The effects of fitness media on male body image.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to establish the perceptions of body image in two male demographics with differing cultural milieu, in addition to analysing the impact that two opposing fitness media videos have upon their body image. Young men aged 18-25 (n=87) were categorised into those who weight train regularly (n=46), and those who do not (n=41). All participants were asked to complete the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ; Brown et al.,1990) to assess their perception of their body image. The two demographics were then divided equally and exposed to two different fitness media videos; an aerobic workout and a resistance training montage, and then asked to repeat the MBSRQ immediately after exposure. A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted with secondary independent and paired t-tests to determine which subscales were significantly different between the groups as well as identify consequential changes in body image perception as a result of said media exposure. Both the aerobic and resistance training video intervention caused significant change in appearance orientation and overweight preoccupation. ‘Weight training’ individuals demonstrated significant negative changes pre-post video intervention in appearance evaluation, fitness evaluation, body areas satisfaction and overweight preoccupation, where as those classified ‘non-weight trainers’ reported a positive effect in body areas satisfaction following the intervention