Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 28, 2025

Physical Activity Measurement in Children Accepting Table Tennis Training
Published on: July 27, 2022
Can Physical Exercise Promote the Development of Teenagers' Non-Cognitive Ability?-Evidence from China Education
Shiwei Yuan1, Qian Gu2, Yuanyuan Lei3
1Wuxi Higher Health Vocational Technology School, Wuxi 214000, China.
Abstract:
Background: With the development of educational philosophy, physical exercise is considered to be an important factor in the development of individual cognitive abilities in adolescents. However, the effects of physical exercise on non-cognitive abilities in adolescents remain inadequate. Objective: This study examined the effect of physical exercise on non-cognitive ability and further examined the differences in this effect in different groups. Methods: Survey data on non-cognitive ability, physical exercise and covariates were collected in the China Education Panel Survey (2014−2015) from a nationally representative sample of adolescents (n = 7904) in the eighth (follow-up) grade. Results: The results show that, after controlling for the influence of other factors, physical exercise has a promoting effect on six non-cognitive abilities—social behavior (p < 0.001), communication ability (p < 0.01), perseverance (p < 0.05), school adaptation (p < 0.001), educational expectation (p < 0.01) and creative thinking (p < 0.01)—and there is no significant effect on emotional control (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the development of non-cognitive ability in physical exercise shows certain group differences. Conclusions: There are gender differences in the performance of non-cognitive ability. Girls perform better than boys in non-cognitive ability. Physical exercise is an important means to develop non-cognitive ability, which indicates that non-cognitive ability has plasticity in adolescence. Future intervention may improve the non-cognitive ability of Chinese adolescents by increasing physical exercise.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Information Processing Approach
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth....
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
Exercise and Cardiovascular Response
Light to moderate physical activity initiates a series of interconnected responses in the body. The heart rate modestly increases in anticipation of the workout, followed by widespread vasodilation as oxygen consumption by skeletal muscles increases. This results in decreased peripheral resistance, increased capillary blood flow, and accelerated...

