The Relationship Between Self-Presentation, Body Image Satisfaction, and Body Change Strategies in Weight Class and Non-Weight Class Male Athletes

• Other Authors: Cruz, Amanda Michelle (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Educational psychology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-2962

Athletes are constantly being judged by themselves and others. Therefore, it is of interest to study how athletes view their public identity, and what behaviors athletes use to manage these public identities (Prapavessis, Grove, & Eklund, 2004; Wilson & Eklund, 1998). The hypotheses for this study were: (1) weight class athletes would engage in more body change strategies than non-weight class athletes after controlling for self-presentation and body image discrepancies, (2) athletes who have higher levels of self-presentation motivation and body image discrepancies will engage in more body change strategies, and (3) weight class athletes will have higher self-presentation and body image discrepancies than non-weight class athletes, when controlling for body change strategies. Male athletes were recruited for the study from weight class and non-weight class sports (N= 120, age M= 21.34 yrs, SD= 3.077). The results indicated for hypothesis one there is evidence to support that weight class athletes engaged in more body change strategies than non-weight class athletes. While testing the second hypothesis the results showed that self-presentation and the body image discrepancy scores had a significant relationship on the outcome of the amount body change strategies. The overall results for hypothesis three did not show that weight class athletes differed from non-weight class athletes on self-presentation or body image discrepancies. It is important to continue studying how male athletes perceive their public identities and images, and how the research and applied settings can work together to improve on the overall sporting environment. === A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. === Summer Semester, 2010. === June 25, 2010. === Sport Psychology, Body Image, Male Athletes === Includes bibliographical references. === Robert Eklund, Professor Directing Thesis; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; David Eccles, Committee Member.