Motives for exercising among young adults with a moderately positive body image
Abstract
Background: People engage in exercise and sports due to several reasons, depending on factors such as age, sex and health or fitness status. These motives include enhancing health and fitness status, improving appearance and body image or enjoying in leisure time. Aims & Methods: Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study explored motives for exercising in healthy men and women 18 to 40 years old who were regular exercisers and held a moderately positive body image. They voluntarily completed an online survey on their exercise practice, body image and motives for exercising. Results: Contrary to previous SDT-based empirical findings, appearance improvement emerged as an important motive for exercising, and it was more frequently mentioned than health&fun-related motives by the whole sample and by subsamples of men and women and younger young and older young adults. Conclusions: Given that appearance management-related motives may have both positive and undesired outcomes on exercise behaviour and personal well-being, they should be carefully reviewed with women and men in their young adulthood who are exercise intenders, beginners or regular exercisers.
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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)
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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.