Understanding the relationship between physical activity and self-esteem with race and ethnicity as moderators: a cross-sectional survey analysis
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Delaney E. Thibodeau (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Jennifer Etnier
Abstract: The extant research exploring the relationship between physical activity and self-esteem lacks samples of young adults as well as individuals from racially and ethnically diverse populations. Racial and ethnic minorities and young adults are not appropriately represented in the literature which creates an issue for generalizability of findings from research. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between the time young adults spend engaging in physical activity behaviors over the course of a week and their reported global self-esteem, physical self-worth, and the sub-domains of sports competence, physical condition, body attractiveness, and physical strength. It was hypothesized that individuals who report more time doing physical activity would also report higher levels of self-esteem and that this relationship would vary depending on the participants’ race and/or ethnicity and gender. Individuals were recruited from an undergraduate course offered in the Department of Kinesiology at UNCG and completed a Qualtrics survey of questionnaires regarding their physical activity habits, global self-esteem, physical self-worth and the aforementioned sub-domains of self-esteem. The participants who completed this study (n=179) primarily identified as a race(s) besides white, Non-Hispanic, and female. On average, participants engaged in 66.4 minutes (SD=50.09) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day and had a mean global self-esteem score of 19.08 (SD=4.89) out of a possible score of 40. Physical activity was correlated with physical strength (Pearson’s r=.186), sport competence (Pearson’s r=.229), and physical condition (Pearson’s r=.269), hence significant main effects for these variables are not further described in regression analyses. There was a significant interaction of race and physical activity for global self-esteem, such that although white participants reported higher baseline global self-esteem, increased physical activity was associated with higher global self-esteem for black participants more than for whites. In regression analyses with race, there were main effects of race for body attractiveness and global self-esteem. No significant main effects of ethnicity or interactions involving ethnicity were found. Limitations to this study include that many of the participants were kinesiology majors and data was collected during the Covid-19 pandemic. A strength of this study is the representation of race and ethnicity which contributes to the generalizability of the findings. The results of this study are important as understanding how physical activity impacts global and physical self-esteem across demographic groups is necessary for more effectively encouraging engagement in physical activity for a diverse group of people.
Understanding the relationship between physical activity and self-esteem with race and ethnicity as moderators: a cross-sectional survey analysis
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Created on 5/1/2021
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2021
- Keywords
- Ethnicity, Physical activity, Race, Self-esteem
- Subjects
- Self-esteem in young adults
- Minorities
- Exercise