Physical Self-Concept of Adolescents in Western Balkan Countries: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore physical self-concept of adolescents of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) according to sex and country. The participants were 2,606 students, ages 13 and 14 years (M = 13.5, SD = 0.9). The Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ) was used to assess multidimensional physical self-concept. The results show the interaction of sex and country for three dimensions of physical self-concept (Appearance, Global Physical Self-Concept, and Self-Esteem). It was shown that female and male adolescents' perception of physical appearance, self-esteem, and global physical self-concept is more susceptible to influences of socio-cultural factors in the monitored countries. In all other dimensions of Physical self-concept, sex differences were consistently manifested in favour of male adolescents, except in Flexibility. Regardless of adolescents' sex, under the increasing influence of Western culture in the Western Balkan countries, adolescents more critically evaluate their body and motor abilities.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aşçi

F. H.

(2002) An investigation of age and gender differences in physical self-concept among Turkish late adolescents. Adolescence, 37, 365–371.

Çaglar

(2009) Similarities and differences in physical self-concept of males and females during late adolescence and early adulthood. Adolescence, 44(174), 407–419.

Carraro

Scarpa

Ventura

(2010) Relationships between physical self-concept and physical fitness in Italian adolescents. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 110(2), 522–530.

Caspersen

C. J.

Pereira

M. A.

Curran

K. M.

(2000) Changes in physical activity patterns in the United States, by sex and cross-sectional age. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32(9), 160–169.

Cohen

(1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. (2nd ed.) Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum.

Guimond

Branscombe

N. R.

Brunot

Buunk

A. P.

Chatard

Désert

Garcia

D. M.

Haque

Martinot

Yzerbyt

(2007) Culture, gender, and the self: Variations and impact of social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1118–1134.

Fox

K. R.

(2002) Self-perceptions and sport behaviour. In Horn

T. S.

(Ed.), Advances in sport psychology. Champaign IL: Human Kinetics. Pp. 83–99.

Fox

K. R.

Corbin

C. B.

(1989) The Physical Self-Perception Profile: Development and preliminary validation. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 11, 408–430.

Hambleton

R. K.

Kanjee

(1995) Increasing the validity of cross-cultural assessments: Use of improved methods for test adaptions. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 11(3), 147–157.

10.

Hayes

S. D.

Crocker

P. R. E.

Kowalski

K. C.

(1999) Gender differences in physical self-perceptions, global self-esteem and physical activity: Evaluation of the Physical Self-Perception Profile model. Journal of Sport Behavior, 22, 1–14.

11.

IMF. (2010) World Economic Outlook Database-April 2010. Retrieved from October 5, 2011, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/index.aspx.

12.

Klomsten

A. T.

(2002) Validation of Physical Self-Description Questionnaire for use in Norwegian populations. Paper presented at the International Biennial Conference, Self-concept research: Driving international research agendas, Sydney, Australia, August 6–8.

13.

Klomsten

A. T.

Shaalvik

E. M.

Espnes

G. A.

(2004) Physical self-concept and sports: Do gender differences still exist? Sex Roles, 50, 119–127.

14.

Lau

P. W. C.

Lee

Ransdell

C. W.

Sung

R. Y. T.

(2004) The association between global self-esteem, physical self-concept and actual versus ideal body size rating in Chinese primary school children. International Journal of Obesity, 28, 314–319.

15.

Lazarević

Radisavljević

Milanović

(2008) Relacije fizičnkog self-koncepta i fizičnkog vežnbanja učnenika osnovne šnkole [Relations between physical self-concept and physical exercise of primary school pupils]. Zbornik Instituta za Pedagošnka Istražnivanja, 2, 307–326.

16.

Luthar

Pušnnik

(2010) Remembering utopia: The culture of everyday life in socialist Yugoslavia. Washington, DC: New Academia.

17.

Maïano

Ninot

Bilard

(2004) Age and gender effects on global self-esteem and physical self-perception in adolescents. European Physical Education Review, 10, 53–69.

18.

Maïano

Ninot

Stephan

Morin

A. J. S.

Florent

J-F.

Vallee

(2006) Geographic region effects on adolescent physical self: An exploratory study. International Journal of Psychology, 41, 73–84.

19.

Marsh

H. W.

(1998) Age and gender effects in physical self-concepts for adolescent elite athletes and non-athletes: A multicohort-multioccasion design. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 20, 237–259.

20.

Marsh

H. W.

(2001) A multidimensional physical self-concept: A construct validity approach to theory, measurement and research. Paper presented at the 10th World Congress of Sport Psychology, Skiathos, Greece, May 28-June 2.

21.

Marsh

H. W.

Craven

R. G.

(2006) Reciprocal effects of self-concept and performance from a multidimensional perspective: Beyond seductive pleasure and unidimensional perspectives. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 133–163.

22.

Marsh

H. W.

Hau

K. T.

Sung

R. Y. T.

C. W.

(2007) Childhood obesity, gender, actual-ideal body image discrepancies, and physical self-concept in Hong Kong children: Cultural differences in the value of moderation. Developmental Psychology, 43, 647–662.

23.

Marsh

H. W.

Hey

Roche

L. A.

Perry

(1997) Structure of physical self-concept: Elite athletes and physical education students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 369–380.

24.

Marsh

H. W.

Marco

I. T.

Abçý

F. H.

(2002) Cross-cultural validity of the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Comparison of factor structures in Australia, Spain, and Turkey. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 73, 257–270.

25.

Marsh

H. W.

Papaioannou

Theodorakis

(2006) Causal ordering of physical self-concept and exercise behavior: Reciprocal effects model and the influence of physical education teachers. Health Psychology, 25, 316–328.

26.

Marsh

H. W.

Perry

(2005) Self-concept contributes to winning gold medals: Causal ordering of self-concept and elite swimming performance. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 27, 71–91.

27.

Marsh

H. W.

Richards

G. E.

Johnson

Roche

Tremayne

(1994) Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Psychometric properties and a multitrait-multimethod analysis of relations to existing instruments. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 16, 270–305.

28.

Marzano-Parisoli

M. T.

(2001) The contemporary construction of a perfect body image: Bodybuilding, exercise addiction, and eating disorders. Quest, 53, 216–230.

29.

Mayorga

Viciana

Cocca

(2012) Relationship between physical self-concept and health-related physical fitness in Spanish schoolchildren. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 69, 659–668.

30.

Nigg

C. P.

Norman

G. J.

Rossi

J. S.

Benisovich

S. V.

(2001) Examining the structure of physical self-description using an American university sample. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 72, 78–83.

31.

Peart

N. D.

Marsh

H. W.

Richards

G. E.

(2005) The Physical Self-Description Questionnaire: Furthering research linking physical self-concept, physical activity and physical education. Retrieved April 15, 2007, from http://www.aare.edu.au/data/publications/2005/pea05307.pdf.

32.

Janić

S. R.

Milanović

Lazarević

(2012) Physical activity in adolescence: Age and gender differences. Journal of Education, 1, 183–194.

33.

Ricciardelli

L. A.

McCabe

M. P.

(2001) Children's body image concerns and eating disturbance: A review of the literature. Clinical Psychology Review, 21, 325–344.

34.

Riddoch

C. J.

Andersen

L. B.

Wedderkopp

Harro

Klasson-Heggebø

Sardinha

L. B.

Cooper

A. R.

Ekelund

(2004) Physical activity levels and patterns of 9- and 15-yr.-old European children. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36, 86–92.

35.

Schmidt

Valkanover

Conzelmann

(2013) Veridicality of self-concept of strength in male adolescents. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 116(3), 1–14.

36.

Sever

Bednarik

Šugman

(2000) The financing of sports organisations in Croatia and a comparison with Slovenia. Kinesiologia Slovenica, 6, 51–56.

37.

Shapiro

D. R.

Martin

J. J.

(2010) Multidimensional physical self-concept of athletes with physical disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 27, 294–307.

38.

Shavelson

R. J.

Hubner

J. J.

Stanton

G. C.

(1976) Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407–441.

39.

Smith

C. J.

Noll

J. A.

Bryant

J. B.

(1999) The effect of social context on gender self-concept. Sex Roles, 40, 499–512.

40.

Strel

Kovač

Jurak

(2007) Physical and motor development, sport activities and lifestyles of Slovenian children and youth - changes in the last few decades. In Brettschneider

W. D.

Naul

(Eds.), Obesity in Europe: Young people's physical activity and sedentary lifestyles. Sport Sciences International. Vol. 4. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang. Pp. 243–264.

41.

Tabachnick

B. G.

Fidell

L. S.

(1996) Using multivariate statistics. (2nd ed.) New York: Harper & Row.

42.

Telama

Yang

(2000) Decline of physical activity from youth to young adulthood in Finland. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 32, 1617–1622.

43.

Van de Vijver

Leung

(1996) Methods and data analysis of comparative research. In Berry

J. W.

Poortinga

Y. H.

Pandey

(Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology. (2nd ed.) Vol. 3. Needham, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Pp. 257–300.

44.

Vasta

Haith

M. M.

Miller

S. A.

(1995) Child psychology: The modern science. New York: Wiley.