50
Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
COMPETITIVENESS AND DIFFICULTY DURING
PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES
TEKMOVALNOST IN TEŽAVNOST PRI URAH
ŠPORTNE VZGOJE
Vlasta Zabukovec
1
Saša Cecić Erpič
2
Dušica Boben
3
Branko Škof
2
Abstract
In this article the perceived competitiveness and difficulty du-
ring physical education classes will be introduced. Previous re-
searches have confirmed that the perception of classroom cli-
mate, and thus also that of competitiveness and difficulty,
changes from primary to secondary school, and that gender
differences occur as well. In this research we tried to establish
which variables significantly differentiate groups of pupils who
perceive low or high competitiveness and difficulty. The se-
cond goal was practical application of the findings. We used
questionnaires for measuring classroom climate, motivation
and attitudes in the sample of 1152 pupils from primary and
secondary schools. The discriminant analysis was used. Con-
sidering the mentioned variables, it confirmed two groups of
pupils. The group which perceives a high level of competitive-
ness and difficulty can be described with the motivational-at-
titudinal function, which offers the teacher relatively precise
guidelines for the work in physical education classes. Compe-
titiveness is related to extrinsic motivation, while difficulty with
the intrinsic one. At the same time a new question arises, na-
mely, which pedagogical methods a physical education teac-
her should employ with the pupils who perceive a lower level
of competitiveness and difficulty, since this group does not
sufficiently relate to the selected variables.
Key words: competitiveness, difficulty, motivation, attitudes,
pupils, physical education
1 Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
3 Center for Psycho-diagnostic Resources, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Contact address: 
University of Ljubljana 
Faculty of Arts
Aškerčeva 2
SI – 1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Tel.: + 386 1 241-1376
Fax.: +386 1 425-9337
E-mail: Vlasta.Zabukovec@ff.uni-lj.si
Izvleček
V tem prispevku bo predstavljena zaznana tekmovalnost in te-
žavnost pri urah športne vzgoje. Raziskave so potrdile, da se
zaznavanje razredne klime in s tem v zvezi tudi tekmovalno-
sti in težavnosti spreminja iz osnovne v srednjo šolo in da raz-
like nastopajo tudi med spoloma. V raziskavi smo ugotavljali,
katere spremenljivke pomembno razlikujejo med skupinami
učencev, ki zaznavajo nizko oz. visoko tekmovalnost in težav-
nost. Drugi cilj raziskave pa je praktična aplikacija dobljenih re-
zultatov v prakso.Uporabljeni so bili vprašalniki za merjenje
razredne klime, motivacije in stališč. V raziskavo je bilo
vključenih 1152 učencev osnovnih in gimnazij, petih, sedmih
razredov ter prvih in tretjih letnikov. Uporabljena je bila diskri-
minantna analiza, ki je potrdila dve skupini učencev glede na
vključene spremenljivke. Skupino, ki zaznava visoko stopnjo
tekmovalnosti in težavnosti, opisuje motivacijsko-stališčna
funkcija, ki daje učitelju relativno natančne napotke za delo
pri urah športne vzgoje. Tekmovalnost je povezana z zunanjo
motivacijo, težavnost pa z notranjo. Hkrati pa se pojavlja še no-
vo vprašanje, kakšno pa naj bo delo s tistimi učenci, ki zazna-
vajo nižjo tekmovalnost in težavnost, saj ta skupina ni v za-
dostni meri povezana z izbranimi spremenljivkami. 
Ključne besede: tekmovalnost, težavnost, motivacija, stališča,
učenci, športna vzgoja
(Received: 29. 5. 2002 – Accepted: 15. 12. 2002)

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
INTRODUCTION
The article deals with the perception of competiti-
veness and difficulty in physical education. Previous
studies (Zabukovec, Škof, Boben, Cecić Erpič, & To-
mažin, 2001a) have confirmed the differences in
the perception of the actual and the preferred clas-
sroom climate in physical education classes, among
both teachers and pupils. As a rule, teachers achie-
ve higher scores, meaning that compared with pu-
pils they rate the classroom climate in physical edu-
cation classes as better. Primary school pupils
achieve higher scores than secondary school pupils
regarding both the actual and the preferred clas-
sroom climate.
The study of motivation in physical education clas-
ses involved 5
th
and 7
th
grade primary school pu-
pils, 1
st
and 3
rd
year secondary school pupil and
physical education teachers. It yielded the following
conclusions:
• The level of motivation in physical education clas-
ses declines as the pupils progress from primary
school to secondary school;
• Boys have a higher level of motivation than girls;
• All pupils show a stronger intrinsic than extrinsic
motivation;
• Physical education teachers also have a stronger
intrinsic motivation for work, particularly those
with a longer teaching career.
A few studies about pupils’ and teachers’ attitudes
towards the subject of physical education and to-
wards specific contents have been conducted in
Slovenia as well. Škof, Zabukovec, Boben, Cecić
Erpič and Tomažin (2000; Škof, Cecić Erpič, Zabu-
kovec, Boben, & Tomažin, 2001), for example, stu-
died the attitudes of pupils and teachers towards
endurance contents. They discovered that teachers
with a longer teaching career (over 20 years) rate
pupils’ attitudes towards running higher than teac-
hers with a shorter career. There were also diffe-
rences between teachers and pupils, as teachers
rated the endurance contents lower than pupils. Pu-
pils’ positive attitude towards endurance contents
declines at the transition from primary to secon-
dary school. They have a particularly negative atti-
tude towards the competitive forms of endurance
contents. There are also differences between pu-
pils and teachers regarding the evaluation of teac-
hing methods employed by the teachers. The
overwhelming majority of teachers are convinced
that theoretical awareness of the importance of en-
durance activities for the quality of life, clear and
precise instructions and their own active and
healthy lifestyle have an important influence on pu-
pils’ attitude towards running. Only about half of
the pupils agree with this conviction.
Although the school and the teacher play an im-
portant role in discovering the value of sports acti-
vity, the teacher’s socialising role is limited (John-
son, & Johnson, 1995). The family and the social
environment with a more or less sports-oriented cli-
mate are equally important to the process of socia-
lisation in the area of sports. The social factors of
the educational process are specifically explained
by the sociopsychological theory of teaching,
which emphasises the importance of the commu-
nication process enabling the teachers to pass on
their knowledge to pupils (Johnson, & Johnson,
1995). This process is basically about the exchan-
ge of ideas, convictions and attitudes. Cankar
(1994) established that schoolgirls in particular sta-
te open communication as the most important at-
tribute of a physical education teacher, while
schoolboys consider class management and the
choice of teaching methods as the most important
criteria in evaluating a teacher. The same study re-
vealed that the 7th grade primary school pupils
emphasise the following qualities of a physical edu-
cation teacher: ability to involve pupils in the orga-
nisation and execution of classwork and acknow-
ledge their interests.
In short, the educational process is the result of the
efforts of pupils and teachers alike and of their co-
operation. According to Grossman (1995), the ef-
fectiveness of a teacher in the educational process
depends on six factors:
1. His or her expert knowledge, both general and
specific, as well as the knowledge of methodo-
logy, which is specifically connected with the
chosen subject;
2. A more detailed knowledge of pupils and teac-
hing than the knowledge of the theories of teac-
hing, the developmental characteristics of pu-
pils and the theories of motivation;
3. His or her pedagogical knowledge, which inc-
ludes a general pedagogical knowledge of class
management, methods and approaches;
4. His or her curricular knowledge, which encom-
passes the knowledge of the development of
curriculum and more specifically the curriculum
of individual classes;

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
5. His or her contextual knowledge, which inclu-
des the knowledge of the functioning and the
influence of the social environment;
6. The awareness of his or her own convictions,
values, personal goals and motives for teaching.
The aim of this research was to determine the fol-
lowing:
1. The level of the perceived competitiveness and
difficulty in physical education classes.
2. Which variables (motivation, attitudes) signifi-
cantly discriminate between groups of pupils
with a low level of perceived competitiveness
and difficulty and those with a high level of per-
ceived competitiveness and difficulty?
3. The practical application of research results.
METHODS
Subjects
The study involved 1,152 pupils from 21 Slovene
primary and secondary schools. The sample was
composed of 5
th
and 7
th
grade pupils from primary
schools and 1
st
and 3
rd
year pupils from secondary
schools. 5 primary schools were chosen from ur-
ban environments and 7 from the provinces (from
settlements with less than 6,000 inhabitants). Se-
condary schools were chosen according to the
same regional criterion. 4 secondary schools were
chosen from urban environments and 5 from the
provinces.
Table 1: Characteristics of the sample
Instruments
The pupils filled in the Classroom climate in physi-
cal education classes questionnaire (Zabukovec et
al., 2001a), which consists of the actual and the pre-
ferred form. It pertains to the perception of clas-
sroom climate in physical education classes. The
form about the actual classroom climate refers to
the perception of the actual physical education
classes and the preferred one refers to the prefer-
red physical education classes. Both forms consist
of 50 items encompassing seven dimensions of
classroom climate: satisfaction, teaching methods,
pupils’ activity, appropriateness of classes, perso-
nal relationships, competitiveness and difficulty.
This article will mainly focus on pupils’ answers in
the dimensions of competitiveness and difficulty of
the actual classroom climate form. The dimension
of competitiveness refers to competition between
individuals in physical education classes and the
desire to be better than others, to group competi-
tion, to competition in terms of encouragement
and to competition with oneself. The dimension of
difficulty refers to the perceived difficulty of physi-
cal education classes and to strategies that pupils
employ to surmount it (mutual help, teacher’s help,
appropriate goals, more difficult contents as a fac-
tor of progress). The pupils rated the items on a
four-point scale, on which 4 represents strong
agreement, 3 agreement, 2 disagreement and 1
strong disagreement. The reliability of the dimen-
sion of competitiveness (Cronbach alpha) is 0.78,
while that of the dimension of difficulty is 0.66.
Another instrument was Motivation in physical edu-
cation questionnaire, which consists of two factors:
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Cecić Erpič, Škof,
Boben, Zabukovec, & Marcina, in press; Zabuko-
vec, Boben, Škof, Cecić Erpič, & Tomažin, 2001b).
The first factor consists of 8 items and the second
one of 7 items. A four-point scale was used, on
which 4 means always, 3 often, 2 sometimes and 1
never. The reliability of the intrinsic motivation fac-
tor is 0.85, while that of the extrinsic motivation is
0.81 (Cronbach alpha).
The third questionnaire used refers to the attitudes
towards physical education classes (Attitude to-
ward physical education questionnaire – enduran-
ce activities; Škof, Zabukovec, Boben, Cecić Erpič,
& Zabukovec, 2000) and consists of three factors:
cognitive component (9 items), affective compo-
nent (13 items) and pedagogical approach (5
items). The cognitive factor includes the knowled-
ge and awareness of the positive effects of sports
activity, the affective factor indicates the attitude
towards physical education and its contents, and
the pedagogical approach factor includes teaching
methods and pupils’ opinion about the motivatio-
nal methods of the physical education teacher. A
five point Likert scale was used, on which 5 repre-
sents strong agreement and 1 strong disagreement.
Male 521 schoolboys
Female 627 schoolgirls
5
th
grade 313 pupils
7
th
grade 285 pupils
1
st
year 301 pupils
3
rd
year 253 pupils

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
The average reliability of factors is 0.87 (Cronbach
alpha).
Procedures
The pupils filled in all the aforementioned question-
naires during physical education classes.
RESULTS
1. The perceived competitiveness and difficulty in
physical education classes
Pupils perceive competitiveness and difficulty as
fairly high (Mcom=22.44 and Mdif=16.61), consi-
dering the highest possible values (max.com=32
and max.dif=24). In both dimensions, the values fall
into the last third. A more detailed distribution of
answers can be found in the table below. It illustra-
tes the fact that a great majority of pupils’ answers
had a high value, which means they perceive a high
level of competitiveness and difficulty.
Table 2: The distribution of pupils’ answers in the dimen-
sions of competitiveness and difficulty
The comparison between boys and girls regarding
their perception of competitiveness and difficulty in
physical education classes showed that boys per-
ceive a higher level of competitiveness and diffi-
culty than girls. In spite of the statistical significan-
ce of the differences in the dimension of difficulty,
the actual differences (considering the scale) are
not that great, since both boys and girls mostly ans-
wered »I agree«. The fact that there are 8 items in
the dimension of competitiveness and 6 in the di-
mension of difficulty has to be taken into account.
The comparison between primary and secondary
school pupils showed that younger pupils perceive
a higher level of competitiveness and difficulty in
physical education classes. Taking into account the
scale and the number of items in an individual di-
mension, we could say that primary school pupils
more often answered »I agree«, while the answers
of secondary school pupils fall somewhere bet-
ween »I agree« and »I disagree«. A closer inspection
of the results reveals that the perception of com-
petitiveness and difficulty gradually decreases as
the pupils progress from the 5
th
to the 7
th
grade of
primary school and then to the 1
st
and the 3
rd
year
of secondary school. A more detailed account of
the results is shown in the figure below.
Table 4: The differences in the perception of competitive-
ness and difficulty in physical education classes between
primary school and secondary school pupils
Competitiveness
Number f cum f % cum %
of points
5-10 1 1 0.08 0.08
11-15 55 56 4.77 4.86
16-20 300 356 26.04 30.9
21-25 428 784 37.15 68.05
26-30 220 1004 19.09 87.15
31-35 31 1035 2.69 89.84
missing 117 1152 10.16 100
Difficulty
5-10 17 17 1.47 1.47
11-15 348 365 30.21 31.68
16-20 609 974 52.86 84.55
21-25 95 1069 8.25 92.79
missing 83 1152 7.22 100
Dimension M SD t- df p
of classroom value
climate
Boys Girls Boys Girls
Competi-
tiveness 23.33 21.73 4.31 4.19 5.99 1031 0.000
Difficulty 16.87 16.41 3.04 2.64 2.64 1065 0.008
Dimension M SD t- df p
of classroom value
climate
Primary Secon- PrimarySecon-
school daryschooldary
school school
Competi-
tiveness 24.63 20.28 3.86 3.6 18.73 1033 0.000
Difficulty 17.5 15.69 2.96 2.35 11.04 1067 0.000
Table 3: The differences in the perception of competitive-
ness and difficulty in physical education classes between
boys and girls
Figure 1: The dynamics of the perception of competitive-
ness and difficulty

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
The differences between the decrease in the per-
ception of competitiveness and of difficulty are
very small, if the number of items in the individual
dimensions is taken into account, as the transforma-
tion of scores will show.
2. The differences between pupils regarding the
low or high perception of competitiveness and
difficulty in physical education classes
Pupils were further divided into two groups, a hig-
her and a lower one, depending on the perceived
competitiveness and difficulty. The so-called hig-
her group consists of approximately 20% of pupils
with a high score in the dimension of competitive-
ness. The so-called lower group consists of appro-
ximately 20% of pupils with a lower score in the di-
mension of competitiveness. The same division into
two groups was implemented in the dimension of
difficulty.
The lower group, i.e. the one with low scores in the
dimension of competitiveness, consists mostly of
secondary school pupils, particularly from the 3
rd
year. There is a prevalence of girls in this group. The
limits are from 8 to 19 points. The group of high
20% in terms of the number of points consists
mostly of primary school pupils with a predominan-
ce of boys. The limits are from 26 to 32 points.
The group of low 20 % in the dimension of diffi-
culty consists of secondary school pupils, in which
there are more girls than boys. Pupils in this group
have scored between 6 and 14 points in this dimen-
sion. The group of high 20% consists of primary
school pupils with a slight predominance of boys.
The limits are from 19 to 24 points.
Because the goal of this study was to discover in
what way the lower and the higher group differ in
the dimensions of competitiveness and difficulty
regarding the level and type of motivation and the
prominence of attitudes towards physical educa-
tion, a discriminant analysis was used, which inclu-
ded the following variables:
1. Two factors of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation;
2. Three factors of attitudes: cognitive factor, af-
fective factor and the factor of pedagogical ac-
tions.
2.1. The differences between the groups of pupils
that perceive a low and a high level of compe-
titiveness in physical education classes
The group with higher scores in the dimension of
competitiveness displayed higher values in all va-
riables. A statistical analysis has confirmed signifi-
cant differences between these two groups at
p=0.000. The group with high scores in the dimen-
sion of competitiveness therefore achieved higher
values in all the variables included in the study, as
is evident from the table 5. 
Table 5: Means and standard deviations in the dimension
of competitiveness for the lower and the higher group of
pupils
The discriminant analysis has shown that four va-
riables significantly discriminate between the lower
and the higher group, while one variable, i.e. the
factor of pedagogical actions, was eliminated as ir-
relevant.
Table 6: Discriminant analysis of the variables included in
the study
The discriminant function has a significant discri-
minatory power between the group of pupils who
achieved low scores in the dimension of competi-
tiveness and those who achieved high scores.
Table 7: The discriminatory significance of the discriminant
function
The standardised coefficients point to the fact that
the greatest difference between the lower and the
higher group is the factor of extrinsic motivation,
Variable Lower Higher
MS DMS D
Intrinsic motivation 18.59 4.32 25.76 4.03
Extrinsic motivation 10.63 3.64 18.2 5.43
Cognitive factor 33.67 5.87 38.91 4.23
Affective factor 32.02 11.21 47.34 10.97
Factor of pedagogical actions 14.49 4.49 18.37 4.17
Variables Wilks' Partial F- p
lambda lambda remove
Intrinsic motivation 0.51 0.906 21.189 0.000
Extrinsic motivation 0.55 0.885 66.92 0.000
Attitudes – affective 0.51 0.960 21.146 0.000
Attitudes – cognitive 0.5 0.984 8.22 0.004
Function Eigen Canonical Wilks' Chi- df p
value correlation lambda square
1 1.053 0.72 0.487 370.47 4 0.00

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
which pertains mainly to the tendency to compare
oneself with others or to be better than others in
physical education classes and to achieve impor-
tant results (see table 8). The factor of intrinsic mo-
tivation and the affective factor also discriminate
between the groups. The cognitive factor of attitu-
des partly contributes to the differences between
them. In view of the variables that the analysis con-
firmed, the discriminant function can be called the
motivational-attitudinal function (see tables 8, 9,
10).
Table 8: Standardised coefficients of the canonical discri-
minant function
Table 9: Coefficients of factor saturation, correlations bet-
ween discriminant variables and the canonical discriminant
function
Table 10: Canonical discriminant function, determined by
group centroids
Figure 2: Centroids and standardised coefficients of the dis-
criminant function
The motivational-attitudinal function, which discri-
minates between the two groups of pupils, has con-
firmed that discriminant variables are more con-
nected with the group of pupils who perceive a
higher level of competitiveness. This group is best
described by a pronounced extrinsic motivation,
intrinsic motivation and both attitudinal factors. In
general, the discriminant function is more connec-
ted with the group of pupils who perceive a higher
level of competitiveness in physical education clas-
ses.
2. 2. The differences between the groups of pupils
that perceive a low and a high level of difficulty in
physical education classes
The higher group has displayed higher values in all
variables. The statistical analysis has confirmed sig-
nificant differences between these two groups at
p=0.000. The group with high scores in the dimen-
sion of difficulty therefore achieved higher values
in all the variables included in the study.
Table 11: Means and standard deviations in the dimension
of difficulty for the lower and the higher group of pupils
The discriminant analysis has shown that four va-
riables significantly discriminate between the lower
and the higher group, while one variable, the atti-
tudinal factor of negative elements, was eliminated
as irrelevant.
Table 12:  Discriminant analysis of the variables included in
the study
The discriminant function has a significant discri-
minatory power between the group of pupils who
achieved low scores in the dimension of difficulty
and those who achieved high scores.
Table 13: Discriminatory significance of the discriminant
function
Variable Function 1
Intrinsic motivation 0.34
Extrinsic motivation 0.53
Affective factor of attitudes 0.33
Cognitive factor of attitudes 0.20
Variable Function 1
Intrinsic motivation 0.79
Extrinsic motivation 0.77
Affective factor of attitudes 0.67
Cognitive factor of attitudes 0.49
Group Function 1
Lower – group 1 -0.991
Higher – group 2 1.058
Variable Lower Higher
MS DMS D
Intrinsic motivation 18.63 4.47 25.29 4.24
Extrinsic motivation 11.8 4.25 16.84 5.72
Cognitive factor of attitudes 33.3 6.15 38.81 4.74
Affective factor of attitudes 32.43 12.49 47.04 11.75
Factor of pedagogical actions 14.45 4.84 17.99 4.05
Variables Wilks' Partial F- p
lambda lambda remove
Intrinsic motivation 0.65 0.92 40.8 0.000
Attitudes – affective 0.62 0.97 15.83 0.000
Attitudes – cognitive 0.61 0.99 5.78 0.01
Extrinsic motivation 0.61 0.99 5.09 0.02
Function Eigen Canonical Wilks' Chi- df p
value correlation lambda square
1 0.66 0.63 0.6 239.86 4 0.00

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
The standardised coefficients point to the fact that
the greatest difference between the two groups is
the factor of intrinsic motivation. The affective fac-
tor of attitudes also contributes to the differences,
while the cognitive factor and the factor of extrin-
sic motivation are less significant. The discriminant
function can again be called the motivational-atti-
tudinal function.
Table 14: Standardised coefficients of the canonical discri-
minant function
Table 15: Coefficients of factor saturation, correlations bet-
ween discriminant variables and the canonical discriminant
function
Table 16: Canonical discriminant function, determined by
group centroids
Figure 3:  Centroids and standardised coefficients of the
discriminant function
The motivational-attitudinal function which discri-
minates between the lower and the higher group of
pupils has confirmed that the group of pupils who
perceive a higher level of difficulty in physical edu-
cation classes is characterised by higher values re-
garding the factor of intrinsic motivation and the
affective factor of attitudes. While it is true that this
group is also characterised by higher values regar-
ding the cognitive factor of attitudes and extrinsic
motivation, these characteristics are not very pro-
nounced. In conclusion, the motivational-attitudi-
nal function is more prominent in the group of pu-
pils who perceive a higher level of difficulty in
physical education classes.
DISCUSSION
Pupils perceive a relatively high level of competiti-
veness and difficulty in physical education classes,
which can be attributed to the often competitive
contents of physical education classes and to physi-
cal exertion needed to master more demanding
tasks requiring mutual help or the help of the teac-
her. This induces the pupils to perceive the level of
difficulty as high. The fact that boys perceive a hig-
her level of competitiveness and difficulty in physi-
cal education classes than girls can be explained
by the process of socialisation and the process of
accepting gender roles. Cankar (1994) has confir-
med that boys perceive physical education diffe-
rently from girls. The fact that there is a steady dec-
line in the perceived level of competitiveness and
difficulty in physical education classes from the 5
th
grade of primary school to the 3
rd
year of secon-
dary school is to a great extent connected with the
period of adolescence, the changes in physical ap-
pearance and the changes in adolescents’ values
and goals. At the same time, there are also changes
in physical education classes themselves, especially
at the transition from primary to secondary school.
Numerous authors (Martens, 1975; Schutz, Smoll,
Carre, & Mosher, 1985) consider the period of
middle childhood as the period when attitudes to-
wards individual phenomena, including sports ac-
tivity, begin to take shape. The middle years of
schooling (from 10 to 15) mark the period of inten-
se transformation of attitudes towards sports acti-
vity (DeMarco, & Sidney, 1989). These findings
concur with the observations of Smoll and Schutz
(1980), who believe that the attitudes of primary
school pupils are still very changeable and that the
attitudes towards sports activity do not stabilise un-
til the period of late adolescence (after 15).
The realisation that, given the results in the dimen-
sions of competitiveness and difficulty, a cluster of
motivational-attitudinal variables significantly dis-
criminates between pupils is also very important.
Competitiveness, which is defined as competition
between individuals and groups as well as with one-
self, is more pronounced in primary school boys,
which means they have a clear desire to improve
their achievements. As the discriminant analysis has
shown, however, this group is characterised by a
Variable Function 1
Intrinsic motivation 0.57
Affective factor of attitudes 0.35
Cognitive factor of attitudes 0.21
Extrinsic motivation 0.19
Variable Function 1
Intrinsic motivation 0.89
Affective factor 0.74
Cognitive factor 0.62
Extrinsic motivation 0.59
Group Function 1
Lower – group 1 -0.87
Higher – group 2 0.76

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Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
higher level of extrinsic motivation, which means
that in the group of primary school boys, the desi-
re for external encouragement and the comparison
with the established standards are predominant.
This group is also characterised by high scores in
the factor of intrinsic motivation and both affective
and cognitive attitudinal factors, although to a les-
ser extent. The primary school boys therefore have
a desire to further their own interests, a positive at-
titude towards physical education and a sound
knowledge of the positive effects of sport. It is also
interesting that pupils’ attitudes towards physical
education are changing. While they remain positi-
ve, their scores decline at the transition from pri-
mary to secondary school (Škof et al., 2000). Boc-
ket (1994) and Schutz with his colleagues (1985)
have reached a similar conclusion. Škof et al. (2000)
have confirmed the tenet that pupils dislike compe-
titive contents of physical education. This is particu-
larly important for the development of physical
education, as it encourages the teachers to include
not only competitive contents, but also contents
that emphasise co-operation between pupils and
teachers. Physical education classes would also be-
nefit from approaches which would enable the pu-
pils to monitor their own progress. Other results
(Zabukovec et al, 2001a) have also confirmed that
pupils do not want a higher level of competitive-
ness. A valid conclusion would be that, if the teac-
her encourages competitiveness, this creates an
increase in the pupils’ extrinsic motivation. Nevert-
heless, the teacher can also encourage co-opera-
tion or perhaps competition between groups. The
ideal solution is to find a suitable balance between
different methods. Special attention should be paid
to the group of girls, particularly from the 3
rd
year
of secondary school, who perceive a lower level of
competitiveness, which could mean that they are
less committed in physical education classes (their
attitudes towards physical education are lower), es-
pecially in terms of achieving good results, compa-
rable with other pupils’ results or with previously
established standards. Furthermore, this group
does not want a higher level of competitiveness
and the abovementioned factors do not represent
an important goal for them. Competitions and stre-
nuous endurance tests are not the best course of
action for them.
Difficulty in physical education classes was rated
as high mainly by primary school boys. The discri-
minant analysis has confirmed that the motivatio-
nal-attitudinal function discriminates this group
from the one that perceives a lower level of diffi-
culty in physical education classes. The group that
views physical education classes as more deman-
ding is characterised by a high intrinsic motivation,
which means that these pupils want to realise abo-
ve all their own sports ambitions and they achieve
their goals with persistence and hard work. Alt-
hough the dimension of difficulty primarily descri-
bes the perceived difficulty in physical education
classes, it also includes strategies to overcome dif-
ficulties, such as mutual help, the help of the teac-
her, appropriate goals and the ability to progress
by tackling more difficult contents. This group is
characterised by a positive attitude towards physi-
cal education, although not very pronounced, and
by knowledge of physical education and its effects
on an individual. It is also characterised by a ten-
dency towards extrinsic motivation, but again not
very pronounced. The results of the same study
confirm that pupils want a higher level of difficulty,
which means more demanding contents of physi-
cal education. In this way, they could further their
own interests and achieve realistic goals with effort
and persistence. Therefore, the teacher should abo-
ve all be aware of the pupils’ wishes and interests,
so he or she can set appropriate goals and thus en-
courage a more positive attitude towards the con-
tents of physical education. To increase the level of
difficulty, the teacher should use methods that en-
courage intrinsic motivation. The development of
a positive attitude towards physical education (af-
fective factor of attitudes) and the construction of
knowledge which would provide an insight into the
area of physical education and its effects on an in-
dividual (cognitive factor of attitudes) should cer-
tainly not be overlooked, especially since it is evi-
dent that these attitudes are significantly lower in
secondary school than in primary school. In this
case, special attention should again be paid to se-
condary school girls, who perceive a lower level of
difficulty, which means that they do not have the
necessary strategies to cope with difficult contents
and their goals are not set in this direction, becau-
se they want a lower level of difficulty than boys.
But the variables that would describe this group of
pupils have not yet been determined. The demands
and goals should be adapted to their needs in terms
of lower and above all more realistic goals.
In conclusion, pupils can be divided into two
groups regarding the perception of competitive-
ness and difficulty in physical education classes.
The group that perceives a high level of competiti-

58
Zabukovec,V.,CecićErpič,S.,Boben,D.&Škof,B.(2002).Competitivenessanddifficultyduringphysical… KinSI8(2),50–58
veness and difficulty can be described with the mo-
tivational-attitudinal function, which offers the teac-
her relatively precise guidelines for his or her work
in physical education classes. Competitiveness is
mostly connected with extrinsic motivation, while
difficulty is mostly connected with intrinsic motiva-
tion.
Yet at the same time, a new question arises as to
what pedagogical methods a teacher of physical
education should employ for pupils who perceive
a lower level of competitiveness and difficulty, sin-
ce this group cannot be described by the chosen
variables.
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