Background/Purpose While perceived competence has been identified as an important correlate of physical activity for children (Sallis, Prochaska, & Taylor, 2000), little is known about the relationship between perceived competence and actual motor competence for adults. Researchers have suggested that children's perception in motor competence might not be accurate (Harter, 1999). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived and actual motor competence among college students. Studying the relationship may eventually lead to a better understanding of how to promote physical activity among adults.
Method Participants were 114 college students with average age of 22.3 (SD = 3.94). They completed a questionnaire adapted from the literature (Williams, Freedman, & Deci, 1998) assessing their perceived competence in basketball and the Control Basketball Dribble Test (Safrit & Wood, 1995) measuring actual motor competence in basketball. The skill test required participants to dribble a basketball around the cones in the paint area of the court.
Analysis/Results Results revealed that the mean score of the perceived competence in basketball was 5.42 (SD =1.48) and of the dribble test was 9.37 seconds (SD =1.75). Furthermore, perceived motor competence in basketball was significantly and inversely related to basketball dribbling time (r = -.55, p < 0.1).
Conclusions The findings indicate that perceived competence is significantly associated with actual motor competence for college students. Since adults' perceived competence is closer to their actual skills compared to children (Lee, 2004), both perceived and actual skill competence for college students may affect their physical activity participation.