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 inthis context. It is notable that the predominant form
of exercise for the women in our study was jogging or
brisk walking, relatively benign activities, and ones
quite different from the regular aerobic workouts
performed by the female fitness center attendees in
Strelan et al.’s study. One might draw the tentative
conclusion from these studies together that the form
of exercise is less important than the reason for
exercise in understanding the role of exercise within
the context of self-objectification and body esteem.
Further, our findings for men and women, plus those
of Strelan et al., tentatively suggest that the reason
for exercise most likely to explain the relationship
between self-objectification and exercisers’ body
esteem is their motivation to exercise to improve
their appearance.