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The Influence of Running on Women's Self-Esteem and Attributional Style

Thesis advisor: Carolyn Thomas / A quasi-experimental study was done to investigate the relative influence of running on the self-esteem and attributional styles of a group of 623 women in Boston. Volunteers from the participants in the 1983 Bonne Bell 10K race formed the runners group while the two control groups, athletic non-runners and non-athletic women, were composed of volunteers randomly self-selected from among patrons in various Boston service organizations. Study participants were tested using Seligmans Attribution Style Questionnaire (1981) and Hudson's Index of Self-Esteem (1982). Results of the ASQ showed that the women who ran consistently tended to have a more internal than external locus of control and had an attributional style associated with an empowered sense of self. Results of the ISE showed that women who run consistently have a significantly higher level of self-esteem than do either the women who are athletic but who do not run or the non-athletic women, with the non-athletic women scoring with lower self-esteem than the athletic non-runners. On a subjective rating for degree of happiness, the consistent runners scored significantly higher than those women in the control groups. Both clinical and policy implications of these findings were discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 1987. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_101651
Date January 1987
CreatorsGrant, Polly Walker
PublisherBoston College
Source SetsBoston College
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, thesis
Formatelectronic, application/pdf
RightsCopyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.

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