BODY ESTEEM AND ENROLLMENT IN CLASSES WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY

Differences in self-reported scores in the Body Esteem Scale were reco rded for college women and men who participated in classes requiring d iffering amounts of physical activity. Scores for 116 women and 38 men were compared to scores for 99 college women and 60 college men enrol led in classes requiring vigorous or little physical activity, respect ively. The correlation between participation and body esteem was also examined. The Body Esteem Scale was given to the subjects during the f irst and last weeks of one semester. Multivariate analysis of variance of scores indicated significant differences initially among the two g roups of women on three subscales, Sexual Attractiveness, Weight Contr ol, and Physical Condition, while mean over-all scores for body esteem were higher for women in the vigorous activity group than in the comp arison group. No significant differences were found at the later testi ng. For men, no significant differences were obtained at either testin g.