A secondary aim of the study was to replicate
previous objectification research conducted with
women. Consistent with Strelan et al. (2003), we
found that self-objectification among women is
positively related to appearance-related reasons for
exercise and negatively related to health/fitness and
mood/enjoyment reasons for exercise. Greater selfobjectification
among women is also related to lower
body esteem, which confirms self-objectification as a
risk factor for negative body image (e.g., McKinley,
1998; Strelan et al., 2003). Also important, we
found that women’s appearance-related reasons
for exercise mediate the relationship between selfobjectification
and body esteem, a result consistent
with Strelan et al., the previous study conducted in