Relationship between motivational climate to body esteem and social physique anxiety within college physical activity classes

Abstract

College is a time for many young adults to establish habits that support a healthy lifestyle, but research suggests most college students give low priority to health habits (Nelson, Kocos, Lytle, & Perry, 2009). Physical activity has numerous benefits, including improved body esteem, if engaging in physical activity for health-related reasons rather than appearance-related reasons (Davis, 2002). College is often marked by decreased BE (Keating, et. al., 2005), hence, fitness professionals need to understand how to foster college students’ engagement in regular physical activity that simultaneously encourages positive BE. Achievement goal perspective theory and a caring framework have both been successful in optimizing all individuals’ motivation in the exercise setting (Brown & Fry 2013). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of individuals’ perceptions of the motivational climate across a semester long exercise class to their BE (i.e., appearance and weight) and social physique anxiety (SPA) within the class. It was hypothesized that students who experience a caring and task-involving climate in their classes would report heightened BE and lower SPA. Students enrolled in physical activity classes at a large Midwestern university completed a survey that measured their BE, SPA, and perceptions of motivational climate. Canonical correlation analysis loadings revealed that students’ perceptions of a highly caring and task-involving climate with low emphasis on ego-involving climate features were associated with their reporting higher body and appearance esteem and lower SPA. More research is needed to examine the link between motivational climate and BE, mounting evidence shows the support of creating positive and supportive exercise environments.