Method: Participants were 200 six graders aged 12 years from one middle school in Shanghai, China. The 10-item Expectancy-Value Questionnaire was used to measure students’ expectancy beliefs and task values in physical education. This instrument has been translated into Chinese by a group of bilingual researchers from U.S. Students’ height/weight, PACER, push-ups, and curl-ups were measured on day one and mile run after seven days. BMI was categorized based on age and gender specific percentile curves of Shanghai children.
Analysis/Results: Independent t-tests were used to examine the gender and weight differences in fitness components. Four simultaneous multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the contribution of expectancy belief and task values to the participants’ performance on PACER, mile run, curl-ups, and push-ups, respectively. The study found boys and normal weight participants performed significantly better in PACER, mile run, and curl up. No gender and weight differences were found in push-up performance. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients (r=.86 for expectancy belief and r=.89 for task values) indicated good internal consistency among items in the scale. The expectancy beliefs and task values accounted for 11.7% and 12.9% of variance in PACER and mile run performance, respectively. However, only expectancy beliefs predicted PACER performance, F (4, 174) = 5.76, p<.001. Expectancy beliefs and attainment value were predictors for mile run, F (4, 161) = 5.97, p<.001. The study also found neither expectancy beliefs nor task values predicted curl-ups scores. Only attainment value predicted push-ups performance.
Conclusions: Gender and weight differences found in cardiovascular endurance and abdominal strength/endurance tests were consistent with previous study conducted in other countries. Physical educators need to foster students’ competence in physical education and emphasize the personal importance of doing well in PE in order to improve students’ HRF levels.