An examination of self-presentational concern of Turkish adolescents: an example of physical education setting

The purpose of this study was to examine self-presentational concern of Turkish adolescents with regard to the gender composition of physical education (PE) class and also to investigate the attitude toward PE and PE class preferences of Turkish adolescents based on this concern. A total of 1,807 eighth-grade students (936 females and 871 males) completed the Attitudes Toward Physical Education Scale and Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS). The findings indicated that although self-presentational concern did not differ according to the gender composition of PE class, there was a significant difference in class preference among adolescents based on this concern with most of the females who had a high self-presentational concern preferring noncoed PE class. Additionally, no significant difference was found in attitude toward PE among self-presentational concern groups. These findings are discussed in relation to the sex composition of PE class and self-presentational concerns of adolescents.