Running head: THE MINDSET OF A PERFECT BODY 1 The Mindset of a Perfect Body: The Relationship between Exercise and Body-esteem

This study seeks to better understand the relationship between exercise and body-esteem. The hypothesis states that college students at a midwestern university who exercise more will have higher body-esteem than those who exercise less. One hundred students from a Midwestern university participated in the study. A 40-item survey was compiled using an adapted version of the Body-Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984). Other factors, such as type of exercise, gender, and preference of exercising alone or with others, were evaluated as well. The independent variable was self-reported amount of exercise per week, and the dependent variable was body-esteem as derived by the Body-Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984). Findings supported the hypothesis, as there was a positive correlation between amount of exercise and body-esteem in this sample. In the future, this work can serve to develop a better understanding between exercise and body-esteem; it would be also be interesting to examine eating habits, attitudes towards eating, and reasons for exercising.