Sport is now considered one of the social activities most likely to improve quality of life. Sports participation has a positive influence on a child’s physical and emotional development, because it is easier for children to adapt to their physical environment and to communicate if they take part in sporting activities.

Self-efficacy (SE) can be defined as the confidence that one can successfully perform a task. Bandura (1977) defined SE expectancy as the expectancy that one can produce a behavior to attain the outcomes of actual performance. According to Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, and Pastorelli (1996) SE expectancy has a major role in changing behaviors, as this expectancy determines the decision making in performing a behavior, the effort spent, and the problems that arise throughout the process. To broaden the definition of SE in terms of students’ self-appraisals in social interactions, Bandura regards social self-efficacy (SSE) as the expectancy that students can translate their goals into actions establishing and maintaining relationships in an academic or a social environment. Previous accomplishments, mastery experiences, social modeling, social persuasion, and psychological or emotional states foster experiences in shaping efficacy (McAuley & Courneya, 1993). In addition to the social aspect of sport, there is also another factor that is related to regular physical activity: exercise SE. This type of efficacy can be defined as the confidence students have in their ability to perform a physical activity despite obstacles. For instance, students who exhibit high levels of exercise SE can be extremely motivated to engage in a physical activity in spite of bad weather (“Social support key to encouraging college students to exercise”, 2011).

Bandura’s concept of SSE is considered as a process that occurs through the interaction among behavioral, cognitive, physiological, and environmental factors. This concept is applied in many areas of psychology with regard to different SE expectancies such as physical SE and exercise SE. SE is also studied in relation to research topics such as self-confidence and performance, which play an important role in sports (Gill, 1986; McClaran, 2003). SSE expectancy is an important factor that helps individuals to achieve successful social relationships. Consequently, SSE is pivotal for individuals in the period of early preadolescence between the ages of 11 and 13 (Bilgin, 1996).

In a society where social values change and develop continually, adolescents are worried about achieving success in academic life, about economic freedom, and about approval by their peers. In any society, adolescents behave according to emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and actions specific to their age. The main characteristics of this period have been identified as emotional enthusiasm, easily established and broken relationships, influence of peers, desire to be dominant in peer groups, drawing attention to themselves, or trying to establish a role (Başaran, 1998; Binbaşıoğlu, 1982; Yörükoğlu, 1998).

Sport is known to have a major role in child development in many ways. Participating in sport activities as a member of the team promotes a child’s ability to collaborate, and teaches respect for the other team members and the rules of the game (Öztürk, 1998). The fact that SE is an important determinant factor in beginning and continuing to participate in sport and physical activity (PA) for children and adults has been emphasized in many studies (Biddle & Armstrong, 1992; Craig, Goldberg, & Dietz, 1996; Trost et al., 1996; Zakarian, Hovell, Hofstetter, Sallis, & Keating, 1994). Accordingly, the aim in this study was to find out whether the SSE of children between the ages of 11 and 13, who participate in team and individual sports, differs according to their gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and the type of sport in which they participate.

Method

Participants

Participants were 100 licensed amateur athletes in Adana, Turkey (49 girls and 51 boys) with a mean age of 12.04 (± 0.75) years who participated in individual and team sports. Four sporting codes that represent team and individual sports were selected by the random sampling method; table tennis (n = 25), swimming (n = 25), handball (n = 25), and basketball (n = 25). The study group practiced three times a week and their average participation period in their sport was determined as 5.4 (± 1.76) years.

Measures

Social self-efficacy The SSE Scale developed by Bilgin (1997) was used to determine SSE. The SSE Scale has 27 items rated on a 3-point Likert scale (1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = always). A high score for the scale indicates strong SSE (Bilgin, 1997). In validity studies, Bilgin found a correlation of 0.28 which is similar to that of Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (1965). The data from the students and item-total score were calculated and 27 items having a significant correlation (.46 and over) of .001 were considered valid. The Cronbach’s alpha value, calculated for 27 items, was found to be 0.83. In the validity study, the values were found to be 0.82 by the split-half technique and 0.69 by the replication method. These results indicated that the scale could evaluate SSE (Bilgin, 1997).

Data Analysis

Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed with post hoc least significant difference (LSD) analysis to determine whether or not there were significant group differences in the dependent variables.

Results

When team and individual sports were compared, for the difference between SSE scores according to sporting code, a positive correlation was found in favor of team sports (Table 1).

The results of the ANOVAs revealed that for at least one of the sporting codes the mean score for SSE was significantly different from the other three. An LSD test was conducted to determine which of the branch means for SSE were significantly different (Table 2). The findings indicated that there was a statistically significant difference for SSE score between table tennis and handball, between table tennis and basketball, between swimming and handball, and between swimming and basketball. There was no statistically significant difference between table tennis and swimming, or between handball and basketball. No significant difference was found for gender among the four sports (p > .05). A negative correlation (p > .05) was observed between SES and the sporting code.

Discussion

No research in the literature comparable to the present study was located by this author. SSE not only includes knowledge and skill but also the ability for the individual to use his or her own capacity. Perceived SSE is also influenced by the environmental factors and the PA chosen (Bandura, 1977). Strauss, Rodzilsky, Burack, and Colin (2001) explored the relationships between health beliefs, self-efficacy, social support, sedentary activities, and physical activity in children aged between 10 and 16. Many researchers have shown that sport and other recreational activities can be structured so that they provide experiences that enhance the participants’ sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977; Brody, Hatfield, & Spalding, 1988).

Solberg, O’Brien, Villareal, Kennel, and Davis (1993) found that both SE and SSE have a direct influence on the adjustment of college students. Bandura (1986) introduced the concept of collective efficacy as an extension of SE and defined collective efficacy as the contribution of every single member of a group in accomplishing their mission (Bandura, 1986, 1997). Allison, Dwyer, and Makin (1999) showed that SE was a positive predictor of strong PA (external barriers such as lack of resources and time) among high school students.

In their experimental study, Wu and Pender (2002) found perceived SE to be the most effective predictor of PA among their study group of high school students. Compared with the other types of SE, Ryan and Dzewaltowski (2002) found that environmental change efficacy had the strongest relationship with youth PA.

When the difference between the sporting codes and variable of gender was examined, no statistically significant difference was found. The barriers for children and adolescents to participate in PA might be influenced by cultural factors, and gender differences may appear in the preferred activities. According to the results of some studies, when compared to girls, boys have higher levels of SE, perceived athletic confidence, expected benefits, social support, and enjoyment; and lower levels of perceived barriers. It is also known that the types of activities preferred by girls and boys are also different. Girls are more likely to take part in dance-oriented activities, gymnastics, and individual or dual activities like jump rope, and boys tend to prefer more competitive activities and team sports (Sallis, Prochaska, & Taylor, 2000). Kenneth (1997) found significant gender differences between boys and girls in a number of SE measures. Boys had typically higher SE in most PA with the exception of gymnastics, dance, and jump rope. Girls were significantly more active than boys in health-enhancing lifetime PA such as walking, jogging, and bicycling, and chose activities of a lower intensity level (Kenneth, 1997; Story et al., 2001). Consequently, in previous studies differences in gender have been found to play a great role in the preference of physical activities. However, in my study I did not find any difference in the SSE of the boys and girls who had been actively involved in the various sporting codes for a long time. I believe that this results from the fact that both boys and girls participate in the same sports because they like being together and making friends and they also like to be in a sharing environment.

In my study a negative correlation was recorded between SES and the four sporting codes. It has been emphasized that socioeconomic factors are determinants in the preferences of PA in children and adults. It has also been reported in many of the studies, in which the factors related to social background have been examined in relation to the choice preferences for PA in children and adults, that no correlation was found between the SES, gender, and SE of the participating children and adults (Anderssen & Wold, 1992; Faucette et al., 1995). It is emphasized that for both children and adolescents, socioeconomic levels have an influence on selecting the activity and maintaining participation (Gordon-Larsen, McMurray, & Popkin, 2000; Sallis et al., 2000).

These findings support those I gained in this study. I believe that my results about the lack of significant difference between the SSE of the children in the study, the sport played, and their SES are as a result of the fact that the children selected their sport according to their economic levels and that they had the necessary opportunities to maintain these activities. In team sports people have to affiliate with each other more closely and work together in harmony and they are, therefore, positively influenced by SSE. Adolescents should be encouraged to take part in team sports to complete their physical and emotional development successfully. Also, it is suggested that training for individual sports should be practiced in groups to develop SSE more fully.

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Appreciation is due to anonymous reviewers.

Zeynep Dinç, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of Çukurova, TR-01, Adana, Turkey. Email: [email protected]