Comparison of the Effect of Purposeful Movement Plays on Physical Self-Efficacy and Enjoyment of Motor Activity in Preschool Girls and Boys

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 1. Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Research Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran. Iran.

2 Department of Motor Behavior and Sport Psychology, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Arak University, Arak,Iran

Abstract

Purpose: Physical self-efficacy and enjoyment are two important constructs in the motivational theories of sport and human physical activity that were studied on children in this study. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of purposeful movement plays on physical self-efficacy and enjoyment of motor activity in preschool girls and boys.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and 42 children aged 4 to 6 years in two groups of purposeful physical plays (10 boys, 10 girls) and ordinary activity (10 boys, 12 girls) was done. Participants were selected voluntarily and randomly divided into two groups. Data were extracted using a physical self-efficacy scale and enjoyment of the physical activity.
Results: Girls had significantly less physical self-efficacy and enjoyment than boys in the pre-test. Despite a significant increase in post-test scores compared to pre-test in the group of purposeful physical Plays, but still, a significant difference in favor of boys was observed in this group (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Participation in physical play classes that are purposefully designed for children and performed by experts, increases physical self-efficacy and enjoyment of both gender but does not seem to be enough to resolve the difference between girls and boys.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Sports Psychology
Volume 14, Issue 2
November 2022
Pages 130-121

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History

  • Receive Date: 13 November 2021
  • Revise Date: 20 January 2022
  • Accept Date: 29 January 2022

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