appreciated by overweight children, we tested the effect of different activities, namely soccer (SO), shot put (SP), and traditional motor games (TMGs), on the feelings of pleasure for 28 overweight male children (aged 12.11 ± 0.63 years, BMI 26.89 ± 0.15 kg·m-2) participating in a 3-month cross-over study. To measure affective responses to exercises, we applied a validated feeling scale. The data were collected during eight PE lessons, which were organized for each cycle taught. Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed a significant difference (Z = -3.195, p < 0.01) between the mean feeling score reported after the SO cycle (2.48 ± 0.41) and that after the TMGs (3.04 ± 0.32). A similar significant difference (Z = -3.304, p < 0.01) was found between the mean feeling scores reported after the SP cycle (2.27 ± 0.32) and the TMGs (3.04 ± 0.32). There was no significant difference between the mean feeling scores reported after the SO (2.48 ± 0.41) and SP cycles (2.27 ± 0.32). In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that TMGs may have beneficial effects on the feelings of pleasure for overweight children. Therefore, TMGs might potentially be considered as an alternative to conventional physical activities.

The Emotional States Elicited in a Human Tower Performance: Case Study

Human Towers are one of the most representative traditional sporting games in Catalonia, recognized in 2010 as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). The objective of this research was to study the emotional states (well-being, discomfort, and affectivity) elicited by a representative performance of the colla de Castellers de Lleida. This research is based on an ethnographic case study, with mixed methods in which 17 key informants (castellers) voluntarily participated. Participant observation was used; the data were recorded in a field diary and oral sources (semi-structured interviews). The content analysis was done using the Atlas.ti software (version 8.4.4). An SPSS database was also created. The statistical techniques were: Descriptive statistical techniques, cross tables with Pearson's Chi-square values (significance level of p < 0.05). We also used a classification and regression trees (CRT) to examine the predictive capacity of five independent variables (data source, logic, semantic units; contexts of a performance) of emotional states. The results reveal that the comments (n = 132) were mostly oriented toward well-being states (n = 70; 53%), The internal cooperative logic of the Human Towers enhances the intense interpersonal relationships of socio-emotional well-being.