Analysis of differences according to gender in the level of physical activity, motivation, psychological needs and responsibility in Primary Education

Abstract

The objective of the study was to verify the differences according to gender in the levels of physical activity, motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction and responsibility in students of 5th and 6th grade of Primary Education (M = 10.51, SD = .53). In total, 68 students answered a series of questionnaires evaluating the intention to be physically active, motivation, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and the levels of personal and social responsibility. These subjects also wore an accelerometer for 1 week to objectively measure the level of Physical Activity (PA). There were 43 boys and 25 girls. Results show that boys had a higher index of PA during the week, especially at moderate intensity. Boys also had higher values of sedentary lifestyle. Significant differences were found in personal and social responsibility in favour of girls, finding no differences in the intention to be physically active. It is concluded that, girls had more adaptive values referred to responsibility. Furthermore, boys had a better adaptative values referred to PA lifestyle than girls but worse in sedentarism. It is highly recommended to objectively measure the PA levels to ensure reliable results to carry out the appropriate actions.

Physical Education Classes and Responsibility: The Importance of Being Responsible in Motivational and Psychosocial Variables

“…Finally, the third objective sought to observe whether there were differences in the levels of responsibility depending on the age and gender of the participants. This was an objective whose hypothesis was not entirely clear, given that there are studies that observe differences according to gender in the values of responsibility, with higher values in boys [ 32 ] and others in girls [ 31 ], while others fail to identify such differences [ 63 ]. The same occurs with age, where research is observed that identifies higher values of responsibility in younger students [ 32 ] and others in older ones [ 33 ].…”

“…Secondly, a fundamental aspect is to observe whether there are differences depending on the age and gender of the participants in the profiles carried out, given that in the bibliography cited, the results are not entirely illuminating in this respect and neither with regard to educational level. Studies can be found indicating higher levels of responsibility in girls [ 31 ] and others in boys [ 32 ], while others claim the opposite [ 33 ].…”

School social climate and personal and social responsiblity of high school students in secondary school according to their motivational profile

“…The present study aimed to examine the motivational profile of adolescent students, as well as its link with responsibility, basic psychological needs and classroom social climate, and to review gender differences. The satisfaction of students' basic psychological needs is reflected in more self-determined levels of motivation that generate behaviours based on personal and social responsibility (Manzano-Sánchez et al, 2021). Thus, a classroom social climate focused on the teaching-learning process of students favours the acquisition of knowledge (Cid et al, 2019), promotes the development of personal skills (Alevriadou & Pavlidou, 2016;Hidalgo-Rasmusen et al, 2013), generates a greater intention to practice physical activity (Taylor et al, 2010) and reinforces young students' social satisfaction in the classroom (Baena-Extremera et al, 2013;Garn et al, 2014;Vallerand, 1997).…”

“…Regarding the variables of responsibility and classroom or school social climate, a positive and significant association of responsibility with school social climate, basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness), the self-determination index and prosocial behaviour was observed (Manzano- Sánchez et al, 2021).…”

“…In this way, it can be observed that the most self-determined motivation is the most relevant (Menéndez-Santurio & Fernández-Río, 2017) since, according to scientific evidence, this motivation is directly related to adaptive behaviours such as satisfaction and enjoyment (Méndez-Giménez et al, 2017), prosocial behaviours (Manzano-Sánchez et al, 2021b) or the intention to be physically active (Granero- Gallegos et al, 2014); and social factors such as personal and social responsibility (Fernández-Hernández et al, 2021;Manzano-Sánchez et al, 2021a, 2021b or school social climate (Manzano-Sánchez et al, 2021a, 2021b.…”