Appearance schemas, social physique anxiety and body image dysphoria in exercising individuals

Body image dysphoria is a prevalent issue, primarily for young women, that can potentially influence psychological and physical disorders. The image of the “perfect” body is frequently shown in media and yet impossible to achieve in reality. As a result, many individuals experience cognitive dissonance between their ideal and actual selves. For appearance schematic individuals, this dissonance can cause great distress. Social Physique Anxiety is known to be highly correlated with body image dysphoria, however the relationship between body image dysphoria and social physique anxiety in appearance schematic individuals is not thoroughly understood. This study aims to investigate this dynamic. A survey compiling inventories for three variables: The Revised Appearance Schema Inventory (ASI-R), Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), and the Situational Inventory of Body Image Dysphoria (SIBID) was distributed to CSU, Chico students at the beginning, middle and end of the semester. Students were enrolled in either a yoga, weightlifting, or aerobic dance class in the kinesiology department. Students enrolled in classes in the psychology department were used as a control group. First, paired sample t-tests were used to identify significant changes in the three inventory scores between the beginning and the end of the semester. Next, a One- Way ANOVA was used to identify the effects of exercise and general physical activity on the three inventory scores. A second One-Way ANOVA was then used to compare SPAS and SIBID scores between individuals who had high and low ASI-R scores. Finally, a multiple regression analysis was used to identify a mediating relationship between the three variables. Exercise and physical activity had no effect on any of the three inventory scores throughout the semester. Individuals who were more appearance schematic had greater social physique anxiety and body image dysphoria than individuals who were less appearance schematic. Finally, body image dysphoria was a mediating variable between appearance schema and social physique anxiety. In other words, appearance schematic individuals were more likely to have social physique anxiety if they also had body image dysphoria.