•    The way in which we see or define ourselves
  •    “Who I am”

 

Self-Esteem Defined

  •     The evaluative or affective consequences of one’s self-concept
  •     The extent to which one feels positive or negative about one’s self-concept
  •    “How I feel about who I am”

 

Significance of Self-Esteem

  •    SelfCesteem tops the lists of needs that make people happy
  • The greatest potential impact of physical activity ! increase of a participant’s self- esteem
  •    Since many people see self-esteem as a primary psychological need ! Promoting  that physical activity can enhance selfCesteem ! May be a strategy for improving  their activity levels

 

 

Other Terms and Definitions

  • Other terms focus primarily on judgments of ability and potential success in  specific situations, activities-skills, or domains  o Perceived Competence: “Do I consider myself an athlete?”
  • SelfCConfidence: “While I feel capable of doing this activity, am I as capable doing another activity?”
  • SelfCEfficacy: “While I feel capable of doing this activity in this situation, am I as capable doing it in a different situation?”

Note: Perceived Competence is the most general, and Self-Efficacy is the most specific.

 

Theoretical Foundations of Self-Concept-Self-Esteem

  •    Self-concept model  Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton, 1976
  •    Model of Exercise and Self-Esteem, With Hierarchically Organized Constructs

Sonstroem and Morgan, 1989   o Is not actually a model, more of a recipe for how to run the research

 

Self-Concept Model

  •    General  overall  self-concept is an aggregate construct determined by judgments  of self-concept in a number of domains
  •  General self-concept consists of two primary categories:  o Academic Self-Concept
  •    The base level of the hierarchy is defined by one’s behavior in specific situations

 

Nonacademic Self-Concept

  • Social SelfCConcept: Individual’s estimate of their interaction with others, especially  family, peers, friends and partners  o “I am a loner,” and-or “I like being in a relationship”
  •    Emotional SelfCConcept: Individual’s estimate of their own emotional stress
  • “I am a generally happy personal,” and-or “I can get very angry”
  • Physical SelfCConcept: Individual’s estimate of both general physical abilities and  physical appearance  o “I suck at gymnastics,” and-or “I am a skinny person”  o Our estimate of our physical ability is based on our perceptions of  successful-unsuccessful performance in various activities over a period of  time
  • Activities must be “weighted” according to their value Ex: Bob’s subjective  perception of what’s important has more impact on Bob’s formed self- concept

 

Model of Exercise and Self-Esteem

  •    Horizontal Axis: Time and repetitions of interventions and measures
  •   Vertical Axis: Specific self-perceptions  top  and general self-perceptions  base
  •    Intervention: Altering physical interventions-measures in order to alter self-  perception and self-esteem

 

Proposed Model for Examining Exercise and Self-Esteem Interactions

  •    Physical Acceptance: The extent to which an individual accepts who he-she is  physically
  •    So without objective indicators of improved fitness ! SelfCesteem and physical  acceptance can improve, just based on the feeling one has that physical  competence has improved

 

Self-Esteem

  • Which is more important to self-esteem: Objective or subjective changes to fitness?  o Only subjective perceptions of success are relevant to one’s self- concept-self-esteem

” This can be confusing  sometimes your own perception differs from  other’s

 

How Do We Measure Self-Esteem?

  •    Self-esteem and self-concept have traditionally been measured as uniCdimensional,  global constructs
  •     Failure to access physical construct of self-perception means less reliable data
  •     Introduction of two physical self-perception measures: Physical Self-Perception

Profile  PSPP  and Physical-Description Questionnaire  PSDQ

 

Physical Self-Perception Profile  PSPP

  • Valid and reliable instrument containing five subscales  o Sports Competence  o Physical Condition  o Body Attractiveness  o Physical Strength  o Physical Self-Worth
  •    Relatively short  30 items , but limitations are that it takes a long time to apply, and  response to format is complex ! not to user-friendly

 

Physical Self-Description Questionnaire  PSDQ

  •    More comprehensive than PSPP: Measures global physical self-concept and self- esteem using subscales  general health, coordination, physical activity participation,  body fat, sport competence, appearance, strength, flexibility, and endurance
  •    Single-statement items  rating scale from 1-6, where 1 is false and 6 is true
  •    Somewhat long  70 items

 

What Was Found With The Research?

  •    Approximately ¾ of research studies support a positive association between  exercise and self-concept-self-esteem
  •     No studies have found a negative effect of exercise on self-concept-self-esteem

 

Body Image

  •    Mental picture we form of our bodies
  •    “What I look like”
  • Is multidimensional and includes:  o Emotional consequence of body image  o “Body esteem”
  • Ex: One’s perception of one’s body elicits either pleasing-satisfying or  displeasing-dissatisfying feelings  o “How I feel about what I look like”

 

 

What Influences Body Image?

Body Image: Reality and Ideals

  •     Body Reality: Actual physical characteristics
  •    Body Ideal: How we think our bodies should look like
  •     Healthy Body Image vs. Body Image Disturbance

 

Statistics on Body Image

  •     1973: 15  of men, 25  of women dissatisfied with appearance
  •     1997: 43  of men, 56  of women dissatisfied with appearance
  •     2006: 46  of men, 59  of women feel that their body is just “okay”

 

Measures of Body Image

  •    Visual measures
  •    Morphing software to alter digitally a photographic image of a study participant !  ability to distort arms, legs, torso, etc.

 

Cognitive Measures for Body Image

  • Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire  MBSRQ , Cash, 2000  o 10 subscales: Cognitions based on body’s appearance, health and physical  functioning
  • Scoring: 1-5 points from definitely disagree to definitely agree
  • Critique: Doesn’t assess men’s body image concerns adequately most men’s  concerns are about not being sufficiently muscular, compared to being thin  for women
  • Drive for Muscularity Scale, McCreary and Sasse, 2000
    • Added on to the MBSRQ
    • Includes 7 items to assess male body image cognitions about muscularity

 

How Can Physical Exercise Influence Body Image?

  1. Improvement in physical fitness or performance objective
  2. Increased self-efficacy subjective
  3. Improvements in physical self-concept
  •        They can be separate or go together-interact with each other  Physical Activity on Body Image Works, but Effects are Higher:
  •     For adults than university students or high-middle-elementary school students
  •     For overweight or obese people than normal weight
  •    For females than males
  •    With frequent exercise
  •     No difference for objective physical improvements
  •     No difference for aerobic, resistance, or combined

 

Self-Esteem + Body Image also Influence Physical Activity ! Bidirectional

  •    Higher self-esteem leads to more physical activity sessions per week
  •     Specifically physical self-concept impacts physical activity participation
  •     Body dissatisfaction is a motivator for starting to exercise
  • But body dissatisfaction is not the same factor that keeps people from continuing to  exercise
  •    Physical activity may increase body dissatisfaction through disappointment and  frustration

 

Practical Recommendations

  •    Determine why an individual is interested in exercise regime; determine what  his-her goals are ! Intrinsic, self-determined pleasure is best
  •    Conduct baseline health and fitness assessments, to provide feedback about  progress
  •    Ensure that the exerciser feels a sense of accomplishment and personal control  regarding the exercise routine
  •     Focus on effect and personal improvement