“I can dribble!” On the relationship between children’s motor competencies and corresponding self-perceptions

An individual’s self-perception plays an important role in their psychological development. Teaching curricula in German-speaking countries emphasize the importance of promoting positive self-perception of physical abilities as an objective of physical education classes. The current article presents an operationalization of the SEMOK (German: Selbstwahrnehmung motorischer Kompetenzen) test instrument for self-perception of motor competencies. As part of a validation study (N = 310 children; 53% girls; mean age 11.26 ±0.49 years), the construct and criteria validity of SEMOK were evaluated. Using eight SEMOK test items, an exploratory structural equation model and a confirmatory factor analysis were calculated. Both analyses confirmed a two-factor structure of the SEMOK test instrument with the factors self-perception self-movement and self-perception object movement, as is known from the MOBAK (German: Motorische Basiskompetenzen) test instrument for assessment of basic motor competencies. The latent correlation of the SEMOK factors with the corresponding MOBAK factors was r = 0.73 for object movement and r = 0.83 for self-movement. The correlation between the physical self-concept and the two SEMOK factors was r = 0.75 for both. Furthermore, it could be shown that the influence of basic motor competencies on physical self-concept was mediated by the self-perception of motor competence. The SEMOK factors were related to covariates (e.g., gender), learning dispositions (e.g., interest), and behavioral characteristics to a degree comparable to the MOBAK factors. The confirmation of the two-factor structure as well as the association with external criteria provide the first indications of the construct and criteria validity of the SEMOK instrument, and demonstrate the tight link between basic motor competencies and self-perception of motor competence.