Personality determinants of health behaviours of merchant navy officers

Background and aim: An individual’s health behaviours are highly correlated with selected areas of their personality as well as their values, needs and goals. However, this relationship may be modified by a number of objective factors associated with the individual’s functioning, lifestyle or occupational activity. The main objective of the presented study was to investigate the relationship between personality profiles and health behaviours of merchant navy officers.Materials and methods: The influences of personality on health behaviours were additionally compared between two groups: mariners and managers. Thirty-two seafarers of an officer rank and 45 managers aged between 29 and 48 took part in the study. Three research tools were used: NEO-Five Factor Inventory, Health Behaviour Inventory and Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives.Results and conclusions: Results suggest that selected personality variables are significant predictors of individual aspects of health behaviour, however the strength of their influence may differ, depending on the peculiarities of the performed work

Media pressure and the process of Westernization in the context of body self-assessment among young heterosexual and gay Polish men

Mass media and social networks portray a unified image of the perfect male body. The intensity and universality of this influence is an important element of the process of Westernization, especially in traditional cultures such as that of Poland. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the differences between Polish gay and heterosexual men in terms of the role played by self-esteem and the level of internalization of sociocultural standards of body appearance as predictors of the development of their body images. The research study was conducted by reference to 19- to 29-year-old Polish heterosexual (n = 287) and gay (n = 97) men. The variables were measured using Polish versions of the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Scale-3, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Multidimensional Body–Self Relations Questionnaire. Statistical analyses identified several variables as the main predictors of body image in both heterosexual and gay young men: self-esteem, information-seeking, perceived pressure and the internalization of sociocultural standards regarding an athletic body image drawn from mass media. The only significant difference between the two groups was the fact that self-esteem, perceived pressure and the internalization of sociocultural standards from mass media did not play a predictive role with respect to Appearance Orientation among the group of gay men

Sociocultural predictors of obligatory exercise in young men: A Polish-Chinese comparison

BackgroundObligatory exercise has been shown to have negative physical and mental effects on exercisers and is more prevalent among young people. However, there is limited research on obligatory exercise among young men. Social comparison theory offers a novel perspective to explore the relationship between sociocultural factors and obligatory exercise among young men, which offers an opportunity to understand potential factors contributing to obligatory exercise among young men across different cultures.MethodWe recruited a purposive sample of young people aged 18-30 from Poland (n=79) and China (n=194). Participants completed self-report measures including the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire3, Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives, and Obligatory Exercise Questionnaire. In the data analysis stage, we examined the strength of the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variable through multiple regression analysis, and tested the role of the mediating variables.ResultsThe main analyses revealed that Internalization-Athlete was a common direct predictor of obligatory exercise for both Polish and Chinese young men; that there were direct sociocultural predictors of obligatory exercise that were only used in relation to Polish or Chinese young men; and that social adaptation goals for motivation for physical activity mediated the development of obligatory exercise for Polish and Chinese young men, and that there were cross-cultural differences.ConclusionAttention should be paid to their attitudes towards the idea of a muscular and athletic body and socially adapted physical activity motivations when understanding young men’s obligatory exercise, while also considering cross-cultural differences

The motivational function of an objective in physical activity and sport

Background As a conscious activity of an individual, physical activity (PA) constitutes an element of the free-time dimension. The type of goal allows us to distinguish between sport and PA: sport performance vs. psychophysical health. Drawing on the theory of the motivational function of an objective, this study examined the motivational function of an objective in physical activity and sport. Participants and procedures The sample consisted of 2141 individuals: 1163 women aged 16-64 years (M = 23.90, SD = 8.30) and 978 men aged 16-66 years (M = 24.50, SD = 9.40) who completed the Inventory of Physical Activity Objectives (IPAO), which includes the following scales: 1) motivational value, 2) time management, 3) persistence in action, and 4) motivational conflict. There are also questions that allow one to control for variables such as the variety of forms, duration, and frequency of PA, and socio-demographic variables. Results Males presented different motives of physical activity than females. Motives related to shapely body and health were more important for females. The most important motives for males were physical fitness and shapely body. The gender of participants moderates the motivational value of the specific objectives of physical activity and persistence in action. Conclusions With knowledge about the purposefulness of actions, it is possible to support and shape additional motivation experienced by an individual, by setting new, realistic objectives

Poziom narcyzmu jako moderator relacji pomiędzy obiektywnymi wymiarami ciała a stosunkiem do własnej cielesności młodych mężczyzn

The interest taken in one’s own appearance is most often studied with reference to the population of women, however over the recent years concentrating on one’s looks concerns men as well. Generally men are more satisfied with their appearance than women and physical attractiveness is not an important element of Self for men as it is for women. 996 men, aged 18 to 29, took part in our study where we measured 1) their attitude towards their bodies with the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi, Shields, 1984, Polish normalization by Lipowska, Lipowski, 2013), 2) the level of their narcissistic traits, examined with the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin, Hall, 1981) in Polish adaptation by Bazińska, Drat-Ruszczak, 2000). Additionally we used objective information from body measurements: weight, height and sizes of individual body parts. All that information allowed us to calculate anthropometric indices, such as body mass index (BMI), index of central obesity (ICO), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-chest ratio (WCR). Our results show that the majority of men are satisfied with their body weight, though some of them would like to increase it by building up the musculature. Anthropometric indices describing level of obesity and type of body shape don’t predict a participant’s body satisfaction. The level of narcissism proved to be essential predictor of satisfaction with one’s own physical appearance, but only among men taking up activity aimed towards the correction of body weight. Higher level of narcissistic traits was related to higher focus on one’s appearance, more positive attitude towards body and higher involvement in losing weight or “building” muscles

Sports Gamification: Evaluation of Its Impact on Learning Motivation and Performance in Higher Education

In this study, the impacts of sports gamification on college students’ learning motivation and learning performances were explored by training students majoring in physical education to play tennis. A total of 150 students from a physical education college were selected to participate in this experimental teaching, and they were divided into the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG). Based on the above purposes, the differences in the teaching methods and teaching objectives of the EG and the CG is that the former uses games as a key method in tennis teaching. All participants were asked to complete questionnaires, with the purpose of evaluating the learning motivation of tennis before and after sports game intervention. Additionally, the differentiated learning motivation and learning performance between EG and CG before and after experimental teaching was tested and evaluated. Results demonstrate that students in the EG have significantly increased their intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation, thereby showing better results than CG in key test items. In addition, the above result reveals the positive role of sports gamification in promoting the learning motivation and performance of college students

Original article Personality superfactors and healthy behaviors of professional athletes

Background Personality traits seem to be excellent predictors of starting, continuing and discontinuing physical activity. Moreover, they constitute an important determinant of health-seeking behaviors. Therefore, consideration of personality-related variables may be helpful in explaining either motivation of athletes or the goals they achieve. Participants and procedure The study included 1229 individuals, among them 532 active athletes and 697 persons with no history of competitive sporting activities. The group of sportspersons included 286 team sport athletes, 124 representatives of individual sport disciplines and 125 combat sport athletes. Results The athletes were found to have moderate levels of all analyzed personality dimensions. Multiple regression analysis showed that personality traits explained 46% of variance in the level of Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 4.0, p = 0.009) and 36% of variance in the level of Health Practices (F = 2.7, p = 0.043) presented by female combat sport athletes. Personality profile explained 30% of variance in the level of Proper Nutrition Habits (F = 7.8, p < 0.001) and 40% of variance in Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 11.2, p < 0.001) of male combat sport athletes. Personality profile explained 38% of variance in the level of Proper Nutrition Habits (F = 7.2, p < 0.001) and 30% of variance in Positive Psychological Attitudes (F = 5.1, p = 0.001) presented by men who practiced individual sport disciplines. Conclusions Our study confirmed that the personality super-factors are associated with health-seeking behaviors of athletes regarding proper nutrition habits, positive psychological attitudes and health practices