Introduction. The concept of self-upbringing is identified with self-activity, building and shaping one's character, selfimprovement and self-realization. The aim of the research was to define the degree of self-upbringing of first year physical education students taking into consideration self-reflection on their behaviour. Material and methods. The method applied in the research was the diagnostic survey and the accompanying research technique was a questionnaire called ‘The questionnaire of self-upbringing activity’ designed by Tatarowicz. The survey was conducted in Academic Year 2008/2009 among 667 respondents in the eight state and non-state Polish universities. Results. The results show that students (57%) tend to do self-reflection. The major reasons for this were failures in life and behaviour against prevailing norms. The majority of questioned (72.0%) showed a high degree of complacency that was due to self-acceptance and the state of feeling good in the accepted community. The participants who declared a lower degree of complacency claimed that it was due to different kinds of failures, a sense of having many faults and the awareness of making mistakes. On the hole, the participants did not feel different or distinct in regard to other people - more than 70.0%. Those that have such a feeling claim that the differences concern mainly the look and the way of behaving. Conclusions. An important role in searching the specific ways of coping with negative sides of life plays constant education and the state of self-upbringing which influences the awareness and the development of an individual.
