Effect of reported disadvantages on fear of failure in physical education

The present study examines, in the context of physical education (PE) classes, if having the opportunity to report disadvantages before performing a physical test could reduce students' self-reported level of fear of failure. Forty-six students (31 males, M-age = 14.2 years and 15 females, M-age = 12.5 years) from a middle school and a high school in France participated in the study. A repeated measures design (intra-individual) was used, such that the fear of failure was measured before and after students were given (week 1) or not given (week 2) the opportunity to report disadvantages that could impair their future performance. The main results indicated that when students had the opportunity to report disadvantages, their self-reported level of fear of failure declined before performing the physical test. Conversely, when they had no opportunity to report disadvantages, their self-reported level of fear of failure increased. Implications for educational psychologists and teachers are discussed.