ISSN 0031-5125 DOI 10.2466/08.PMS.119c23z7 Perceptual & Motor Skills: Physical Development & Measurement PHYSICAL SELF-CONCEPT OF ADOLESCENTS IN WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES: A PILOT STUDY 1, 2 SNEŽANA RADISAVLJEVIĆ JANIĆ Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia GREGOR JURAK Faculty of Sport University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia IVANA MILANOVIĆ AND DUŠANKA LAZAREVIĆ Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia MARJETA KOVAČ Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia DARIO NOVAK Faculty of Kinesiology University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Summary.—The aim of this study was to explore physical self-concept of ado- lescents of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herze- govina) according to sex and country. The participants were 2,606 students, ages 13 and 14 years ( M = 13.5, SD = 0.9). The Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ) was used to assess multidimensional physical self-concept. The results show the interaction of sex and country for three dimensions of physical self-con- cept (Appearance, Global Physical Self-Concept, and Self-Esteem). It was shown that female and male adolescents' perception of physical appearance, self-esteem, and global physical self-concept is more susceptible to influences of socio-cultural fac- tors in the monitored countries. In all other dimensions of Physical self-concept, sex differences were consistently manifested in favour of male adolescents, except in Flexibility. Regardless of adolescents' sex, under the increasing influence of Western culture in the Western Balkan countries, adolescents more critically evaluate their body and motor abilities. Self-concept generally can be defined as a “person's self-perceptions that are formed through experience with and interpretations of one's environ- ment” (Marsh, 2001, p. 42). According to the theoretical model of self-con- cept developed by Marsh and associates, starting from Shavelson's model of self-concept, this construct is multidimensional and hierarchically orga- nized (Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994). The general © Perceptual & Motor Skills 2014 2014, 119, 2, 629-649. 1 Address correspondence to Snežana Radisavljević Janić, Faculty of Sport and Physical Edu- cation, University of Belgrade, 156 Blagoja Parovića, Belgrade, Serbia or e-mail (snezana. radisavljevic@fsfv.bg.ac.rs). 2 This paper is part of the project “The effects of physical activity application to locomotor, metabolic, psychosocial and educational status with population of the Republic of Serbia” No. III47015 (2011–2014), financially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia, and part of the project “Improving the quality and accessibility of education in modernization processes in Serbia” No. 47008 (2011–2014), financially sup- ported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia. 23-PMS_Janic_140010.indd 629 23-PMS_Janic_140010.indd 629 14/10/14 4:16 PM 14/10/14 4:16 PM