PHYSICAL-FITNESS SELF-CONCEPT - RELATIONS OF PHYSICAL-FITNESS TO FIELD AND TECHNICAL INDICATORS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS AGED 9-15

Self-concepts (self-perceptions) of physical fitness and academic achi evement were related to 14 field and laboratory indicators of physical fitness and to academic achievement for a large, national representat ive sample of Australian boys and girls aged 9 to 15 (N = 6,283). Corr elations between self-concepts and the corresponding external criteria increased steadily with age in both the physical and academic domains . Consistent with predictions from frame-of-reference models, relation s were stronger after controlling for gender and age, suggesting that self-concepts are formed relative to other students of a similar age a nd gender. Fitness self-concept was most strongly related to some indi vidual measures (e.g., 1.6K run, 50M dash, push-ups, skin fold thickne ss, VO2max, long jump, and body girth scores) and some components of f itness (e.g., cardiovascular endurance, power, dynamic strength, and b ody composition) than others. Consistent with multidimensional perspec tives of physical fitness, indicators from a variety of fitness domain s contributed to fitness self-concepts.