The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological and social processes of
regular physical exercise use by women who consider themselves "exercisers." In using
grounded theory method, the primary objective of this study was to generate a substantive
theory that described (a) the experiences of women who self-identified as exercisers and
engaged in regular physical exercise, (b) the contextual factors that influenced their
participation, and (c) explained the experience of participating in regular exercise,
considering both the positive and negative effects of exercising, and the process of change
through its use.
Twenty-two women (age range, 21 to 60 years) were interviewed about their exercise
experience. Twenty participants self-identified as exercisers. Two other participants, a former
exerciser, and a nonexerciser, were interviewed in order to explore theory limits.
A middle-range theory of "shaping self through exercise" was identified as the basic
process of these women's experience of regular physical exercise. The process involved the
reciprocal connection between two intrapersonal phases: "shaping up" and "experiencing self
as shaped." Through interactions among the subprocesses of shaping up ("talking to self,"
"experiencing exercise," "diverting from self" and "feeling good about self") exercisers in
this study experienced self as shaped through "growing into self," "grounding self in
exercise," and "expressing self through exercise." Influenced by personal meaning and
contextual conditions (one's personal exercise background, current life context, and socialcultural
environment), exercisers frequently re-experienced both phases. Aspects of each
conceptual element of the theoretical model are identified and illustrated by narrative data.
This grounded theory provides insight into the complexity of women's physical exercise
experience. To appreciate this experience it is necessary to view the social-psychological
process from an interactionist perspective. Findings suggest that women's exercise may be
more than physical movement in reaction to environmental and personal influences, but may
also be an intrinsically motivated endeavour towards self-growth, self-care, and selfexpression.
Awareness of the complexity of this process, including personal and contextual
influences, may provide guidance towards more successful adoption and maintenance of
exercise. Implications include future research directions to extend theoretical boundaries and
specificity. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/11142 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Flood, Karen R. |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 14217712 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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