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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/29888
Title: | EXERCISE VIDEOS AND FEMALE BODY IMAGE AND EXERCISE THOUGHTS |
Authors: | Fleming, Julie Catherine |
Advisor: | Martin, K. A. |
Department: | Human Biodynamics |
Keywords: | Exercise;female;body;perception;image;physique |
Publication Date: | Aug-2001 |
Abstract: | The number of women who engage in regular exercise today can be attributed, in part, to the media’s incessant promotion of exercise as a means of improving the female body, as well to a growing desire among many women to improve the appearance, fitness, and shapeliness of their bodies. The exercise routine of many women consists of working out to an exercise video. Exercise videos are perceived by many as being a convenient and inexpensive means of achieving a fitter and firmer body. Given the interest--and perhaps potential interest--in exercise videos among women, it is surprising that the effects of exercise videos on women’s body- and exercise-related feelings has not been examined. Indeed, since the majority of exercise videos feature women whose bodies reflect the fit-looking and attractive ideal espoused by the media today, viewing an exercise video may lead women to feel badly about their own bodies. The objective of the present study was to investigate the differential impact of two exercise videos (physique-salient and physique-nonsalient) on the body image and self presentational efficacy of 101 female exercisers and nonexercisers. The physique-salient exercise video featured women whose bodies resemble to be highly fit-looking and attractive cultural ideal, while the physique-nonsalient video featured women whose bodies were considered relatively average-looking. MANCOVAs were conducted on post-test scores for the dependent variables, with pre-test scores entered as covariates. Analyses revealed a significant main effect for video for self-presentational efficacy (SPE), indicating that exercisers and nonexercisers who viewed the physique-salient video had lower post-test SPE than participants who viewed the nonsalient video (p < .05). A significant main effect for exercise status was also revealed for SPE, such that exercisers had lower post-test SPE than non-exercisers (p < .05). Significant interactions between video and exercise status were found for body area satisfaction (BAS) and appearance evaluation (AE) were found. For BAS, the interaction revealed that nonexercisers who viewed the physique-salient video had the lowest post-test BAS scores of all the groups, while exercisers who viewed the nonsalient video had the highest post-test BAS scores (all ps < .05). The interaction for AE revealed results which were opposite in direction to those for BAS (p < .05). Results are discussed in terms of self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1986) and the process of social comparison. Findings suggest that women who exercise may be “buffered” from the potentially negative impact that viewing a physique-salient exercise video may otherwise have on their body image and SPE. Findings also have important implications for the exercise video industry in terms of the types of videos that are produced for women today. |
Description: | This thesis is missing page ix - Digitization Centre |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/29888 |
Appears in Collections: | Digitized Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Fleming_Julie_Catherine_2001Aug_Masters.pdf | 4.45 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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