Relations of perceived physical self-efficacy and motivational responses toward physical activity by urban high school students

Percept Mot Skills. 2005 Oct;101(2):651-6. doi: 10.2466/pms.101.2.651-656.

Abstract

To be effective in promoting physical activity among urban, minority adolescents, the factors and psychological processes that motivate them to engage in and maintain a physically active lifestyle should be examined. The relation of physical self-efficacy and motivational responses toward physical activity in 46 urban minority adolescents was explored. As hypothesized, there were significant positive relationships among Percieved Physical Ability, Physical Self-presentation Confidence, Effort, and Enjoyment (coefficients ranged from .29 to .80), suggesting that participants who had higher perceived physical ability were likely to report higher perceptions of self-presentation, more enjoyment of physical activity, and harder work in physical activity. These results indicate specific relationships among Effort, Enjoyment, Perceived Physical Ability, and Physical Self-presentation Confidence in this sample. Physical self-efficacy appears to be a stronger predictor of motivational responses in physical activity. Practical implications for physical educators include incorporating strategies known to develop self-efficacy, such as mastery experiences involving successive trials of increasing difficulty, self-observation, external feedback, peer modeling, and verbal persuasion.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Aptitude
  • Black People / psychology*
  • Exercise / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Life Style
  • Male
  • Motivation*
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data
  • Poverty / psychology
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data
  • Self Concept*
  • Self Efficacy*
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Students / psychology*
  • Urban Population*