SEX-DIFFERENCES IN EXERCISE MOTIVATION AND BODY-IMAGE SATISFACTION AMONG COLLEGE-STUDENTS

The current study was an expansion of one by Cash, Novy, and Grant in 1994, in which responses of 101 female nursing students were examined for associations between reasons for exercise, frequency of exercise, and body-image satisfaction. In the current study, 78 male and 100 fem ale undergraduates between the ages of 18 and 25 years (M=21.2, SD=1.9 ) from various majors completed a demographics/frequency of exercise s urvey, two body-assessment inventories, and the Reasons for Exercise I nventory of Silberstein, Striegel-Moore, Timko, and Rodin. Contrary to Cash, et al.'s findings, only health and fitness reasons were predict ive of women's frequency of exercise, and women's dissatisfaction with specific bodily attributes was not significantly related to any reaso ns for exercising; however, like women in their sample, the current st udents who experienced more situational body dissatisfaction exercised for appearance and weight control. Sex comparisons indicated similar dissatisfaction with specific bodily attributes among men and women, b ut values were not significantly associated with any reasons for exerc ising. Women reported higher situational body dissatisfaction and exer cising for appearance-related reasons more than men. Current participa nts may represent a more diverse group than previously tested, and the inventory's factor structure may not be generalizable to men and wome n.