Comparison of the Effect of Purposeful Movement Plays on Physical Self-Efficacy and Enjoyment of Motor Activity in Preschool Girls and Boys

Physical self-efficacy and enjoyment are two important constructs in the motivational theories of sport and human physical activity that were studied on children in this study. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of purposeful movement plays on physical self-efficacy and enjoyment of motor activity in preschool girls and boys.
A quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and 42 children aged 4 to 6 years in two groups of purposeful physical plays (10 boys, 10 girls) and ordinary activity (10 boys, 12 girls) was done. Participants were selected voluntarily and randomly divided into two groups. Data were extracted using a physical self-efficacy scale and enjoyment of the physical activity.
Girls had significantly less physical self-efficacy and enjoyment than boys in the pre-test. Despite a significant increase in post-test scores compared to pre-test in the group of purposeful physical Plays, but still, a significant difference in favor of boys was observed in this group (P<0.01).
Participation in physical play classes that are purposefully designed for children and performed by experts, increases physical self-efficacy and enjoyment of both gender but does not seem to be enough to resolve the difference between girls and boys.