| dc.description.abstract | The present dissertation analyses the motivational factors associated with the practice of physical activity in order to understand the phenomenon of declining participation among adolescents.
To achieve this objective, three empirical studies were carried out on five different samples of Italian adolescents, from the central area of the region of Sicily, with a total of 7,387 participants. The first study explored the motivation of adolescents, no practitioners and ex-practitioners of physical activity, at a descriptive level, using a questionnaire on motivation to practice sports for the Italian youth population (Bortoli and Robazza, 2000). Two psychological dimensions explored in this work emerge from the responses: perceived physical competence and the subjective importance assigned to physical activities. These descriptive aspects of motivation are related to contextual,
variable and external characteristics of the subject, and therefore only partially reveal the motivational processes that push young people towards physical activity. The theoretical frameworks of achievement goals (Duda & Nicholls, 1992; Bortoli & Robazza, 2004) and physical self-concept (Marsh et al., 2002, 2010; Scarpa et al., 2010) were further explored through both dispositional and contextual analysis of motivational processes. Three profiles were identified for both genders in terms of their achievement goals and perceived physical competence in physical education classes: profiles of high, moderate and low task orientation and perceived competence.
Gender stereotypes can explain gender differences in ego orientation and perceived competence. The importance assigned to masculine and feminine values within sports and physical education can be explained by social expectations and role models that strongly influence adolescents.
Social beliefs and self-perceptions about gender roles are shaped by the contribution of significant others (peers, parents, teachers, coaches) who encourage (or discourage) participation in sport or physical activity (including, for example, also the type of physical activity and whether it is more suitable for a girl or a boy).
The age of boys in the low profile is significantly higher compared to the high and moderate profiles, while in girls all profiles differ significantly in relation to age.
The frequency of participation in physical activity is related to the identified profiles: the more often physical activity is performed after school, the better the perception of competence and motivational orientation.
Adolescents may participate in physical education because of its compulsory nature and because they place a high importance on school performance. It is possible that participants may have internalized motivation as an effect of an adaptive impact of school education, more so than in other cultures, e.g. due to parental influence and not purely because they have a real interest in physical activities.
The second study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Italian versions of the Perceived Physical Self-Concept Questionnaires (PSPP-R-IT) and the Perceived Importance Profile (PIP-IT) (Nicolosi, Ortega Ruiz, Benítez Sillero). The results supported the validity and reliability of the Italian versions of the PSPP-R and PIP, as well as their respective hierarchical structures.
Furthermore, they suggested evidence supporting the internal consistency, temporal stability, concurrent validity and criterion validity of the two instruments. In Italy, although several validated instruments exist to assess physical self-concept, there were no instruments to assess the importance that adolescents assign to physical dimensions of the Self, including the importance of those experiences involving physical and sporting competitions. The theoretical assumption of the Perceived Importance Profile (PIP) is that the importance people attach to a specific area of evaluation, in combination with the evaluation itself, influences how events and situations will affect self-esteem. The analysis of the importance attached to the physical self-concept has provided insight into how adolescents differentiate the dimensions of perceived body image and sports experience.
Perceived importance refers to each person's subjective value of the different dimensions of the physical self-concept. As has been widely demonstrated in literature, body perception acquires special importance in adolescence, due to the need to adapt to physical changes, and to re-establish a sociopsychological balance with a new self-image. However, this aspect cannot disregard the hierarchy that each adolescent establishes between the different dimensions of physical self-concept within his or her bodily experience. The results of the second study showed that the importance assigned to the different domains of the physical self-concept significantly influences the perception of all the subdomains of the Physical Self-Concept (Sports Competence, Physical Condition, Strength and Physical Appearance). The separation between importance and perception of physical appearance confirms the existence of independent dimensions in the physical self-concept construct, as indicated by theoretical models.
Furthermore, the results of this second study also support the need to consider perceived importance profiles for their predictive power of frequency in sport participation. Specifically, frequency is a mediating variable between importance and perceived importance in the different domains of self, except for physical appearance.
It was jointly confirmed that aerobic capacity influences physical self-perception in the subdomains of the physical self-concept. The strongest prediction was found in the Fitness subdomain, followed by the Sport Competence subdomain. The predictions for the subdomain's Physical self-esteem and Body attractiveness were weaker, although significant.
Finally, the second study showed that the perceived importance of the physical self-concept subdomains influences achievement goals (task/ego) and physical activity participation. The strongest influence is found between the importance assigned to sports competitions and achievement goals (task and ego) in physical education, mediated by physical activity participation. The perceived importance of physical fitness and perceived importance of strength have less influence on achievement goals (task and ego) although the effect is significant and moderate. The importance assigned to physical appearance influences achievement goals, but the effect is weak.
The third study analyzed the context from a different perspective than the first study, through the perception that adolescents have of the motivational climate of the physical education class, constituted by the cognitive and affective aspects of relationships with teachers and peers. Therefore, this study analyses the dimension of the effect that the motivational climate in the physical education class (task and ego) and achievement goals (task and ego) have on exercise frequency, perceived levels of physical activity and sports competence.
The results have revealed that, contrary to expectations, a task-oriented climate does not affect the frequency and perceived levels of physical activity and sports competence.
In terms of gender, it should be noted that, for male practitioners, the socio-psychological environment in the physical education class is characterized by an ego-oriented climate with an emphasis on confrontation and competition with others. Thus, male practitioners in PE settings could extend the climate they perceive in extracurricular sports contexts where social comparison or normative criteria of skills would seem to prevail over skill self-enhancement. a place settled by . The higher perception of competence in the group of male practitioners is associated with the need to demonstrate skills effortlessly, the need to compare oneself with others and the search for approval, in a context that supports performance goals. In the case of a compulsory activity such as school physical education, the risks of an ego-oriented climate may involve a tendency to avoid participation in activities through a request for exemption or, in any case, a loss of interest and withdrawal of commitment. In contrast, in learning processes a task-oriented climate implies self-improvementoriented mastery goals, the belief that commitment and effort can lead to better results and thus to dynamic learning processes, modifiable by the individual. In general, considering the relationships between achievement goals, when task and ego orientations are associated with high levels of perceived sport competence in young exercisers, they may be a protective factor for self-esteem and a predictor of perseverance in sport. However, in this sample, the effect of task orientation in male athletes is low, in contrast to those with ego orientation.
In contrast, the opposite situation is found for practitioner girls and no-practitioners boys, with low effects on ego and moderate effects on task. For both practitioner girls and no-practitioners boys, doing well in practice is more important than competing with others to win, but the desire to improve one's sport competence does not seem to be supported by the task-oriented motivational climate. On the other hand, the climate focused on confrontation and effortless victory, with the aim of proving one's superiority over peers, seems to influence the perception of sports competencies of the group of practising boys, who numerically represent the majority of male participants. Thus, for girls, a deterioration of the perception of their competence due to the changes of the adolescent period and an ego-oriented climate could constitute two possible risks for their confidence in their Athletic abilities and lead to the abandonment of extracurricular physical activities.
In conclusion, each study has analyzed different aspects of motivational processes and their fundamental elements related to the practice of physical activity: perceived physical competence, the subjective value assigned to the physical dimensions of self-concept, achievement goals and motivational climate.
The results of the first study allowed us to identify three motivational profiles in adolescents and to gain greater knowledge of the specific characteristics in terms of gender, age and frequency of participation in physical activity in a representative sample of the population of Sicilian adolescents.
The second study validated two new measurement instruments, the Physical Self-Concept Perception (PSPP-R-IT) and the Perceived Importance Profile (PIP-IT) Questionnaires, which allow measurement of the influence of the perceived importance of physical self-concept dimensions on Physical Self-Concept Perception and achievement goals, through the mediation of frequency and physical fitness.
The third study revealed that task-oriented climate does not affect the frequency and perceived levels of physical activity and sport competence in this sample. In contrast, and only for male participants, the socio-psychological environment in the physical education class is characterized by an ego-oriented climate with an emphasis on confrontation and competition with others.
Furthermore, the results of the studies point to possible critical aspects that may lead to dropout if adequate educational interventions are not adopted, in particular for girls and adolescents of both genders who only practice physical education at school.
This study has some theoretical and methodological weaknesses. As far as theoretical weaknesses are concerned, other theories on motivation in sport, such as the self-determination theory or the 3x2 achievement goal model, were not included in the investigations of this study due to the lack of validated instruments in the Italian population at the time of our administration.
Likewise, we did not take into account other associated constructs, such as enjoyment, effort or perseverance, nor social variables, such as motivational climate, coach-athlete relationship or social comparison. In future studies, it would be advisable to also evaluate other social and environmental aspects that have not been taken into account in this study.
As far as methodological weaknesses are concerned, the first is the cross-sectional nature of the research designs, which does not allow us to analyse the way motivational processes in adolescents with a longitudinal design.
Furthermore, also the practice of sports activity was not measured by a validated self-report evaluation questionnaire, but with two items measuring type of participation and frequency. This did not allow for structured scores related to physical activity in daily life.
The Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMCSQ-2) was not included in all schools involved, as physical education teachers have considered it as a form of performance evaluation.
In addition, the inclusion of all measurement instruments was not always possible as the time of a single administration would have been too long. Finally, despite adopting a complex approach and a qualitative-quantitative method, many unique and peculiar aspects of individuals cannot be captured due to the limitation of questionnaires as a tool. Beyond the results with their limitations, the research presented here provides a set of educational inferences that are very useful for the practice of School Physical Education. Each study has additionally sought to provide useful indications for designing educational proposals that help to counteract dropout through a change in the educational proposals for school physical education. School contexts in which physical education teachers do not value cooperation and promote autonomy and social comparison between peers could undermine motivation for physical activity outside compulsory physical education classes, especially in adolescents with lower levels of real and perceived physical competence. As pointed out in the research problem statement, it is important to emphasize that the needs of the two groups with less adaptive motivational profiles are important to contrast the decrease in physical activity participation. The relationship between achievement goals and perceived physical competence in relation to gender and age should be considered.
From the perspective of educational intervention, to move students towards intrinsic motivation, especially girls and late adolescents, action must be taken within the social context of school physical education. In particular, the observation of gender differences indicates a need to establish programmes that take into consideration gender identity in physical education and sports contexts.
Teachers and educators should programme differentiated activities and allow for choice between different physical activities. This leads adolescents to discover their interests and broadens knowledge and information about physical activity practices. A climate that promotes the importance of mistakes as part of the learning process, activity planning and self-assessment enables students to self-regulate, learn how to learn and cope effectively not only with motor learning during physical education classes, but also with the adoption and maintenance of physical activity after the school years.
Results indicate some lines of future research. One aspect that has not been sufficiently explored concerns the subject's relationships with coaches and peers in different contexts and the group components of motivational dynamics.
The results on the importance of the physical aspect, especially in girls, might suggest further investigation. of self-perceptions of physical appearance, personal beliefs and gender stereotypes related to ideal body representations in athletes.
Finally, in these research works, motivation has been considered from a socio-cognitive perspective, i.e. mainly as a goal-oriented activation. However, while, on the one hand, a goal defines the direction of behavior, on the other, the motivational process is constituted by desire, which supports the activation drive. Therefore, one of the future directions of this work could be directed towards the analysis of the affective aspects of the mental representation of a desired state. | en |
