The Relationship between Weight Stigma, Physical Appearance Concerns, and Enjoyment and Tendency to Avoid Physical Activity and Sport

Nadia Bevan, Kerry S. O’Brien, Chung-Ying Lin, Janet D. Latner, Brian Vandenberg, Ruth Jeanes, Rebecca M. Puhl, I-Hua Chen, Simon Moss and Georgia Rush
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Nadia Bevan: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Kerry S. O’Brien: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Chung-Ying Lin: Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701401, Taiwan
Janet D. Latner: Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Brian Vandenberg: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Ruth Jeanes: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Rebecca M. Puhl: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
I-Hua Chen: Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China
Simon Moss: College of Health and Human Sciences, Charles Darwin University, Casuarina 0815, Australia
Georgia Rush: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: Participation in physical activity and sport is on the decline and there is a poor understanding of the psychosocial factors that contribute to people’s reluctance to participate. We examined whether there were relationships between factors such as weight stigma, weight bias internalization, appearance evaluation, and fears of negative appearance evaluations, and enjoyment and avoidance of physical activity and sport. Undergraduate students ( N = 579) completed a survey assessing demographics, and the variables described above. In hierarchal multivariate regression models, weight stigma ( β = −0.16, p < 0.001), appearance evaluation ( β = 0.19, p = 0.001), and weight bias internalization ( β = −0.19, p = 0.003) were associated with lower enjoyment of physical activity and sport. Weight stigma ( β = 0.46, p = 0.001), weight bias internalization ( β = 0.42, p = 0.001), and fear of negative appearance evaluations ( β = 0.16, p = 0.000) were also significantly associated with the tendency to avoid physical activity and sport. Serial mediation analysis showed the relationship between weight stigma and enjoyment of physical activity and sport was through appearance evaluation and weight bias internalization (indirect effect = −0.007, SE = 0.002, 95% CI = −0.01, −0.02). Similarly, the relationship between weight stigma and avoidance of physical activity and sport was through weight bias internalization and fear of negative appearance evaluations (indirect effect = 0.11, SE = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.16). These results suggest that weight stigma and concerns about one’s physical appearance influence people’s enjoyment and reasoning for avoiding physical activity and sport. Research is needed to identify ways to reduce body-related stigma and increase enjoyment and participation in physical activity and sport.

Keywords: weight stigma; appearance evaluation; physical activity participation; sport participation; physical activity enjoyment; sport; physical activity avoidance; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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