Predictors of Social Physique Anxiety in Elite Female Youth Athletes

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of social physique anxiety (SPA). SPA, self-esteem, body-esteem, public body consciousness (PBC) and percent body fat (%BF) were assessed with elite female youth athletes (N = 68) competing in either figure skating, soccer or gymnastics. Stepwise multiple regression analyses, controlling for BF%, accounted for 59% of the variance in SPA. Self-esteem entered first, and BF%, followed by body-esteem and PBC. The psychological variables accounted for 57% of the variance with self-esteem contributing the most (R square change = 45%). Contrary to previous research, BF% did not significantly contribute to SPA. Additionally, a MANOVA and followup ANOVA and Scheffe’s tests revealed significant sport differences among SPA, self-esteem, and body-esteem. How people present themselves to others is known as self presentation (Leary, 1992). A premise of Self presentation theory is that individuals seek to enhance favorable impressions, and minimize unfavourable reactions, from others (Leary, 1992). Individuals who are ineffective in managing their impressions, or anticipate being ineffective, may experience social anxiety (Leary, 1983). A subtype of social anxiety, social physique anxiety (SPA), is experienced when people feel, or anticipate feeling, that their bodies are being devalued (Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989). In exercise settings, the body is both salient and important. Thus, the social context of exercise may promote SPA. To assess SPA, Hart and colleagues (1989) developed the social physique anxiety scale (SPAS). Both Hart et al. (1989) and Leary (1992) proposed that self presentation and SPA are important features of exercise and sport. Self presentation theory, and specifically SPA, have been useful in explaining exercise related cognition, affect, and behavior (Crawford & Eklund, 1994; Eklund & Crawford, 1994; Spink, 1992). Crawford and Eklund (1994) found that college women high in SPA were not attracted to a video of an exercise setting where aerobic dance clothing was worn. J. J. Martin, H. J. Engels, J. C. Wirth, and K. L. Smith DIGITALCOMMONS@WSU | 1997 3 High SPA women, however, expressed a positive attitude when the same video participants wore clothing deemphasizing the body. In a follow up investigation, Eklund and Crawford (1994) found that, similar to Hart et al. (1989), SPA was positively related to percent body fat (% BF). Furthermore, women who exercised for weight control reasons reported greater SPA compared to women who exercised for other reasons (Eklund & Crawford, 1994). Both % BF and exercising for weight control reasons accounte for 39% of the variance in SPA. Spink (1992) found that women high in SPA preferred to exercise in private, as opposed to public, and suggested that high SPA women may avoid evaluative settings (i.e., exercise clubs) which might heighten SPA. Cumulatively, from these findings we suggest that women’s exercise behaviors may be influenced by feelings of SPA. In contrast to college aged women, McAuley and Burman (1993) studied adolescent female gymnasts. They found that athletes lower in self-presentation confidence and physical self-efficacy tended to experience SPA, and supported the importance that expectancy constructs play in relation to SPA. In brief, SPA is a psychological construct worthy of examination. However, both Eklund and Crawford (1994) and McAuley and Burman (1993) cited the need to examine selfreferent based theoretical antecedents of SPA such as self-esteem, body-esteem, and selfefficacy because few researchers have done this. Therefore, to address this need, we examined four potential predictors of SPA as suggested by previous investigators. Body-esteem, or people’s evaluations of their bodies, has a significant influence on self-esteem (Harter, 1993; Lerner, Karabenick, & Stuart, 1973; Rohrbacker, 1973; Rosen & Ross, 1968). Since positive relationships between body-esteem and self-esteem in adolescent girls (Folk, Pederson, & Cullari, 1993; Kenealy, Gleeson, Frude, & Shaw, 1991) and college students (Secord & Jourard, 1953) have been found, this means that individuals who are pleased with their bodies tend to have positive selfesteem compared to people less pleased with their bodies. Based on these results, it is logical to expect that individuals who dislike their bodies (i.e., have low body-esteem) may be prone to SPA. Furthermore, the relationship between bodyesteem and self-esteem may be indicative that self-esteem may also be related to SPA. People with low self-esteem may be more likely to experience SPA. Therefore, we examined both self and body-esteem as potential antecedents of SPA However, body-esteem is considered multidimensional (Franzoi & Predictors of Social Anxiety 4 DIGITALCOMMONS@WSU | 1997 Shields, 1984; Wright & Whitehead, 1987). For instance, perceptions of physical attributes (other than weight) such as muscle development or physical conditioning may impact significantly on body and self-esteem in athletic populations (Fox & Corbin, 1989; Franzoi & Shields, 1984). Additionally, Wright and Whitehead (1987) propose that negative perceptions related to weight are closely tied to both body and self-esteem. Presumably, athletes dissatisfied with their weight and/or physical condition would be prone to SPA. Therefore, we employed a multidimensional measure of body-esteem that allowed subjects to report both feelings about their weight and physical condition (Franzoi & Shields, 1984). Control theory (Carver & Scheier, 1981) indirectly suggests that body awareness may be related to SPA (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975; Miller, Murphy, & Buss, 1981). Public self-consciousness (awareness of the public aspects of ones’ self) is positively related to social anxiety (Carver & Scheier 1981) and SPA (Hart et al., 1989). Thus, we propose that public body consciousness (PBC: awareness of the public aspects of ones’ body), a more physique specific form of awareness compared to public selfconsciousness, would be positively related to SPA, a body specific form of social anxiety. In other words, athletes aware of their bodies may be prone to SPA. Based on this reasoning, we examined PBC as a potential predictor of SPA. Body-esteem is also negatively related to objective body weight (Folk et al., 1993) and %BF (Huddy, et al., 1993). Similarly, %BF is positively related to SPA (Eklund & Crawford, 1994; Hart et al., 1989). Thus, we assessed %BF to determine if self-esteem, body-esteem, and PBC would account for variance in SPA beyond that attributable to %BF. Finally, we examined elite female youth athletes for the following reasons First, it is generally more important for females, compared to men, to present an attractive physique and females report greater SPA than males (Hart et al., 1989; Isogai, 1995; Snow & Harris, 1986). Second, because females are often critical of their bodies, SPA should be a meaningful construct to investigate with girls (Phelps et al., 1993). Third, we examined gymnasts and figure skater because the potential to experience SPA is presumably high due to the importance of presenting an attractive, yet athletic, physique in order to score well in competition. Last, we were interested in elite athletes as few researchers examining SPA have focused on elite competitors. We studies soccer players on the J. J. Martin, H. J. Engels, J. C. Wirth, and K. L. Smith DIGITALCOMMONS@WSU | 1997 5 premise that self-presentation of the body is unimportant to soccer performance. Thus, comparing soccer players to figure skaters and gymnasts may provide further insight into SPA and body related cognitions. In summary, our first purpose was to examine potential predictors of SPA. We hypothesized that self-esteem and perceptions of physical condition and weigh would be negatively related to SPA whereas %BF and PBC would be positively correlated with SPA. Because of the exploratory nature of the current study, we did not predict which variables may be most strongly related to SPA. Based on the Eklund and Crawford (1994) study, we expected the psychological predictors to account for variance above that attributable to %BF. Our second purpose was to examine potential sport differences in the variables assessed. Due to the exploratory nature of this aspect of the study, we did not formulate any a priori hypotheses with the exception that for reasons explicated above, we expected gymnasts and figure skaters to report higher SPA compared to soccer players.