Studier som berör ämnet hur fysisk aktivitet påverkar det psykiska välbefinnandet hos äldre är något som berör alla. Fysisk aktivitet har i tidigare forskning visat sig påverka båda den fysiska och psykiska hälsan positivt. Mycket forskning är gjord på området, dock är de äldre underrepresenterade som målgrupp inom området. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka i vilken utsträckning fysisk aktivitet påverkar det psykiska välbefinnandet, med inriktning självkänsla och fysisk självuppfattning, hos äldre. Undersökningen innefattade en experimentell undersökningsmetod med en randominiserad, kontrollerad design. Försökspersonerna delades slumpmässigt in i vibrationsgrupp, styrkegrupp eller kontrollgrupp. Enkäterna som användes var PSPP (Physical self-perception profile) och RSES (Rosenbergs self-esteem scale). Dessa data behandlades med hjälp av SPSS 15,0, där mixed design för upprepade mätningar utfördes. Resultaten visade på en del signifikanta huvudeffekter. Det fanns dock ingen interaktion för någon av testerna, det vill säga det gick inte att se någon skillnad i förändring mellan grupperna. Alla grupperna visade på förbättringar, men ingen skillnad uppvisades mellan dem. Utfallet beror troligtvis på för få försökspersoner, kort undersökningsperiod, utformningen på enkäterna och sociala faktorer. / The topic of this essay, does physical activity affect psychological well- being, aim to physical self-perception and self-esteem, on older people, and is a common interest for many people. A lot of research has been done to find out what the physical and psychological advantages of physical activity are, but not that much amongst elderly. The purpose of this dissertation was to find out how physical activity affects psychological well-being on elderly. The research design included both experimental and quantitative methods. The investigation groups where vibration -, strength - and control group. The questionnaires which where used were PSPP (Psychological self-perception profile) and RSES (Rosenberg’s self-esteem scale). The result was later handled with the computer program SPSS, 15, 0, where ANOVA-tests where applied. The result showed some significant main effects, but no interaction effects. In other words there were no differences between the groups in terms of change. All three groups showed improvements. These are probably a result of low power, too short investigation time, social factors and the design of the questionnaires.

In modern society, individuals constantly pass judgments on their own body and physical competence as well as that of other people. All too often, the verdict is less favourable. For the person, these physical self-perceptions (PSP) may negatively affect global self-esteem, identity, and general mental well being. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine primarily the role that exercise, but also the roles that gender and culture, play in the formation of PSP. In Study I, using confirmatory factor analyses, strong support for the validity of a first-order, and a second-order hierarchical and multidimensional model of the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP: Fox & Corbin, 1989) was found across three national samples (Great Britain, Sweden and Turkey) of university students. Cross-cultural differences were detected, with the British sample demonstrating higher latent means on all PSPP subdomains except for the physical condition subdomain (Condition), than the Swedish and Turkish samples. In Study II, a higher self-reported exercise frequency was associated with more positive PSP (in particular for Condition) and more importance attributed to PSP in Swedish university students. Males demonstrated higher overall PSPP-scores than females. In Study III, a true-experimental design with randomisation into an intervention and a control group was adopted. Strong support for the effects of an empowerment-based exercise intervention programme on PSP and social physique anxiety (SPA) over six months for adolescent girls was found. The relations of exercise, gender and culture with PSP, SPA and self-esteem are discussed from the standpoints of a variety of theoretical models (the EXSEM-model), and frameworks (self-presentation and objectification theory). The two theories of self-enhancement and skill-development are examined with regard to the direction of the exercise-physical self relationship and motivation for exercise. Arguments for the relevance of exercise and PSP for practitioners in promoting general mental well-being and preventing modern-day diseases are outlined.

Sportinėje veikloje ypač svarbu sportininkus mokinti saviugdos, nes tuomet atletai atskleidžia prigimtinius gebėjimus, mokosi vertinti savo galimybes, stiprinti pasitikėjimą savimi, prisiimti asmeninę, grupinę ir socialinę atsakomybę, suvokti save kaip grupės, bendruomenės, visuomenės narį ir mokytis dalyvauti visuomenės gyvenime. Šioje veikloje mokomasi atrasti saviraiškos būdų realizuoti savo norus, geriau suprasti ir pažinti savo idėjas, patirti savo asmenybės svarbą ir pripažinimą. Saviugda ypač reikšminga paauglystės metais, kai formuojasi charakteris, valia, dorovinės nuostatos, gyvenimo tikslai, didėja protinės ir fizinės galios. Tyrimo tikslas: ištirti elito tenisininkės fizinės saviugdos edukacinio skatinimo galimybes. Tyrimo uždaviniai: Ištirti fizinės saviugdos kokybę įtakojančius veiksnius. Nustatyti elito tenisininkės savistabos rodiklių pokyčius. Ištirti sportininkės rengimo makrociklo sudarymo, remiantis savistabos rodikliais, tendencijas. Išanalizuoti edukacinio skatinimo metodų taikymo metiniame rengimo procese ypatumus. Darbo metodai. Teorinė analizė ir apibendrinimas. Dokumentų analizės metodas. Anketinė apklausa. Statistinė analizė. Tyrimo dalyviai (n=1). Tyrimo etapai. Pirmajame etape, siekiant išsiaiškinti pagrindines mokymo(si) ir sportavimo dermės sąlygas bei pradines tyrimo pozicijas, buvo studijuota pedagoginė, psichologinė, sportinė literatūra. Antrojo etapo metu suformuluota darbo hipotezė, apibrėžti tyrimo uždaviniai, sukurta tyrimo metodika... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In sportive activity, it is very important to teach sportsmen of self-help, as then athletes reveal their natural abilities, learn to appreciate their possibilities, enhance their self-confidence, assume personal, sectional and social responsibility, perceive themselves as members of a group, community, society and learn to participate in society life. This activity teaches to find the ways of self-expression to realise their own wishes, to perceive and acknowledge better their own ideas, to feel the importance and appreciation of their own personality. The self-help is very important in adolescence, when a character, will, moral attitudes, and aims of life are formed, when mental and physical capacity is increasing. The aim of the research: to investigate possibilities of educational promotion of elite tennis player’s physical self-help. The objectives of the research: to investigate factors influencing quality of physical self-help; to ascertain the alterations of the elite tennis player’s introspection indices; to explore the tendencies of creation of the sportswoman’s training macro-cycle with reference to the indices of introspection; to analyse the possibilities of elite tennis player’s educational promotion. The methods of the research: theoretical analysis and generalization, the method of documents’ analysis, questionnaire, statistical analysis. Participants of the research (n=1). Stages of the research: In the first stage, on purpose to ascertain the main... [to full text]

The completed research is likely to show insufficiency of physical activity in Lithuanian schools; for this reason, the number of schoolchildren distributed into special medical groups is increasing. It is not always enough to have some PE lessons to make pupils fit. Some PE lessons does not offer the solution to the problems of decreasing physical activity, poor physical health and ever – increasing sickness rate. However, the problems can be solved and the positive attitude developed by individual exercising. Due to a tendency for physical activity among the youth to decrease we raised a scientific problem which can by solved by adopting positive attitude to physical training and supplying the need for a healthy and physically active way of life. Hypothesis – The use of Olympic training programme to adopt the positive attitude towards physical training and factors which influence its development. Research aim – to examine the impact of the Olympic program on the 7-9 form pupils’ attitude towards physical self-training. Research tasks: 1. To research the attitude to physical activity, physical self-training and explain the reasons which stimulate or hinder a child’s individual exercising. 2. To evaluate the impact of the Olympic training programme on the development of the pupils’ attitude to physical self-training and factors which determine its development. 3. To examine the differences of attitude to physical self-training among different age groups. 445 7-9 form... [to full text]

The object of research – the physical might of the ninth formers. The aim of research – to determine the influence of physical self–training stimulation to the change of the ninth formers physical might. Following problems are brought up: 1. To determine and evaluate the physical might of the ninth formers. 2. To find out the weakest physical aspects, to prepare the training and physical self-training programme. 3. To determine the influence of the programme on the students physical might. Hypothesis: knowledge of physical education and healthy living, learning to observe and evaluate your own physical might, physical activity, corresponding with requirements, gives the advantages to the change of physical might of the ninth formers. Methods of research: 1. The analysis of literature resources. 2. Physical features testing. 3. Pedagogical experiment. 4. Mathematical statistics. Measurements (height, weight) are carried out according to standarts, the index of the mass is also calculated. Eurofit tests are applied to studying physical might. 20 experimental and 23 controlling group’s female students took part in the experiment. Those groups were formed by chance. Both groups had 2 weekly physical education lessons carried out according to Lithuania physical education general programmes. Physical-consciousness as well as self-training have been trained during physical education lessons. The programme hasn’t been modified to the controlling group students. The experiment has... [to full text]

In this qualitative study excessive weight gain in men is placed in the context of a life course trajectory with its characteristic stages. A combination of symbolic interactionism and life course perspectives was deemed appropriate for studying obesity as their basic assumptions complement each other to create a holistic view of the phenomenon. Both the life course and symbolic interactionism perspectives stress the interaction between individuals and their social environment, an observation particularly evident when viewed as a micro-level experience. The chosen approach emphasises the social creation of meanings about life transitions and individual development. The obese man cannot be seen as an isolated unit as, like all people, he is a social being forming part of a network of relationships. Theoretically those with whom he is socialising can be classified as significant others, general others and reference group others. It is their influence that is important in his personal development and experience of the self. While the symbolic interactionism perspective accentuates the development of the self in interaction with others, the life course perspective gives clarity on the way the individual handles transition experiences in order to regain balance after a time of disequilibrium resulting from different trajectories. The theory of cognitive appraisal used in this study enhanced understanding of the obese man‟s passion for food, and the emotion of joy experienced when busy with food-related activities. Cognitive appraisal takes place in each situation when the obese man needs to make a decision or take action in terms of food and life style behaviour. The strategy of enquiry for this research followed a phenomenological and qualitative approach. The unit of analysis was a white man who was obese. The inclusion criteria for the sample were: being older than 21; and complying with the acknowledged criterion for obesity of having a BMI greater than 30kg/m². A purposive sampling technique was employed with each of the 14 participants being interviewed on more than one occasion. Participants were expected to, and were able to describe their experiences of being obese retrospectively. The researcher made almost exclusive use of lengthy, individual, in-depth, unstructured interviews. Three themes emerged from the data namely the meaning of food, the sadness of obesity and coping with obesity. The findings from this study show that, as a social object, the obese man‟s eating habits and the meaning that food has for him are influenced by, and learnt from others such as his family during childhood and adolescence, and his married partner and work colleagues in young adulthood. Essentially, indulgence in eating is for the anticipated pleasure it brings. Thus several factors like marriage, friends and career influence the food trajectory of the obese man. The obese man‟s food trajectories affect his weight trajectory and have a negative impact on his experience of self. His overweight body gives rise to distressing physical constraints and causes emotional experiences of sadness. He is unable to make peace with his obese state and needs to consciously address the situation. Coping strategies used by the obese participants were critical in their handling of their obesity. In the process of self-appraisal they needed confirmation that they could handle the problem so that it did not influence the way they experienced their physical and inner selves. Regardless of all the coping strategies adopted, the participants were not totally able to handle their plight. It actually got worse and impacted extremely negatively on their well-being. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Consumer Science / unrestricted

Title: Physical Self-perception of musical dancers Objectives: The main aim of the diploma thesis is to find out whether there are any gender differences in the physical self-concept of musical dancers. Methods: The thesis has a character of empirical and theoretical research and includes elements of quantitative research with an application of a survey. Specifically the thesis represents a cross-sectional study. A multidimensional questionnaire, the Physical self-perception profile was administered to a sample of N=40 musical dancers. The questionnaire consists of five subdomains including: sport competence, physical condition, physical attractiveness, physical strength and physical self-esteem. The t-test for two independent groups (men and women) was applied to test the group differences. Results: The results did not reveal any significant gender differences in physical self-concept between male and female musical dancers. Key words: PSPP, Physical Self-perception profile, dance, musical

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if changes in physical self-efficacy, physical self-perceptions, and affect (including enjoyment) are mechanisms by which a single bout of exercise improves state body image. A secondary purpose was to identify how long exercise-related improvements in state body image are sustained post-exercise. Sixty women with body image dissatisfaction were randomized to either an exercise or control condition. Participants in the exercise condition completed a 30 minute moderate-to-vigorous intensity workout on a stationary bike. Women in the control condition read for the same duration. Before and immediately, 10-minutes and 20-minutes after (post-0, post-10, post-20) the exercise/control manipulations, participants completed measures of state body image, aerobic self-efficacy, physical self-perceptions and affect (including enjoyment). PROCESS macro was used to test mediation models, and a repeated measures mixed ANCOVA, followed by a univariate ANCOVA was used to test how long state body image improvements were sustained. There was a significant indirect effect of increases in strength self-perceptions on state body image improvements from pre- to post-0 (95% C.I. =.07 - .52, κ2=.16, abps=.31), post-10 (95% C.I.=.05 - .50, κ2=.16, abps=.30) and post-20 minutes (95% C.I. = .10 - .55, κ2 =.16, abps =.33), as well as a significant indirect effect of decreases in tiredness (i.e., increases in the energetic arousal dimension) on state body image improvements from pre- to post-10 (95% C.I. =.22 – 1.14, κ2=.30, abps=.77). Exercise-related state body image improvements were sustained 20 minutes after exercise. The present findings suggest that a bout of exercise improves state body image through increases in strength self-perceptions and energetic arousal and these effects lasted up to 20 minutes. This is the first study to design and empirically test a model to account for the effects of exercise on state body image, and provides important theoretical and practical implications. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Title: Health education in elementary school Objectives: The aim of this thesis was to create an educational manual for health education and its verification. Methods: In our thesis we used quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis and the method of comparison. We used a questionnaire as the quantitative method and for the qualitative method we interviewed selected students. We apllied the method of comparison in the evaluation of student's knowledge in pre and post questionnaires and in comparing the knowledge of 9th and 7th graders. Results: We discovered that 7th graders improved their knowledge and the greatest improvement was reached in the topics of self-conception and physical self- conception. Also we found that the knowledge of 7th graders are better than the knowledge of 9th graders. Keywords: body care, nutrition, self-conception and physical self-conception, physical activity.

Grounded in Festinger s (1954) theory of social comparison processes, this thesis aims to examine three aspects of this theory in the physical education context, where ability is the characteristic under comparison: adolescent motives for comparison; frames of reference; and consequences of comparison. Although there is a growing evidence base investigating social comparison processes in academic subjects, there remains a dearth of knowledge concerning the role that comparison can play in determining outcomes in physical education. Furthermore, there is very little research within psychology in general that examines young peoples motives for and outcomes of comparison. This thesis begins to address this lack of knowledge by providing an in-depth exploration of social comparison processes (Study 1) which is followed by an examination of the role that two frames of reference (the class and a chosen individual) and motives for comparison (evaluation, improvement, enhancement) play in determining: physical self-concept; engagement; disaffection; self-efficacy, positive affect and negative affect (Studies 2-4). Additionally, the moderating role of behavioural regulations, motivational climate and perceived autonomy support are also investigated. Across the four studies, comparative evaluations with the class are influential in determining both positive and negative outcomes whilst the role of individual comparisons varies according to the dependent variable under investigation. Evidence for both the moderating and direct role of motives for comparison is presented as well as support for the moderating role of motivational climate and behavioural regulations. The findings highlight the need to investigate multiple aspects of social comparison processes simultaneously in addition to investigating moderators of comparative evaluations in order that a more comprehensive understanding of social comparison processes is achieved.