Sports Interests and Abilities as Contributors to Self-Concept in Junior High School Boys

There was support for the proposed relationship between personal interest in sports and measures of physical abilities at all grade levels, although the strongest relationship appeared to be at the seventh grade.

Abstract

Abstract The present study was designed to test jour hypothesized relationships between self-concept, sports abilities, and personal and parent interest in sports for seventh, eighth, and ninth grade boys. Results showed a significant positive relationship between reported interest in sports and self-concept scores at each grade level. A significant relationship was found between self-concept score and two measures of parent (father and mother) interest in sports for the ninth and seventh grade subjects only. Perhaps the most surprising result was the decrement in the hypothesized relationship between measures of physical ability and self-concept from the seventh to ninth grade. There was support for the proposed relationship between personal interest in sports and measures of physical abilities at all grade levels, although the strongest relationship appeared to be at the seventh grade. Main conclusions were that sports abilities and interests were positively related to measured self-concept and that similarity of sports interests between parents and child also appeared to be related to self-concept. Implications were that physical educators should concern themselves with these relationship when developing their curricula.