How Perceived Competence Is Influenced in Youth Boys and Girls

Youth competence can be a defining factor in how competence is perceived as an adult. Many things can influence youth competence, including parent expectations and youths’ own goals in sports, and these influences might differ for boys and girls. Another factor that could influence youth competence is parental motivational climate, which can come in two forms: task- (e.g., when parents emphasize personal improvement) and ego-orientation (e.g., when parents emphasize peer competition). Therefore, we have three research questions: How do youth perceive their competence and perceive their parents’ goals for their participation, do competence and perceived parental behaviors differ between boys and girls aged 8-12, and how are the youth’s perceptions of their parents' goals for sport related to their perceived competence, and does that differ for boys and girls? In this study, we examined a group of 106 youth athletes (34 female; 72 male), aged 8-12, who played 22 different sports. For boys, global self-worth was inversely related to the father’s ego orientation, and social competence was positively related to the father’s task behaviors. For girls, athletic competence was positively related to both mother’s and father’s task behaviors, and parents’ ego orientation was unrelated to competence and self-worth. In both boys and girls, we see that both father ego-promoting values and mother task-promoting values have the largest impact on youth-perceived competence.