Building better relationships in physical education (PE): a theory-informed, multi-method pilot study on social competence promotion
Iris Schüller, Filip Mess · Current Psychology · 2026
Abstract According to the World Health Organization (2020) physical activity provides advantages that extend beyond physical health, encompassing opportunities to foster social connections and cultivate social competencies and values. These aspects are seldom assessed especially in Physical Education (PE), which is why this paper focuses on three aspects of social competence (perceptive-cognitive; emotional-motivational and behavioral) in PE in adolescents aged 12–14. Participants were exposed to a six-week intervention program in a quasi-experimental
Study design: ( N = 79 students; IG: 19 male and 23 female; CG: 19 male and 20 female). The evaluation of social competence was based on self-reports, observations and social ties. Overall, the
Results: indicate differential responsiveness across competence dimensions. Perceptive-cognitive aspects showed patterns consistent with change in the expected direction following didactical
Methods: focusing on knowledge transfer, whereas emotional-motivational aspects showed no clear changes over time. Behavioral aspects also showed indications of change, when it came to the reduction of ignorance and lack of interaction, as well as anti-social behaviors in the intervention group. However, these
Findings: were modest and should be interpreted cautiously. Furthermore, the
results suggest that different aspects of social competence can be evaluated with varying degrees of success using different
results suggest that different aspects of social competence can be evaluated with varying degrees of success using different methods. As a theory-informed pilot study, these
results suggest that different aspects of social competence can be evaluated with varying degrees of success using different methods. As a theory-informed pilot study, these findings primarily highlight the potential and limits of short-term pedagogical intervention. Incorporating interactive and cooperative
results suggest that different aspects of social competence can be evaluated with varying degrees of success using different methods. As a theory-informed pilot study, these findings primarily highlight the potential and limits of short-term pedagogical intervention. Incorporating interactive and cooperative methods in lesson planning, as well as theoretically informed content may be associated with perceptive-cognitive aspects of social competence and social behavior in PE contexts.