ACTIVE WOMEN, SOCIAL PHYSIQUE ANXIETY, AND EXERCISE

The purpose of this investigation was to replicate and extend Crawford and Eklund's (1994) investigation of social physique anxiety (SPA) an d exercise. Women (N = 94) enrolled in physical education activity or major classes participated in the investigation. Data were collected o n SPA, weight satisfaction, percent body fat, reasons for exercise, ex ercise behaviors and preferences, and attitudes toward two aerobic cla ss video presentations featuring a manipulation of physique salience. Consistent with the previous investigation, self-presentational reason s for exercise (body tone, weight control, and physical attractiveness ) were positively associated with SPA in both simple correlations and hierarchical analyses controlling for body composition. In contrast to previous findings, SPA was not associated with favorability of attitu des toward either of the video presentations. The inability to fully r eplicate Crawford and Eklund's (1993) findings raised interesting ques tions with regard to variables that may moderate or mediate self-prese ntational anxiety in exercise settings.