Influences of perceived sport competence on physical activity enjoyment in early adolescents

• Stefano Scarpa

  University of Padua

• Alessandra Nart

  University of Padua

In the sport and physical activity (PA) field, enjoyment is a positive affective response to the sport experience (Scanlan & Simons, 1992) and it can also be considered an important factor in promoting active lifestyles and regular PA among school-aged children (Carraro, Young, & Robazza, 2008). Although PA enjoyment depends primarily on intrinsic factors, sport competence may influence PA enjoyment (Carroll & Loumidis, 2003). We investigated the effects of perceived sport competence on PA enjoyment, initially expecting that perceived sport competence could be predictive of high levels of PA enjoyment. At present, there are no studies in which the influences of perceived sport competence on PA enjoyment have been examined with Italian adolescents. A review revealed that the sport literature features only one study on this topic conducted with English children (Biddle, Wang, Chatzisarantis, & Spray, 2003) in which it was found that levels of sport competence did not seem to influence their levels of enjoyment. This study was carried out to increase the existing body of knowledge about the relationship between perceived sport competence and enjoyment.

1. Stefano Scarpa, University of Padua
   Department of Educational Sciences
2. Alessandra Nart, University of Padua
   Interfaculty Course of Human Movement Sciences

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