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Depa amen o
de Pe sonalidad,
E aluación y
T a amien o
Psicológicos
Anua io de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud
Annua y o Clinical and Heal h Psychology Yea 2013 • Volume 09 • Pages 79 o 82
Mo i es o exe cising among young adul s wi h a mode a ely
posi i e body image
Ma ía J. Ramí ez, D a. Débo a Godoy-Izquie do, D a. Mª Luisa Vázquez,
Raquel La a, Es e anía Na a ón, Me cedes Vélez, Ana B. Padial, Mª Belén Sánchez,
Ana Bel án and D . Manuel G. Jiménez-To es
G upo de In es igación Psicología de la Salud y Medicina Conduc ual (CTS-267).
Facul ad de Psicología. Uni e sidad de G anada (Spain)
Abs ac :
Backg ound: People engage in exe cise and spo s due o se e al easons, depending on ac o s such as age, sex and heal h o
i ness s a us. These mo i es include enhancing heal h and i ness s a us, imp o ing appea ance and body image o enjoying in
leisu e ime. Aims & Me hods: G ounded in Sel -De e mina ion Theo y (SDT), his s udy explo ed mo i es o exe cising in
heal hy men and women 18 o 40 yea s old who we e egula exe cise s and held a mode a ely posi i e body image. They olun-
a ily comple ed an online su ey on hei exe cise p ac ice, body image and mo i es o exe cising. Resul s: Con a y o p e-
ious SDT-based empi ical indings, appea ance imp o emen eme ged as an impo an mo i e o exe cising, and i was mo e
equen ly men ioned han heal h& un- ela ed mo i es by he whole sample and by subsamples o men and women and younge
young and olde young adul s. Conclusions: Gi en ha appea ance managemen - ela ed mo i es may ha e bo h posi i e and
undesi ed ou comes on exe cise beha iou and pe sonal well-being, hey should be ca e ully e iewed wi h women and men in
hei young adul hood who a e exe cise in ende s, beginne s o egula exe cise s.
Keywo ds: appea ance, heal h, exe cise, mo i a ion, Sel -De e mina ion Theo y.
Recei ed: 25/06/2013 Accep ed: 18/10/2013
In oduc ion
The Sel -De e mina ion Theo y (SDT) (Deci & Ryan,
2002) se s ou six mo i a ional egula ions unde pinning
exe cise beha iou , om a mo i a ion o exe cising o he
mos sel -de e mined, in insic, au onomous o m o mo-
i a ion, by way o se e al o ms o con olled, ex insic
egula ions which a e p og essi ely mo e au onomous (i.e.,
ex e nal, in ojec ed, iden i ied and in eg a ed egula ions)
(Hagge & Cha zisa an is, 2007; Ryan & Deci, 2007; Ryan
e al., 2009; Texei a e al., 2012; Wilson e al., 2008). Re-
sea ch has e ealed ha exe cising is mainly mo i a ed
ex insically, o mos ly de e mined by a combina ion o
in insic and ex insic mo i es, as many o he in en ional,
oli ional and con ollable ac i i ies. Mos equen ly men-
ioned mo i es include heal h, well-being and i ness en-
hancemen , body image and appea ance managemen , and
enjoymen and pleasu e associa ed wi h exe cising. This
mo i es ha e been linked o be e adop ion and main e-
nance o ac i e beha iou , olumes o p ac ice and psycho-
logical ou comes (B une & Sabis on, 2011; Buckwo h e
al., 2007; Duncan e al., 2010; Ingledew & Ma kland, 2008;
Mo eno e al., 2007; Rod íguez-Romo e al., 2009; Sebi e e
al., 2009; Thoge sen-N oumani & N oumanis, 2006; Va a-
nian e al., 2012).
We explo ed he mo i es o egula ac i e beha iou
among exe cise s wi h a mode a ely posi i e body image.
Acco ding o p e ious esea ch, we expec ed ha pa ici-
pan s epo ed bo h appea ance- and heal h&leisu e- ela -
ed mo i es.
Me hods
Pa icipan s: A e signing an in o med consen , 157 Span-
ish, 18 o 40 yea s old (M= 25.85, SD= 5.45; 66.9% women),
heal hy adul s olun a ily pa icipa ed. They we e egula
exe cise s (a leas 1-2 imes/week, 30 minu es/session,
mode a e in ensi y) and held a mode a ely posi i e body
image (M= 7.96, SD= 2.66, in a 1-15 poin scale; pa ici-
pan s wi h ex eme sel -pe cep ions we e excluded om he
analysis).
Measu es & P ocedu e: Pa icipan s comple ed an on-
line assessmen p o ocol (Ramí ez e al., in p ess) includ-
ing ques ions on hei 1) exe cise p ac ice, including ype,
weekly equency, session du a ion and in ensi y o p ac ice
(P icha d & Tiggemann, 2008); 2) body image, using bo h
a) silhoue es co esponding o p opo ionally di e en al-
ues o body mass index and muscula i y, and b) ques ions
abou body size and composi ion (Damasceno e al., 2011;
El Ansa i e al., 2010); 3) hei mo i es o exe cising (B u-
ne & Sabis on, 2011; S andage e al., 2008; Va anian e
al., 2012), g ouped in o au onomous, heal h&leisu e- ela -
ed mo i es and ex insic-in ojec ed, body image manage-
men - ela ed mo i es (Yes= 0, No= 1; a mean sco e o he
wo mo i a ional egula ions was calcula ed); and 4) demo-
g aphic da a.
Con ac in o mac ion:
Ma ía J. Ramí ez;
Uni e sidad de G anada.
Campus Uni e si a io de Ca uja, 18071. G anada (Spain)
Tel.: (+34) 958 242331, Fax: (+34) 958 243749
ma iaps@co eo.ug .es
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Anua io de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud
Annua y o Clinical and Heal h Psychology Yea 2013 Volume 9
Resul s
Among he mo i es o egula ly exe cising epo ed by
he pa icipan s, hose ela ed wi h enjoymen , heal h and
appea ance con ol we e e e ed o; on he con a y, social
engagemen mo i es we e less epo ed (Table 1). When he
mo i es we e g ouped in o body image- ela ed and heal h
and leisu e- ela ed mo i es, 62.4% o pa icipan s chose all
he mo i es conce ning appea ance con ol, while 45.2%
chose all he mo i es conce ning heal h and enjoymen . Bo h
men and women and younge young and olde young pa ic-
ipan s epo ed mo e equen ly mo i es ela ed o appea -
ance managemen han o heal h and enjoymen (Table 1).
Mo eo e , men (51.9%) and olde (50.6%) pa icipan s chose
mo e equen ly all he heal h & leisu e- ela ed mo i es han
women (41.9%) and younge (39.2%) pa icipan s.
Discussion
Suppo ing p e ious indings, pa icipan s epo ed mo-
i es co esponding o in insic, iden i ied and in ojec ed
mo i a ional egula ions bu , con a y o mos esea ch, hey
demons a ed highe le els o body image- ela ed easons
o exe cising han o he ype, as o he s ha e also in o med
(e.g., Buckwo h e al. 2007, s udy 1; Rod íguez-Romo e al.,
2009).
As some ha e p e iously no ed, holding con olled mo i a-
ions is no necessa ily p oblema ic, mo i a ionally speaking,
as long as sel -de e mined egula ions a e also held o he o -
me shi o an au onomous o m o mo i a ional egula ion
(Texei a e al., 2012). Consequen ly, appea ance manage-
men - ela ed mo i es may ha e a posi i e impac on exe cise
beha iou in e ms o ini ia ion, adhe ence and ou comes.
None heless, hey also can lead o undesi ed ou comes such as
lowe adhe ence and d opou (Ingledew & Ma kland, 2008)
o excessi e exe cise beha iou (Fo ie & Fa ell, 2009), as
well as body image conce ns and diso de ed ea ing beha -
iou (Va anian e al., 2012). Thus, mo i es ela ed o body
image should be e iewed ca e ully wi h in ende s, beginne s
and egula exe cise s, pa icula ly, al hough no only, wi h
young and middle-age women (Texei a e al., 2012).
On he con a y, social engagemen - ela ed mo i es we e
he less epo ed, as o he ha e also ound (Ingledew & Ma k-
land, 2008; Mo eno e al., 2007).
Despi e he limi a ions o ou s udy, ou indings ha e im-
po an de i ed p ac ical applica ions o p omo ing exe -
cise beha iou . The SDT sugges s ha , in o de o p omo e
beha iou al change in he case o heal hy beha iou s, i is
co e o endo se mo e in insic mo i a ion and o he o ms
o au onomous mo i a ional egula ion, as well as o ensu e
he sa is ac ion o basic psychological needs o au onomy,
compe ence and ela edness (Ryan e al, 2008; Teixei a e
al., 2012; Wilson e al., 2008). Appea ance- ela ed mo i es
may enhance he adop ion (i.e., ini ia ion and main enance)
Table 1: Mo i es o exe cising epo ed by younge young (18-26 y . old) and olde young (27-40 y . old) men and women.
† The highe he sco e, he lowe impo ance conceded o each mo i e.
Mo i es
Sample
N=157
♀
N=105
♂
N=52
Young
N=74
Olde
N=83
%
M† (sd)
%
M (sd)
%
M (sd)
%
M (sd)
%
M (sd)
1 Muscle de elopmen and oning 84,1
0,16(0,37)
79,0
0,21(0,41)
94,2
0,06(0,24)
79,7
0,20(0,40)
88,0
0,12(0,33)
2 Weigh managemen and loss 77,1
0,23(0,42)
80,0
0,20(0,40)
71,2
0,29(0,46)
77,0
0,23(0,42)
77,1
0,23(0,42)
3 Appea ance imp o emen 91,1
0,09(0,29)
91,4
0,09(0,28)
90,4
0,10(0,30)
95,9
0,04(0,20)
86,7
0,13(0,34)
4 Heal h p o ec ion and imp o emen 93,6
0,06(0,24)
93,3
0,07(0,25)
94,2
0,06(0,24)
87,8
0,12(0,33)
98,8
0,01(0,11)
5 Doing some hing enjoyable you like 77,7
0,22(0,42)
72,4
0,28(0,45)
88,5
0,12(0,32)
75,7
0,24(0,43)
79,5
0,20(0,41)
6 To be wi h o o mee people 51,0
0,49(0,50)
45,7
0,54(0,50)
61,5
0,38(0,49)
45,9
0,54(0,50)
55,4
0,45(0,50)
7 Mood enhancemen 85,4
0,15(0,35)
86,7
0,13(0,34)
82,7
0,17(0,38)
81,1
0,19(0,39)
89,2
0,11(0,31)
Appea ance Mo i es 1,2 & 3 62,4
0,16(0,23)
61,9
0,17(0,24)
63,5
0,15(0,21)
60,8
0,16(0,22)
63,9
0,16(0,23)
Heal h & Leisu e Mo i es 4,5,6 & 7 45,2
0,23(0,26)
41,9
0,25(0,26)
51,9
0,18(0,24)
39,2
0,27(0,28)
50,6
0,19(0,23)
- 81 -
Ramí ez, Godoy-Izquie do,
Vázquez, La a, Na a ón, Vélez,
Padial, Sánchez, Bel án and
Jiménez-To es
Mo i es o exe cising among young adul s
wi h a mode a ely posi i e body image
o ac i e beha iou , along wi h heal h & enjoymen mo i es,
when hey all become au onomous, sel -de e mined o ms o
beha iou egula ion.
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Anua io de Psicología Clínica y de la Salud
Annua y o Clinical and Heal h Psychology Yea 2013 Volume 9
Acknowledgmen s
This esea ch was suppo ed wi h inancial assis ance p o-
ided o he “Psicología de la Salud & Medicina Conduc u-
al” Resea ch G oup (CTS-0267) by he Conseje ía de Inno-
ación, Ciencia y Emp esa, Jun a de Andalucía (Spain). We
a e g a e ul o all hose who made his s udy possible.