Parents’ appraisals, reflected appraisals, and children’s self-appraisals of sport competence: A yearlong study

1 This study investigated the contribution of the reflected appraisal process to the ontogeny 2 of children’s self-perceptions of physical competence. Emanating from symbolic 3 interactionist thought, reflected appraisals refer to individuals’ perceptions of others’ 4 evaluations of their abilities. The influence of parents’ appraisals of their child’s 5 competence on the child’s self-appraisals was hypothesized to be mediated by parents’ 6 reflected appraisals. Data were collected from a sample of 147 sixth graders and their 7 parents in three waves over one school year. Structural equation modeling revealed that (1) 8 parents’ appraisals at Wave 1 influenced children’s reflected appraisals of parents at Wave 9 2; (2) reflected appraisals at Wave 2 influenced children’s self-appraisals at Wave 3, 10 controlling for both the child’s actual level in sport (as assessed by the child’s grade in 11 physical education) and the child’s self-appraisals at Wave 1; and (3) the influence of 12 parents’ appraisals on their child’s self-appraisals was nonsignificant when reflected 13 appraisals were controlled for. This study supported the mediational role of the reflected 14 appraisal process. The findings from this study provide a unique contribution to the sport 15