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University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

Published Article / A descriptive observational study was conducted among undergraduate medical students to determine whether the knowledge of Anatomy influenced their body image perceptions. The perception of some students regarding their body image and appearance was different after the course, and also their view of other peoples' bodies. The findings of the study support the literature that males are more concerned with muscularity and developing muscles, whereas females are more preoccupied with thinness. The study showed that a course in Anatomy might have an influence on students' perceptions of their own and other peoples' physical appearance.

Research has established that body image disturbance is associated with a number of negative physical and psychological health outcomes. It is recognised that body image is subject to situational variability, yet to date, research seems to have overlooked the explicit exploration of the stability of the construct within physical education. With this in mind the overarching aim of this thesis was to explore relationships between body image, perceptions of competence and motivation, with specific attention paid to the influence of the physical education environment upon year nine boys and girls situational body satisfaction. Secondly, the thesis explores the role that these three psycho-social constructs play in transfer of learning. The design of the research was a correlational, repeated measures study conducted across two time points, combined with focus group sessions. Quantitative data collection at time point one consisted of 620 pupils from 37 year 9 physical education classes. Time point two consisted of 461 pupils from 38 physical education classes. At both quantitative time points students responded to a questionnaire package which explored perceptions of competence towards physical education, motivation for physical education and aspects of trait and state body image. Participants at time point one also provided demographic information. Additionally, 159 pupils at time point one underwent anthropometric assessments of body fat and BMI. The findings from the thesis identify that 71%-80% of year 9 boys and girls are dissatisfied with their current body size. It was identified that the majority of variance in situational body satisfaction within physical education can be attributed to factors operating at the pupil and time level, with a smaller yet significant proportion of variance being attributed to between-class factors. Lesson content did not significantly predict variations in body satisfaction scores within physical education and evidence from the focus group sessions suggest that classroom entry factors such as the changing rooms maybe more influential that factors operating within the lesson itself. Results revealed higher levels of body satisfaction within physical education are associated with higher perceptions of competence within physical education, higher levels of autonomous towards physical education, higher transfer of learning scores and lower amotivation towards physical education scores. Collectively, the results of the thesis identify the prevalence of body dissatisfaction in 13-14 year old boys and girls and the potential implications negative body satisfaction can have for experiences of physical education. Findings of the thesis warrant further investigation of how the psychological variables explored relate to further contextual and pedagogical factors.

The percentage of obese adults in the U.S. has more than doubled since the late 1970.s. A large percentage of adults, especially women, are trying to lose weight at any given time. Although recommended weight-loss strategies combine reduced caloric intake with physical activity, the actual strategies used can vary. This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate weight, weight loss, and body image in post-menopausal women ages 50 to 64. Quantitative data were analyzed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and semi-structured interviews with 81 women in Kentucky. Qualitative data was gathered from in-depth interviews with eight Kentucky women focusing on life-course factors that affect weight and perception of weight. Over 70% of the Kentucky subjects had attempted weight loss in the last year; 47% of the NHANES women had done so. The most common weight-loss strategies of the Kentucky sample were .ate less food. and .exercised.; in the NHANES samples, the most common choices were .ate less food. and .ate less fat.. In the Kentucky sample, feeling that one is in control of one.s own weight was associated with having joined a weight loss program. Exercise and restaurant frequency and were the most significant predictors of the weight outcomes investigated. Increased exercise was associated with an increased likelihood of being normal weight, gaining less than 10 pounds in the last 10 years, and gaining less than 30 pounds since age 25; decreased restaurant frequency was associated with all of these outcomes in the Kentucky sample. The in-depth interviews revealed that making good food choices, having others as role models, and the desire to be attractive were seen as positive influences on weight. The consumption of .bad. foods, stress, health problems that prevent exercise, menopause, and age were seen as negative influences. The qualitative data also strongly suggested that childhood weight, and past reactions of others to one.s weight, influence perception of current weight. It is the responsibility of women and the public health sector to make the most of these acknowledged motivators and minimize the perceived barriers to reverse the increasing obesity levels in the U.S.

This thesis applies a feminist theoretical perspective to interrogate discourses of postfeminism, as well as the position of the female body, fitness, and resistance within contemporary American culture. I argue that women’s fitness blogs are a vehicle for the production of Rosalind Gill’s “postfeminist sensibility,” focusing specifically on fitness bloggers’ use of self-surveillance and monitoring, personal transformation or “makeovers”, and intensified consumerism. Using ideological textual analysis of several fitness blogs as case studies, I examine the ways in which women publicly negotiate their relationships with their body through the documentation and disclosure of their food and exercise lifestyles. This thesis also acknowledges the feminist potential of fitness blogs as spaces in which women may strive towards body positivity and recovery from eating disorders, as well as challenge cultural expectations regarding female body and appetite. / text

In Western cultures, social significations are associated with body weight and shape (Woolf, 1990, as cited by Malson, 1998). Thinness is especially valued and especially for women and girls. As a result, many teenage girls aim to be thinner. This thesis examines five blogs on the website LiveJournal that are written by teenage girls who perceive themselves as overweight and who use blogs to talk about their attempts to lose weight. All five of these girls say that they practice at least one extreme method of weight loss and all of them have dangerously low weight loss goals. Two research questions motivated this study: 1) how do teenage girls who perceive themselves as overweight use blogs in their journeys to lose weight? 2) Can LiveJournal, or any other personal blogging site, provide a useful source for researchers so that they can learn about eating disorders in girls’ own words? The blogs provided a tool by which I could discover first-hand experiences of teenage girls who are trying to lose weight. Essentially, the blogs were used as both the data and the mean by which the data was collected. My results suggest that girls rarely discuss their weight loss practices with family or friends and thus their blogs provide a space where they can share their experiences and receive support and encouragement from other members of their online community who will not judge or stigmatize them. The results of this study are useful for social science researchers in two ways. First, the results provide important information pertaining to first-personal narratives about body image, weight loss and the practice of extreme methods of weight loss by teenage girls who perceive themselves as overweight. Second, the results provide useful information for social researchers seeking to use blog research for their projects. This project highlights the benefits of blog research and provides a sort of how-to for future researchers hoping to use the method. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-06-28 00:01:52.273

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect Social Physique Anxiety (SPA) levels have on college students' preferences for different exercise settings. Those exercise settings included exercising with people of same gender, exercising with people who were physically fit, and exercising with people of similar body shapes. In addition, the study investigated the role of gender concerning these exercise setting preferences. Furthermore, this study examined the relationship between SPA levels and students' preferences for different type of physical fitness activities and their perceived physical fitness (PPF). A sample of 375 undergraduate male and female students at Ball State University were selected using a purposeful sampling procedure. The participants were enrolled in the coeducational Physical Education Fitness/Wellness course (PEFWL) during spring 2000 semester. During a scheduled class, the participants completed a 35item questionnaire which assessed SPA levels, PPF, and other items related to exercise setting.In this study, male participants were significantly higher in PPF than female participants, whereas female participants were significantly higher in SPA than male participants. To address the five research hypotheses, logistic and multiple regression analyses were used (p<.05). Both SPA and gender were significant predictors of participants' preference for exercising with people of same gender, participants' preference for exercising with people physically fit, and participants' preference for exercising with people of same body shape. Gender significantly predicated the preference of participating in the physical activity groups of physical conditioning and swimnastics/fitness swimming. Finally, SPA was the only significant predicator (p<.001) of participants' PPF. Based on the results of this study, SPA played a critical role in college-age students' exercise setting preferences. Students' self-presentational concerns about their physiques being negatively evaluated by others may indeed influence their exercise setting preferences. / School of Physical Education

The primary purpose of this research was to examine the theory of divestment, or the act of discarding clothes that no longer fit the current body, by investigating the relationships between divestment practices and psychological factors (body image and self-esteem). The secondary purpose was to examine divestment practices among different demographic groups (age and gender). A combination of previously created measures was used to measure divestment practices (Bye & McKinney, 2007), self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1965), and body image (Cash & Pruzinsky, 1990). Demographic characteristics were determined using basic questions regarding those traits. The results of the study indicated that the strongest predictors of divestment were being younger (β=.129, p=.004), subjective weight (β=.171, p=.002), and body areas satisfaction (β=-173., p=.015). Gender (β=.081, p=.062), though not significant in the current model, was approaching significance, with females being more predictive of divestment than males. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The current study was conducted in order to examine the impact of ethnicity on gender differences in body type preferences and perceptions and add to the literature examining racial differences in body type preferences and perceptions. The current study was an expansion of one by Gipson et al conducted at a historically Black university in 2004, in which responses and BMI measurements of 191 college students were examined for associations between BMI and gender, and body image and attitudes toward obesity. For the current study the sample of 176 college students enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, an ethnically diverse institution, completed two body image and attitude inventories and height and weight measurements. The sample consisted of 94 male and 82 female students between the ages of 18 and 25 years (mean=20.3 years, SD=1.9 years). Women rated their current figure as larger than their ideal, whereas men reported no discrepancy. BMI did not vary by sex or grade level. Within race, Black students (mean BMI 27.1 kg/m2) were heavier than Caucasians (23.9 kg/m2). Students generally preferred smaller figures and the students with BMIs 2 preferred the smaller figures more than did students with ≥ 25 kg/m2, however neither BMI, sex nor race favored any specific attitudes towards obesity.The study determined that body image perceptions and attitudes toward obesity vary across racial groups and that the effect of race/ethnicity on body satisfaction depends on gender. The participants may represent a more diverse group than previously tested and provide insight into racial differences.