Background/Purpose Self-theorists suggest that there is little need to enhance or protect self-image in early childhood because young children inaccurately appraise themselves and inflate their perceptions of competence. We examined the relationships between motor skill proficiency, perceptions of competence, and gender of children in their first year of school.
Method Participants were 387 kindergarten children (Mage=5y9m; boys=53%) from eight schools. Motor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development-2) were videoed in physical education lessons and perceptions of physical competence were assessed using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children.
Analysis/Results Mean scores for the dependent measures locomotor skills, object control skills, and perceptions of competence for girls were: 27.5±7.4, 19.5±6.0, and 19.5±2.8, respectively; and for boys were: 25.6±7.1, 23.4±7.7, and 18.3±3.1. A multivariate analysis of variance with gender as a factor and age in months as a covariate showed a significant overall effect for the dependent measures F(3, 382)=21.1, p<.001) and all univariate F-tests were significant. Stepwise linear regression revealed that object control skills accounted for 5.9% of the variance in perceptions of competence for boys and locomotor skills accounted for 6.1% of the variance in perceptions among girls.
Conclusions These findings are consistent with theory suggesting that young children have normatively high perceptions of physical competence. A small proportion of the variance in perceptions was accounted for by motor skill proficiency and this relationship differed by gender. Girls' perceptions were related to locomotor skill levels while boys' perceptions were related to their object control skills.