A study of the relationship between reading attitude and gender in fourth grade children

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reading attitude and gender, to compare reading attitudes between boys and girls on academic and recreational reading, and to attempt to show the difference in reading attitudes between boys and girls in the fourth grade. The seventy-nine (79) subjects who participated in this study were taken from the total population of the three fourth grade classes in a public elementary school in a suburban area in southern New Jersey. The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) was used to assess reading attitudes. Mean reading attitude scores and standard deviations were calculated for the total or overall scale and the recreational and academic subscales. Data were analyzed for the overall scale and for each subscale using the t-test to reveal significant effects for gender. The results indicated significant differences by gender in the overall or total scale, and in the recreational and academic subscales