A TOTAL OF 80 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS RANGING IN AGE FROM 14 TO 16 YEARS AND DRAWN RANDOMLY FROM A SMALL RURAL SCHOOL, A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL, AND A CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS WERE GIVEN KENYON'S ATTITUDE TOWARD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INVENTORY (ATPAI). THE ATPAI MEASURED THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN SIX DIFFERENT CATEGORIES: SOCIAL, HEALTH AND FITNESS, VERTIGO, AESTHETIC, CATHARIS, AND ASCETIC. DATA WERE ANALYZED BY MEANS OF DESCRIPTIVE AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICAL METHODS. DEMOGRAPHIC DATA WAS COLLECTED THROUGH A QUESTIONNAIRE. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES WERE FOUND IN ONLY ONE OF THE SIX CATEGORIES: NONDELINQUENT GIRLS SCORED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN DELINQUENT GIRLS ON THE SOCIAL SCALE. NONDELINQUENT GIRLS THUS VALUE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AS A SOCIAL EXPERIENCE, AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTERACT WITH OTHERS. HOWEVER, MULTIPLE DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION ANALYSES DID REVEAL SIGNIFICANT OVERALL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DELINQUENT AND NONDELINQUENT GIRLS IN THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. DELINQUENT GIRLS PLACE LESS VALUE ON THESE ACTIVITIES. PERHAPS BECAUSE OF POOR SELF-IMAGES, ATTITUDES TOWARD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY WERE SHAPED BY THEIR EXPERIENCES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES, ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES, AND THE INFLUENCE OF ADULT MODELS ON THEIR ATTITUDE FORMATION. STUDIES SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS ON ATTITUDE FORMATION. REFERENCES ARE GIVEN. (MJW)