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Abstract:
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The purpose of this thesis was to examine the influence of exercise motivation and body image on exercise behavior (using a multi-method approach), in order to better understand the phenomenon of unhealthy exercise. The first phase of this study was quantitative, and served to compare the exercise motivation (using Self-Determination Theory, Deci & Ryan, 1985) and perception of body image of "healthy" and "unhealthy" exercisers using a questionnaire. Specifically, 233 exercisers (102 males, 131 females) completed a questionnaire compiled of a self-reported exercise behavior scale (Salonen & Lakka, 1987), the Commitment to Exercise Scale (Davis et al., 1993), the Sport Motivation Scale (Pelletier et al., 1995), and the Body Cathexis Scale (Tucker, 1981). The self-reported exercise behavior scale and the Commitment to Exercise Scale were used to divide exercisers into "healthy" and "unhealthy" groups. In order to obtain a deeper, more complex, understanding of the phenomenon of unhealthy exercise specifically, a second qualitative phase (Phase 2) consisted of interviewing 4 exercisers (2 males, 2 females) identified in Phase 1 as having the most "unhealthy" exercise behaviors. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) |
