Self-efficacy and manifestation of motor skills in primary school children

Self-efficacy, as well as the understanding of emotions in children, is influenced by many factors such as gender, age, intelligence, and the manifestation of certain abilities through the form of motor and functional abilities. Adding to their importance, the manifestation of self-efficacy in the form of social, academic, and emotional components also contribute greatly to the manifestation of certain motor abilities. The aim of this work is to determine how much the manifestation of self-efficacy in the form of social, academic and emotional components contributes to the manifestation of certain motor skills of children, so that the improvement of self-efficacy would be part of the educational work. The sample consisted of 159 respondents, 80 males (body high 138.31+/-6.92, body weight32.52+/-6.16) and 79 females (body high 140.29+/-7.94, body weight 34.76+/-7.36), of whom 79 were from the city and 80 from the suburbs, and 80 were in the third grade and 79 in the fourth grade of primary school. The research was conducted using the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children in three areas: academic (which refers to the perceived ability to cope with learning and school material, and to meet school expectations), social (which refers to the perceived ability to relate to peers and perseverance) and emotional (which refers to the perceived ability to cope with negative emotions). The motor abilities were analysed using the Eurofit battery of tests. After analysing the results, no difference was observed between the subjects in the results of the self-efficacy questionnaire in relation to the sex of the subjects (social t=0.78 sig.=0.43, academic t=0.76 sig.=0.44, emotional t=0.40 sig.=0.68), age (social t=-1.87 sig.=0.06, academic t=-1.65 sig.=0.09, emotional t=-0.72 sig.=0.47) and place of residence (social t=-0.69 sig.=0.54, academic t=0.43 sig.=0.66, emotional t=0.15 sig.=0.87). However, a difference was observed in all Eurofit tests in subjects who had better results in certain components of self-efficacy. The key conclusion is that all three forms of self-efficacy (social, academic, and emotional) play a significant role in the expression of motor abilities.