Sex differences in correlations between personal incentives and self-motivation, and occurrence of perceived positive changes in feeling states after exercise

Personal incentives for exercising of weight management and appearance improvement were significantly correlated with percentage of positive exercise-induced feeling changes in women (n=23) and men (n=20) initiating 12-wk. exercise programs. No significant differences were found by sex. Self-motivation was also significantly related to occurrence of positive feeling changes for men.     

Body image and exercise: A study of relationships and comparisons between physically active men and women

A group of physically active women (n=112) and men (n=88) of a broad range of ages were compared on a number of variables related to body image, weight and diet concerns, and degree of exercise participation. Interrelationships between these measures were also examined. Results indicated that men and women were equally dissatisfied with their current weight. Although most women wanted to lose weight, the men were evenly divided between those who wanted to lose and those who wanted to gain. Women, however, were more dissatisfied with their bodies and placed greater importance on their appearance as an influence on their feelings of well-being. Although there were no sex differences in degree of physical activity, women were more likely than men to exercise to try and lose weight. Of interest was the finding that age was not related to body focus or body dissatisfaction for either sex. For women and older men, the degree to which they exercised was not associated with any of the body image variables. A very different pattern of relationships was found for young men. Greater body satisfaction was associated with increases in exercise participation and with increased body focus, a variable that was also associated with increased levels of exercise. The profile of results is considered in the context of social influences such as health promotion and sex roles — factors that have likely affected current attitudes to physical appearance and physical attractiveness among both sexes.     

Motives for participation in physical activity by Brazilian adults

The present investigation examined the validity and reliability of a questionnaire which assessed motives of Brazilian adults for participation in physical activities, compared motives for participation in walking and fitness programs, and examined differences by sex, age, and education. Participants were 100 men and 138 women, ages 16 to 60 years (M=30.5, SD=11.4). Factor analysis identified four factors which were fairly consistent with previous research. Improvement in physical appearance and enjoyment were rated significantly more important reasons for participants in fitness programs than for walkers. Men were more motivated by social experience than women. Young adults rated importance lower in health and fitness and rated enjoyment, social experience, and improvement in appearance of higher importance. Health and fitness were considered more important by participants with more education. These results are consistent with previous research on the factors underlying motives for regular exercise and support the importance of considering differences associated with culture.     

The Effects of Physical Conditioning on selected Dimensions of Self Concept in Sedentary Females

Occupational therapists treat a large number of clients who maintain inactive lifestyles and who exhibit physical as well as psychological impairments. While a link is widely accepted betwcen physical and mental health, research in this area is equivocal. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that physical conditioning improves self-concept and body-satisfaction. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) and the Body-Cathexis Scale (BCS) were administered before and after a physical training program to sedentary females. The subjects, ranging from 23-41 years of age, underwent exercise tests, were matched by age, weight, and fitness level and randomly assigned to arm-training, leg-training or control groups. The conditioning groups exercised on cycle ergometers for 6 weeks while the control group refrained from exercise. Analyses of variance conducted on three subcales of the TSCS and on the BCS revealed groups X trials interactions that were significant for the physical self and self-satisfaction subscales and nearly significant for the BCS. Changcs in the pcrsonal self subscale wcre nonsignificant. A significant correlation was found between physical self and body-cathexis but not between changcs in mean heart rate or maximum workload tolerated and changcs in physical self. The study substantiates the hypothesis that psychological gains are most apparent in people who are physically unfit, and suggests that participation in an aerobic conditioning program has psychological benefits for sedentary individuals.     

Pattern of psychological fitness as related to pattern of physical fitness among older adults

The purpose of the present study was to investigate psychological fitness as well as physical fitness among late middle-aged normal men and women before, during, and after a 12-wk. physical activity program. Heart-rate of each subject was measured on a graded treadmill four times, and four psychological measures were taken: self-esteem, body-image, trait-anxiety, and well-being. Improvement of fitness was gradual and significant for both sexes, whereas no effects of time or sex were found on the first three psychological measures. Significant differences in pattern of change between women and men on well-being confirm previous findings that women report more depression and less satisfaction than men and thus are more sensitive to change.     

Relations between physical activity, weight discrepancies, body-cathexis, and psychological well-being in college women

This study examined the relations between physical activity, weight discrepancies, body-cathexis, and indicators of psychological well-being in college women. Factor analysis and zero-order correlation, and partial correlation analyses show that physical activity was not directly related to psychological well-being, however, physical activity did reduce weight discrepancies and improved body-cathexis. When specific body types were examined, there were distinctive patterns of satisfaction with body parts and processes depending on whether the women's body types conformed to or deviated from idealized weights and heights.     

Self-perception of health and fitness among French and Tunisian men and women

This work examines the effects of sex and culture on physical self-perceptions. The aim was to compare the perception of physical fitness of French and Tunisian men and women. 400 individuals ages 20 to 35 years assessed their own fitness, endurance, strength, flexibility, body composition, and health according to specific category scales by completing a questionnaire. In general, the Tunisian group rated themselves higher than the French group. It appears that perceived physical fitness was related mainly to perceived endurance for both groups. Some disparities were observed between the two nationalities. Analysis showed an interaction between sex and culture (French vs Tunisian). For French men and women and Tunisian men, perceived physical fitness was more associated with perceived endurance, whereas for Tunisian women, perceived physical fitness was more strongly associated with flexibility. These data show that self-perception of physical fitness is a dimension which varies between individuals from different cultures.     

The Effect of Exercise on Body Satisfaction and Self-Esteem as a Function of Gender and Age

The study investigated the relationship between amount of exercise and psychological well-being in a broadly based sample. A questionnaire assessing amount of exercise, reasons for exercise, body satisfaction, and self-esteem was completed by 252 participants between the ages of 16 and 60 years. Almost all participants (>95%) were White. Participants were divided into four groups on the basis of gender and age, resulting in 70 young women, 48 young men, 73 mature women, and 61 mature men. Significant negative relationships between amount of exercise and body satisfaction and self-esteem were found for young women, and positive relationships for the remainder of the sample. Women exercised more for reasons of weight control, tone, and mood enhancement than men. For the whole sample, the first two of these reasons were associated with lower body satisfaction, while exercising for health and fitness reasons was associated with increased self-esteem. It was concluded that reasons for exercising did not provide an adequate explanation for the obtained difference in correlations across gender and age.     

A Preliminary Investigation of Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorder Symptomatology with Bisexual Individuals

Body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology were examined in bisexual individuals (n?=?139 women, n?=?37 men) and compared to lesbian/gay (n?=?51 women, n?=?96 men) and heterosexual individuals (n?=?82 women, n?=?34 men) in a U.S. online sample. Age, body mass index (BMI), income, and exercise frequency served as covariates. MANCOVA results showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction and significant main effects of gender and sexuality. Univariate tests were used to explore multivariate results. ANCOVA results for body dissatisfaction showed a significant gender by sexual orientation interaction. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of body dissatisfaction among all groups compared to heterosexual men. ANCOVA results for eating disorder symptomatology showed a significant main effect of sexual orientation. Post-hoc comparisons revealed higher levels of eating disorder symptoms among bisexual compared to heterosexual individuals. For bisexual men, gay community involvement, maladaptive social comparison, drive for muscularity, self-esteem, gender role orientation, and body dissatisfaction were explored as predictors of eating disorder symptomatology while controlling for age, BMI, exercise frequency, and income in a hierarchical regression analysis. The same factors, minus body dissatisfaction, were explored as predictors of body dissatisfaction in bisexual men. For bisexual women, similar factors, with the exception of drive for muscularity, were explored. Drive for muscularity predicted body dissatisfaction and exercise frequency predicted eating disorder symptomatology in bisexual men. BMI and self-esteem predicted body dissatisfaction in bisexual women; gay community involvement and body dissatisfaction predicted eating disorder symptomatology.     

An evolutionary psychology perspective on sex differences in exercise behaviors and motivations

Researchers have found that men and women pursue sex-appropriate strategies to attract mates. On the basis of intrasexual competition, men should be more likely to enact behaviors to look larger, whereas women should be more likely to enact behaviors to look smaller. The types of exercises that each performs should reflect this expectation. The present study replicates and extends work by L. Mealey (1997) on sex differences in exercise behavior. In the present study, male participants focused their energy on gaining muscle mass and enhancing their upper body definition, whereas female participants focused their energy on losing weight with emphasis on their lower body. Both sexes reported efforts to improve their abdominal region. It appears that men and women adopt sex-appropriate exercise behavior as a method of self-enhancement for intrasexual competition.     

Relationships between physical exercise and cognitive abilities in older adults

We investigated relationships between physical exercise and the cognitive abilities of older adults. We hypothesized that the performance of vigorous exercisers would be superior to that of sedentary individuals on measures of reasoning, working memory, and reaction time. We gave a series of cognitive tasks to 62 older men and women who exercised vigorously and 62 sedentary men and women. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance, with age and education as covariates, indicated that the performance of the exercisers was significantly better on measures of reasoning, working memory, and reaction time. Between-group differences persisted when vocabulary, on which the performance of exercisers was superior, was used as a third covariate. Subsequent analyses showed that neither self-rated health, medical conditions, nor medications contributed to the differences between exercise groups. Results suggest that the possible contribution of physical exercise to individual differences in cognition among older adults should be further investigated.     

Career Goals of College Women and Men and Perceived Achievement-Related Encouragement

Encouragements and discouragements for achievement-related behavior were reported in an interview setting by three groups of college seniors: Career women (n = 20), career men (n = 20), and traditional women (n = 19). Career women reported significantly more encouragement from teachers, family members (except parents), and significant others of the opposite sex than did either career men or traditional women. Career women also reported more encouragement from counselors and friends, while career men reported more encouragement from parents; however, these differences were not significant. Career women reported a significantly higher grade point average than either of the other groups. Implications of the results for the achievement behavior of women and men are considered.     

Emotional well-being of college students in health courses with and without an exercise component

This study was designed to examine the effects of exercise on indices of emotional well-being of 584 college students enrolled in either a lecture-only health course or one of six health-fitness courses, each using a different mode of exercise including cross-training, aerobics, yoga, circuit weight training, swimming, and walk/jog. Each participant completed the Self-perception Profile for College Students developed by Neeman and Harter. Analysis yielded significant differences on five indices of emotional well-being (Global Self-worth, Appearance, Romantic Relationships, Social Acceptance, and Athletic Competence) between pre- and posttest scores of participants enrolled in the health-fitness courses, while no differences were found between pre-and posttest scores of participants enrolled in the lecture-only health course. Of the seven subscales examined, a significant interaction effect was found between sex/time and Romantic Relationships/Athletic Competence, with women reporting greater gains than men.     

Physical fitness and self-reported physical exercise among college men and women in 1987 and 1997.

The study examined the relations of self-reported physical activity levels and physical fitness scores for two samples of college students assessed in 1987 (n = 261) and in 1997 (n = 243). Significantly greater exercise was reported by the 1997 women than the 1987 women; amount of exercise reported by men did not differ. For both samples, greater exercise was associated with increased fitness for women and men as assessed by the Hall 1986 Physical Fitness Test Profile, comprised of measures on body fat composition; grip strength; muscle endurance, flexibility, resting heart rate; systolic and diastolic blood pressures; and aerobic power. For the 1987 sample men were more fit than women. For the 1997 sample, women were more fit than men. The 1997 women were more fit than the 1987 women; there was no difference on overall fitness measures of the two samples of men.     

Sex-role stereotypes: Self-reports of behavior

The present study represents a self-reported behavioral approach to the study of sex differences and sex-role stereotypes. One hundred forty-eight undergraduate women and men responded anonymously in group testing sessions to two questionnaires. The first questionnaire asked them to report their own involvement in 45 masculine and feminine sex-typed behaviors; the second questionnaire asked for their perceptions of the involvement of men and women in the same behaviors. Major findings included (a) sex differences in reported ability, enjoyment, performance, and opportunity which mirrored traditional sex-role stereotypes and indicated greater competence at stereotypic behaviors (the majority of differences significant at p<.001); (b) perceptions of men and women's behavior also consistent with sex-role stereotypes; and (c) sex differences in the perceived appropriateness of behaviors (p<.05) which indicate greater sex-typing in men's (as compared with women's) perceptions of both sexes. The study focuses on the self-reported behavioral bases of gender-specific stereotypes and how these behaviors are influenced by aspects of the social environment (such as reinforcement contingencies) and by aspects of the the person (such as simple learning and performance deficits), and suggests ways in which sex differences might be changed to provide increased behavioral options for women and men.Portions of this research were supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant #5 RO1 MH06613-4. The authors wish to express their gratitude to Drs. David Sanuders, Socrates Rapagna, William Hodges, and Gene Glass for their design, data analytic, and editorial assistance.     

Individual differences in distancing responses to women on a photo choice task

A heterogeneous sample of adult women and men responded to a Photo Choice Task (PCT) in which they were asked to make 24 choices between two persons for a hypothetical interaction; eight of the choices were between a woman and a man. Participants also responded to a measure of adherence to Sex Role Stereotypes and to a measure of Adversarial Sexual Beliefs. On the eight choices between a woman and a man on the PCT, men over 30 and younger than 30 chose women below chance level. Women over 30 made other-gender and same-gender choices that did not differ from chance, but the women under 30 chose women over men reliably more than chance. Small but significant positive correlations were found among the scores on the PCT and the belief measures; for the total sample, the greater the choice of men over women for hypothetical interactions, the greater the agreement with sex role stereotypes and with adversarial sexual beliefs. An examination of mean differences in belief scores among groups of persons whose PCT scores (choice of men over women) were low, medium, and high revealed that men who were more likely to turn away from women in hypothetical situations were also more likely to adhere to stereotyped beliefs about sex roles and to view relationships between women and men as adversarial. This same pattern of individual differences was found among women but, for women, only the relationship between PCT scores and sex role stereotyping was significant.     

Covariation of sex differences in mental rotation with body size

Sex difference in mental rotation ability was reconsidered. The Vandenberg-Kuse figures were administered to 120 male and 76 female students from the Medical School of BlackSea Technical University in Trabzon, Turkey to assess the mental rotation ability. Students' height and weight were measured. As expected, men outperformed women on this test and had greater height and weight. Number correct on mental rotation test significantly correlated with height and weight for the total sample and for men, but only with weight for women. Using weight as covariate, the sex difference was no longer significant. The mean mental rotation score was significantly higher for heavy women than for light men. There was a positive correlation between weight and mental rotation test scores for heavy women, but height and weight were negatively correlated with mental rotation test scores for light men. These results suggest that there is no sex difference in mental rotation ability as measured.     

Validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness using visual analogue scales

To test the validity and reliability of self-assessed physical fitness samples included healthcare assistants working at a hospital (women=170, men=17), persons working with physically and mentally handicapped patients (women=530, men= 123), and two separate groups of healthcare students (a) women=91 and men=5 and (b) women=159 and men=10. Five components of physical fitness were self-assessed by Visual Analogue Scales with illustrations and verbal anchors for the extremes: aerobic fitness, muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance. Convergent and divergent validity were evaluated by age-adjusted correlations stratified by sex with performance-based measures of physical fitness. Self-assessed aerobic fitness (r = .36 - .64) (women/men), muscle strength (r = .30 - .51), and flexibility (r = .36 - .31) showed moderate convergent validity. The divergent validity was satisfactory except for flexibility among men. The reliability was moderate to good (ICC = .62 - .80). Self-assessed aerobic fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility showed moderate construct validity and moderate to good reliability using visual analogues.     

Relations among exercise type,self-objectification,and body image in the fitness centre environment: The role of reasons for exercise

ObjectiveThe study aimed to investigate different types of exercise, the role of exercise motivation and body image outcomes within the fitness centre environment.Design and methodParticipants were 571 female fitness class participants recruited from fitness centres. They ranged in age from 18 to 71 years and participated in a variety of fitness activities both within and outside of the fitness centre environment. Reasons for exercise, self-objectification, body esteem, and disordered eating symptomatology were assessed using questionnaire measures.ResultsTime spent exercising within the fitness centre environment was more highly related to body image and eating disturbance than time spent exercising outside of the fitness centre environment. Participation in cardio-based workouts (e.g., cardiovascular machines) was positively related to self-objectification, disordered eating behaviour, and appearance-related reasons for exercise, and negatively related to body esteem. In contrast, participation in yoga-based fitness classes was related to lower self-objectification and exercising more for health and fitness. Appearance-focused reasons for exercise were found to mediate the relationship between exercise types and self-objectification, disordered eating, and body esteem.ConclusionThe results show that the reasons women have for doing exercise provide a mechanism through which different types of exercise are associated with negative body image outcomes. Thus, despite the physical health-related benefits associated with regular physical activity, exercise motivated by appearance reasons (e.g., weight control) can lead to poorer body image in some women.