Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Divergent Exercise Outcomes of Self-Objectification in Young Adults

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/k643b830x

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  • Self-objectification occurs through the internalization of unrealistic social standards of attractiveness which leads to excessive valuing of one’s physical features over functionality. Previous studies have associated self-objectification with a host of negative consequences including two opposing exercise-related outcomes, public exercise avoidance and exercise dependence. The main purpose of the present study was to examine whether social appearance anxiety and upward appearance comparison were the underlying mechanisms that explained the relationship between self-objectification and public exercise avoidance and exercise dependence, respectively. In addition, I wanted to explore if loneliness had a moderating effect on the path from self-objectification and these variables. Previous literature associated salient exercise-related factors – exercise participation, exercise location, presence of exercise partner, exercise frequency and duration, and motivation for exercise – with the variables of interest stated above and warranted further investigation. Therefore, the current study was divided into two major parts. The first focused on determining significant differences on mean self-objectification, loneliness, social appearance anxiety, upward appearance comparison, public exercise avoidance, and exercise dependence scores across exercise-related factors through ANCOVAs. The second tested two moderated mediation models whereby social appearance anxiety mediated the relationship between self-objectification and public exercise avoidance and upward appearance comparison mediated the relationship between self-objectification and exercise dependence with loneliness as a moderator. The models were analyzed via the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018) in SPSS version 27. Gender and body mass index (BMI) were used as covariates in all analyses. Three hundred eligible participants, 72 men (age = 20.57, SD = 3.13) and 229 women (age = 19.54, SD = 2.24), were recruited to answer an online survey. Results demonstrated that individuals not currently exercising, in general, reported greater negative outcomes related to self-objectification, loneliness, social appearance anxiety, and public exercise avoidance. Other significant differences were elaborated upon in the study. In addition, loneliness was not a significant moderator in the models. However, social appearance anxiety and upward appearance comparison fully mediated the relationship between self-objectification and public exercise avoidance and exercise dependence, respectively. These findings identified key mechanisms that predict unhealthy exercise behavior in self-objectified young adults and can inform intervention efforts.
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