Examination of Goal Orientation, Sense of Coherence, and Motivational Climate as predictors of Perceived Physical Competence

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which children's goal orientation, sense of coherence (SOC), and perceptions of the motivational climate in PE accounted for their perceived physical competence. The variable measures were conducted with the participants (382 boys, 389 girls), aged 15-16, who completed a set of self-reported questionnaires. The hierarchical multiple-regression results showed that all steps lead to significant change in the models and accounted for 20.2 % of the variance in perceived physical competence. More specifically, the inclusion of task and ego orientation resulted in an additional 11.4 % of explained variance and the inclusion of SOC lead to an additional 6.5 % of explained variance. The SOC variable was also the strongest predictor of perceived physical competence (X =.26). The correlation found between the task and ego-involving motivational climate scales for girls was strong and negative. A strong positive correlation was found between task involving motivational climate and task orientation for the boys. All other correlations for the motivational variables were moderate or weak. T-tests revealed that boys scored significantly higher for all variables except ego-involving motivational climate and task orientation.