Relationship between Extracurricular Activities in Elementary School and Academics, Non-cognitive Ability, and Future Achievements: Focusing on choice of physical activity or music activity

This paper empirically analyzes the factors and outcomes related to the choice of extracurricular activities in elementary school. Specifically, we analyzed the experience of physical and musical activities by gender.

A father's education level has particularly influence on his child's participation in physical and musical activities. The choice of physical activity is related to social capital such as strength of friendship and participation in local events, and the choice of musical activity is related to cultural capital, which includes lifestyle and experiences such as going to concerts with family and reading books.

In terms of academic performance, non-cognitive ability, educational background, and wages, the group who chose either physical or musical activity was more successful than the group who neither did physical nor musical activity. In addition, physical activity and musical activity were associated with different outcomes depending on gender and achievement measures. For example, wages were higher in the group who chose physical activity for both men and women, but the academic performance in elementary school was better in the group who chose musical activity for both men and women.

Regarding non-cognitive abilities, the result suggests that women who chose physical activity had a higher extroversion and preference for competition than those who chose musical activity, both of which may be linked to effects on current wages. We also confirmed that those who chose both physical activity and musical activity had a higher workload, which may result in lower achievement scores than that of those who chose only one of the two activities.