Self-concept

Self-concept

Self-concept model and the domains/subdomains that are specific/unstable versus more global/general.

Self-perception defines how individuals view themselves. It affects an individual’s behaviors, attitudes, and motivations. Self-perception is a broad concept that encompasses body image, self-esteem, and self-concept. The self-concept model by Shavelson defines the self-concept as how individuals perceive their intrinsic abilities, behavior, and unique defining features. It represents personality traits, hobbies, perceptions of personal interactions, and perceptions of roles. This model posits that there is a nexus between academic self-concept and specific learning contents (Arens et al., 2020). This model represents self-concept as a multifaceted and hierarchical concept whose facets become more distinct as an individual ages and conforms with the set criteria for instrumentation.

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The academic domain, peer relationships on either the same sex or opposite sex domains, and physical domains are specific domains defined under Shavelson’s self-concept model. Specific domains are often predictive of their performance. Global self-esteem is how an individual perceives self. Interindividual variations in global self-esteem exist and are influenced by several environmental factors. The specific domains outlined correlate with the global domain. Harris et al. (2017) demonstrate that most specific domains are concurrently related to the general domain but are not predictive of the global domain.

How self-concept relates to self-esteem.

Self-concept is how individuals perceive themselves. It is a concept that details how individuals or individuals view their unique strengths, personal identity and personality attributes, and their roles in the larger society. Self-concept exhibits interindividual variability and tends to be more malleable at earlier developmental stages. This is because, at this age, an individual is still undergoing identity definition, formation, and self-discovery.

Self-esteem is a narrower concept that contributes to self-concept. It defines how an individual likes or values themselves. It is dependent on how individuals perceive their roles in society and how they think they compare to others. According to Cherry (2022), self-esteem is an integral component of self-concept. This concept, together with the concepts of self-image and ideal self, constitutes self-concept. These findings reveal that changes in self-esteem, which may be informed by environmental factors, influence self-concept. Building self-esteem will have positive effects on aspects of global self-esteem.

How participating in physical activity may enhance general self-concept and global self-esteem.

As outlined above, self-esteem is an integral component of self-concept. Self-esteem models define how individuals view themselves and compare to others within society. Self-esteem is influenced by self-efficacy, which is the belief in the personal ability to execute behaviors required to produce the required results. Exercise affects self-efficacy and, in turn, influences self-esteem and self-concept. Regular exercise not only increases physical strength and endurance but also changes an individual’s perception of their body. Research findings reveal that exercise boosts self-esteem and positively affects self-perception. This, in turn, improves their self-concept.

The positive cognitive and self-efficacy effects seen in exercise result from the awareness by these individuals of their ability to execute and excess in physical activities. This influences their physical self-concept positively. It also increases their perception of their body image, as well as their global self-esteem. It is, therefore, important to indulge in any form of physical activity. The impact physical activity has on a person’s thinking process, self-efficacy and esteem, and physical self-concept underpins its necessity. Additionally, it changes how individuals value themselves and their intrinsic ability to perform. It will also enhance aspects of his or her general self-concepts, such as feelings, attitudes, and perceptions.

References

Ahmead, M., Hamamadeh, N., & Iram, I. (2022). The effects of the Internet and social media use on the work performance of physicians and nurses at workplaces in Palestine. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07934-2

Arens, A., Jansen, M., Preckel, F., Schmidt, I., & Brunner, M. (2020). The Structure of Academic Self-Concept: A Methodological Review and Empirical Illustration of Central Models. Review Of Educational Research, 91(1), 34-72. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320972186

Harris, M., Wetzel, E., Robins, R., Donnellan, M., & Trzesniewski, K. (2017). The development of global and domain self-esteem from ages 10 to 16 for Mexican-origin youth. International Journal Of Behavioral Development, 42(1), 4-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025416679744

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You have been hired as a life coach to help your client improve his self-esteem. In order to do this, you want to show your client that how he defines himself is reflected in how he feels about himself.

Diagram and discuss Shavelson et al.’s (1976) self-concept model with your client. Remember to tell him which domains/subdomains are specific/unstable versus more global/general.
Define self-concept and self-esteem in your own words. Explain to your client how his self-concept relates to his self-esteem.
Using the self-concept model, along with what you know about the Exercise and Self-Esteem Model, explain to your client how participating in physical activity may enhance his general self-concept and global self-esteem.

Lox, C. L., Ginis, K.A. M., Gainforth, H. L., & Petruzzello, S. J. (2019). The Psychology of Exercise (5th ed.). Taylor & Francis. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781000011999

Chapters:7-9

Weblinks:
“How to match your workout to your personality type.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/how-match-your-workout-personality-type-ncna839601

Lecture Notes Week 3
Psychology of Exercise

Lecture 3

Slide 1

Personality and exercise

Slide 2

Welcome back! In this week’s lecture, we will explore how personality, self-perception, and stress effect exercise. We will begin with personality. What is personality? When you think of the word personality, what comes to mind? In psychology, personality is defined as the stable underlying mental and emotional structures that determine how a person experiences the world. The key word here is stable, meaning that even someone who is generally outgoing can still have moments when they are quiet and reserved, but their stable personality is generally outgoing.

Slide 3

Personality was divided into three sections by researchers in the 1960’s: personality core, typical responses, and role-related behaviors. They defined the personality core as internal and constant or stable. The core does not change due to external events. An individual with a certain personality core will have typical responses to external stimuli. Typical responses are relatively stable and predictable, as the word “typical” implies. However, typical responses are more variable than the personality core itself. Role-related behaviors are almost entirely situational and dynamic. As an example, someone who is generally an extrovert will probably be more quiet and reserved if they are on a jury. They have adopted the role-related behavior of a juror.

Slide 4

As we progress through this week’s lesson, we will learn how researchers approach the topic of personality. In general, personality studies are either learning/situational based, meaning they focus on the environment, or disposition/trait-based, meaning they focus on the individual. Both approaches use the interactionist perspective, meaning that the actions and behaviors of an individual within their environment are important for studying personality.

Slide 5

Early theories on personality were based on physical characteristics. The ancient Greeks believed that imbalances in bodily “humors,” fluids such as blood and phlegm, would determine someone’s personality. In 1942, researchers proposed a theory that a person’s body type determines their personality. Tall, thin people were characterized as tense and introverted, heavier people were characterized as affectionate and sociable, and athletic types were characterized as dominant and aggressive. Additional research in the 1980s showed that this phenomenon is not as strong as the theory suggested, but a slight correlation between body type and personality type was found.

Slide 6

While there does appear to be some small correlation between biological characteristics and personality, most of the modern personality theories are based on traits. Personality traits have been defined in a number of ways, differing in number and type between the various theories. In this lesson, we will explore three specific personality trait theories or models that can be applied to exercise science: Eysenck’s personality theory, Cattell’s personality theory, and the five-factor model.

Slide 7

Hans Eysenck developed a personality theory in the 1980s based on what he called “superordinate” traits. Specifically, he proposed three sets of traits, with each set represented as a scale. The scale is important because Eysenck acknowledged that very few people are pure extroverts or pure introverts. Rather, most people fall somewhere in the middle, with some people being more extroverted and some people being more introverted. The other superordinate trait sets are neuroticism (also known as emotionality) and stability, and psychoticism and superego. Further studies have found that people who are more extroverted are more likely to participate in exercise programs, whereas fewer correlations were found between neuroticism-stability and psychoticism-superego superordinates and exercise.

Slide 8

Raymond Bernard Cattell proposed a different version of the personality trait theory that included 16 primary personality factors. Each factor was proposed as a scale, similar to the Eysenck theory, in which people’s personalities fall somewhere along the line of the scale. According to Cattell’s theory, people who experience higher levels of fitness also experience lower emotionality and tend to have more stable personalities. Additionally, lower levels of anxiety and emotionalism lead to favorable responses to physical training. This falls in line with what we have probably experienced as fitness professionals. People who exercise regularly have more stable emotions, and people with more stable emotions are more likely to exercise.

Slide 9

The five-factor model was proposed in the 1990s and remains the dominant personality model for fitness professionals today. The five-factor model retains some of the elements from the Eysenck and Cattell theories. The five-factor model proposed five personality traits, each of which represents a scale, much like those previous theories. You might recognize the first two factors, neuroticism and extraversion, which are the same as in the previous theories. The three new traits include openness to experience and intellect, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Openness to experience refers to someone’s ability to change their opinion based on new data. Agreeableness refers to a person’s compatibility with others. Conscientiousness refers to being determined and goal-oriented.

Slide 10

Researchers in the 1990s and early 2000s were able to find strong correlations between the extraversion-introversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness factors in exercise, but they found very little correlation between the openness to experience and agreeableness factors in exercise. Specifically, people with high levels of extraversion tend to exhibit moderate to strenuous exercise behavior, they tend to self-report their exercise, and they adapt and advance their exercise patterns. People who have high conscientiousness or low neuroticism exhibit many of the same characteristics.

Slide 11

Other personality theories have been used to describe exercise behavior patterns as well. In the 1970s, researchers proposed a masculine/feminine personality model, which doesn’t actually refer to men or women at all. The masculine personality is defined as “instrumental” and is characterized by traits such as independence and aggressiveness. The feminine personality is defined as “expressive” and is characterized by traits such as understanding and affection. In exercise, people with the masculine personality type usually avoid activities associated with feminine activity types, and vice versa.

Also, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) emerged, defined as a personality that is highly competitive, impatient, and hostile. Most of the studies on TABP have focused on the increased rate of cardiovascular disease in people with TABP, and aerobic exercise, in particular, has been shown to be highly effective in reducing the negative physical consequences of TABP.

Slide 12

Hardiness, or dispositional resilience, can be linked to greater levels of activity. People who have personality disorders feel a sense of control over events and see challenges and opportunities in hardship. People with personality hardiness, therefore tend to engage in more healthful behaviors. Self-motivation is another personality factor that has been studied to explain exercise behavior patterns, but more research is needed before any definitive conclusions can be made.

Slide 13

So, what can we do with all of our knowledge of personality theories? We learned that highly neurotic or emotional individuals are prone to less exercise. Encourage emotional individuals to begin a regular exercise program, but don’t push them too hard. Be sure to include some sort of aerobic activity. We’ve learned that aerobic activity, in particular, can help people stabilize their personalities and lead to lower emotionality.

Slide 14

Self-perceptions and exercise

Slide 15

Research has shown that people with positive self-perception are more likely to exercise regularly. As fitness professionals, part of our job includes fostering positive self-perception in our clients so that they will perform at their highest potential. Self-perception is a large concept that includes self-esteem, self-concept, and body image. Self-esteem is a broad term that encompasses all of the thoughts and feelings that someone has about themselves in all aspects of life. Self-concept refers to judgements we have about specific areas of our lives. Someone might have a positive self-concept of their ability to do math, but a negative self-concept of their ability to exercise. Body image is related to many of the physical aspects of self-concept, including feelings of being overweight or too short. Someone can have positive self-esteem, and generally positive self-concept in most areas of their life, but have a negative body image, all at the same time!

Slide 16

Self-concept has been classified into several domains, as you can see in the chart. An individual can hold a different self-concept for every domain you see here. Even within the physical domain, we see that separate self-concepts exist for physical ability and physical appearance. A model who stays thin through diet alone might have positive self-concept of their physical appearance, but negative self-concept of physical ability. Or an offensive lineman in the NFL might have a positive self-concept of his physical ability, but not his physical appearance.

Slide 17

People’s thoughts and feelings about their body image can be difficult to measure. However, in recent years researchers were able to define four areas of body image measurement: perceptual, cognitive, affective or emotional, and behavioral. Perceptual measures of body image attempt to correlate people’s self-assessment of their body image with actual measurable dimensions such as height, weight, or body mass. If someone thinks they are overweight, but their actual weight is below average, then the perceptual measure would indicate a negative body image perception. Cognitive measures seek to ask the individual how they feel about various aspects of their body image, usually through a survey. Cognitive measures are subjective and cannot be measured directly, unlike perceptual measures. Affective measures look for the feelings that the individual expresses about their body image. Feelings like shame, anxiety, and pride are all affective measures of body image. Finally, behavioral measures determine what a person DOES in regards to their body image. Does the individual wear baggy clothes to hide their belly, or tight tank tops to show off their muscles? Both are indicators of behavioral measures.

Slide 18

Interpersonal experiences, physical characteristics, psychological factors, sociocultural influences, behaviors, and physical changes can all lead to positive or negative body image perceptions.

Slide 19

Several disorders can arise when someone has an extremely negative perception of their body image. Anorexia and bulimia are typically associated with people who have a perception that they are overweight when they are not. Body dysmorphic disorder arises when an individual thinks they don’t have enough muscle, and obsessively work out to gain mass.

Slide 20

Earlier in this lesson we learned about the four ways body image can be measured. Let’s take a closer look at how you can apply these measurements to your practice. Using perceptual measurement, assess the accuracy of a person’s judgements about the physically measurable aspects of their body. Ask them how much they think they weigh, then weigh them. What was the result? Using cognitive measurement, asses an individual’s thoughts and feelings about their body shape. Do they generally speak negatively or positively about their body shape? Using the affective measurement technique, assess the individual’s feelings about their body image. What words does the person use to describe these feelings? Finally, using behavioral measurement, assess the frequency of behaviors that would indicate positive body image or negative body image.

Slide 21

Here we can see some example of body image measurement techniques at work. In the first graphic, you will see an example of perceptual measurement, where the individual thinks they have a BMI of 27.3, whereas their actual BMI is 25.3. In the second graphic, we can see an example of a survey that might be used in cognitive measurement.

Slide 22

We mentioned earlier that exercise is good for self-esteem. More specifically, exercise has a small but significant influence on general self-perception, and generally has significant effects on aspects of self-concept. Research has shown that as an individual’s physical self-concept improves, their global self-esteem is likely to improve as well.

Slide 23

To help us understand more specifically how exercise influences self-esteem, we can use a model like the one shown here. We start at the bottom with a concrete physical measurement, kilometers walked in 30 minutes. The individual in this case went from 1.25 kilometers walked in 30 minutes all the way up to 2.0 kilometers in 30 minutes. This first affects their physical self-efficacy, or the knowledge that they are capable of walking 2.0 kilometers in 30 minutes. Once their physical self-efficacy increases, they are able to increase their physical self-concept, which in turn increases their body image perception and their global self-esteem.

Slide 24

Improvements in self-esteem usually happen when an individual’s physical self-efficacy, competence, and acceptance increase. In the domain of fitness and exercise, this means that people will generally have greater self-esteem when they see results from exercise programs. Even if they haven’t met their target goals yet, witnessing progress in their own bodies provides individuals with increases in all of these areas.

Slide 25

The relationship between exercise and body image can be incredibly complex due to the fact that everyone has different self-perceptions of their body image and different responses to change. Research has not provided any firm conclusions about which exercises are best for improving body image, probably because it varies so much from person to person. The good news is that overall, exercise in any form HAS been shown to increase perceptions of body image across demographic populations.

Slide 26

Interestingly, the relationship between exercise and self-esteem goes both ways. When a person exercises regularly, their self-esteem improves, and people with greater self-esteem tend to exercise more regularly.

Slide 27

How can we use the information we have learned about the relationship between exercise and self-esteem? As fitness professionals, we should be mindful of how our clients’ perceptions change, and we should steer them towards positive self-esteem as much as possible. First, determine why your client is interested in exercise. They are likely to give an answer that is based on self-concept or body image. Then, conduct baseline health and fitness assessments at the start of a client’s exercise program. This data can be used as a point of comparison later, showing the individual exactly how far they have come. Ensure that your clients feel accomplished and in control of their fitness. Acknowledge their progress, and focus on their efforts and personal improvement.

Slide 28

Additional steps that we can take to help our clients improve their self-esteem and self-concept include providing opportunities for exercisers to obtain feedback on their progress and performance, as well as helping them learn to value physical activity and physical fitness.

Slide 29

Steps we can take to help individuals improve their body image include creating promotional materials featuring a wide range of body types and physical abilities, as well as designing programs that focus on improving strength and endurance rather than physical appearance.

Slide 30

Stress, stress reactivity, and exercise

Slide 31

In the final section of this lecture, we will explore how stress and stress reactivity influence exercise. Stress has been defined as “a state of disharmony, or threatened homeostasis.” What does that mean? Disharmony usually manifests as challenges from stressors, whether they are internal or external. Stressors can come from a variety of sources, but are usually categorized as biological (such as drugs, alcohol, or excessive food consumption), psychological (obsessiveness, perfectionism), or interpersonal. The second part of the definition is a bit more puzzling, but refers to any major changes in a person’s life, even positive ones. Negative stress is called distress, while positive stress (say, getting married) is called eustress.

Slide 32

Our bodies and minds are biologically pre-wired to handle stress through the General Adaptation Syndrome. The syndrome develops in three stages: arousal and alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. In the arousal and alarm stage, men are likely to exhibit “fight or flight”, whereas women are more likely to exhibit “tend or befriend”. In either case, these tendencies have been with us since ancient times to help us deal with the life and death situations that people frequently encountered. Today’s stressors tend to be less severe, but the biological responses we have in us are generally good at helping us deal with short-term stressors.

If a stressor persists beyond the initial arousal and alarm stage, we will tend to lapse into a resistance stage, characterized by strain, worry, and cynicism. If the stressor persists even further, we tend to fall even further into an exhaustion state, where we feel fatigue, anxiety, and depression.

Slide 33

The term stress response refers to people’s reactions to real or perceived stress. Specifically, when the brain senses a stress, it sends a signal to the amygdala, which sends another signal to the hypothalamus, which are subcortical brain structures. These brain structures send messages to the adrenal glands, which releases the hormones catecholamine and cortisol, initiating the fight or flight response, and preparing the body for the stressor.

Slide 34

Exercise has been found to produce many beneficial stress responses, without the detrimental stress responses that can harm one’s health. In addition, prolonged exposure to stress has been found to initiate adaptations and decreased sensitivity to stress. Researchers wanted to determine if exercise can be used as a substitute for stressors to help people develop stress response adaptations in a healthy way. The cross-stressor adaptation hypothesis was proposed by researchers to determine if exposure to one form of stress, such as exercise, would cause an adaptation of the stress response system for other forms of stress. As expected, they found that exercise training can develop cross-stressor tolerance. If someone becomes habituated to a stressor, their stress response is decreased when any stressor occurs. Practicing habituation to healthful stress, such as exercise, helps us to create adaptations for other stressors as well.

Slide 35

By now you might be asking if there is a way to measure stress. We can’t measure stress directly, but we can infer the psychological significance of events from corresponding physiological events. Think back to the last time you were truly scared, which was a psychological event. What happened in your body? Did your heart rate rise? Were your hands sweaty? Did your knees shake? These are all physiological responses to stress that could have been directly measured. The study of the relationship between psychological events and physiological responses is known as psychophysiology.

Slide 36

One way to measure stress is through self-evaluation using a survey like the one you see here called the Perceived Stress Scale. Surveys like this are very easy to administer, but are based on individuals’ perceptions of stress, and tend to be inaccurate for determining how exercise can affect stress. Cardiovascular measurement is by far the most popular physiological measurement used for indicating stress. Specifically, heart rate and blood pressure are examined most often. Hormones, specifically catecholamines and cortisol, can also be measured to help us indicate if someone is stressed.

Slide 37

Most research in the area of exercise and stress focuses on the cardiovascular response to stress. Unfortunately, researchers have not yet come to a consensus on how stress interacts with the cardiovascular system. Some researchers found that measurable stress indicators were reduced in people who exercise regularly. Other researchers found lower levels of stress indicators only immediately following an exercise routine. However, research does suggest that aerobic fitness may confer stress-buffering effects to psychosocial stressors, but not to physical stressors.

Slide 38

To conclude this lecture, we will examine the Physiological Toughness Model, which was developed in the late 1980’s, and helps us understand the relationship between exercise and stress. In short, the model proposes that regular, but not constant, stressors result in several physiological changes. Specifically, they increase catecholamine capacity in the central nervous system, they rapidly dissipate catecholamines after stressors leave, and they reduce cortisol levels. Since exercise can be a form of regular but not constant stress, we can conclude that exercise can lead to psychological coping and emotional stability.