A300: The Relationship Between Sports Morality and Executive Function in Secondary School Students

In the context of globalization, there is an increasing emphasis on the development of core competencies. Many countries have adopted core competencies as key curriculum goals and evaluation criteria. In China, the Physical Education and Health curriculum follows this trend, incorporating core competencies such as motor skills, healthy behaviors, and sports morality. Among them, sports morality is a crucial component, playing an essential role in fostering students’ moral development through physical activity. Research in psychology and education suggests a potential link between sports morality and executive function. As a complex, high-level cognitive process, executive function significantly impacts students' problem-solving abilities and other cognitive skills. This study aims to investigate the relationship between sports morality and executive function in Chinese junior high school students, to alleviate the tension between academic and physical education curricula and enhance the educational value of physical education. A total of 20 seventh-grade students were randomly selected and divided into an experimental group and a control group. A 12-week (18-session) teaching intervention was implemented. The experimental group received football-based physical education, while the control group followed a traditional PE curriculum. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included a sports morality questionnaire and executive function tests for all participants. Paired sample t-tests were used to evaluate changes in sports morality before and after the intervention, while ANCOVA was employed to compare the effects of different teaching approaches on students’ sports morality. Changes in executive function were analyzed using paired t-tests and ANCOVA, and Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between executive function and sports morality. P significantly improved students’ sports morality and executive function. Sports character, a dimension of sports morality, was negatively correlated with cognitive flexibility (p < 0.05), while sportsmanship was negatively correlated with updating function (p < 0.05). Conclusion: P can effectively enhance students’ levels of sports morality and executive function. Junior high school students with higher levels of sports morality tend to show better cognitive flexibility and updating abilities. Therefore, school PE programs should place greater emphasis on cultivating students’ sports morality, leveraging the moral education function to promote holistic student development.