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research-article2015
HPQ0010.1177/1359105315592051Journal of Health PsychologyCiccolo et al.
Article
Abstract
Muscular strength is a well-known predictor of morbidity and mortality. Similarly, self-esteem is a predictor
of health and well-being. The relationship between these two variables, however, is currently unknown. This
study examined the cross-sectional relationship between maximal muscular strength (i.e. handgrip and one-
repetition-maximum (1-RM) squat) and global self-esteem in 126 college students. Significant correlations
were found between both measures of muscular strength and self-esteem. Further analyses revealed that
these relationships were only significant for men. Based on these results, additional research is needed to
further explore the relationship between muscular strength and self-esteem, especially in other demographic
groups and longitudinally.
Keywords
college students, mens health, muscular strength, resistance exercise, self-esteem
Introduction
Resistance training (i.e. strength training or weight for mortality, including hypertension (Maslow
training) has grown substantially in popularity etal., 2010), cancer (Ruiz etal., 2009), metabolic
over the past decade (Blackwell etal., 2014). syndrome (Jurca etal., 2005), weight gain (Mason
When done consistently, an individual can experi- etal., 2007), obesity (Jackson etal., 2010), and the
ence increased muscle strength, speed, size, risk for developing a major mobility disability
power, endurance, and coordination (Ratamess
etal., 2009). These positive effects, in turn, are
1Teachers College Columbia University, USA
associated with improved physical health. For
2The Miriam Hospital, USA
example, muscular strength is inversely and inde- 3Brown University, USA
pendently associated with mortality (Zhao etal., 4The University of Texas at Austin, USA
2014), even after adjusting for cardiorespiratory
fitness and other potential confounders (e.g. low Corresponding author:
Joseph T Ciccolo, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences,
muscle mass; Ruiz etal., 2008). The mechanism Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th
for the health benefit likely lies with the impact of St., Box 199, New York, NY 10027, USA.
muscular strength on a number of specific risks Email: ciccolo@tc.columbia.edu
(Hicks etal., 2012). An area much less studied, etal., 2014) or physical self-perception (Moore
however, is the association between muscular etal., 2011), the research on exercise and self-
strength and psychological health. esteem is mixed. There are some studies showing
Early research investigating muscular no relationship between the two variables (Hubbs
strength in male college students identified a etal., 2012), while others have found significant
positive relationship between muscular strength associations in both or one gender (Molina-
and body satisfaction, and muscular strength Garca etal., 2011). Despite these equivocal
and certain personality traits (e.g. extraversion; results, it has been argued that participation in
Tucker, 1984). Other work has shown muscular exercise may have its greatest potential psycho-
strength to be inversely correlated with at-risk logical benefit for the enhancement of self-esteem
personality traits (e.g. high neuroticism) in both (Folkins and Sime, 1981). This stands in contrast
men and women (Tolea etal., 2012). A 2005 to the previously mentioned 2005 meta-analysis,
meta-analysis indirectly examined muscular which found a change in physical fitness to be a
strength by exploring the relationship between moderator of the relationship between exercise
exercise and self-esteem. Physical fitness, oper- and self-esteem (Spence etal., 2005).
ationalized as a construct having components of Overall, the current literature suggests that
physical health (e.g. muscular strength) and per- there may be an independent relationship
formance (e.g. agility), was determined to be a between muscular strength and psychological
moderator of the effect of exercise on global health, or more specifically, self-esteem. To
self-esteem (Spence etal., 2005). As such, there date, there has yet to be a published study
is evidence to suggest that a relationship between detailing any association between these two
muscular strength and self-esteem exists, factors. As such, the purpose of this study was
although we are unaware of any study that has to investigate the association between maximal
examined this specific relationship. muscular strength and global self-esteem in a
Self-esteem, an individuals overall evalua- convenience sample of college men and women.
tion of his or her self-worth or personal value, is It was hypothesized that individuals with
regularly associated with a number of important greater levels of muscular strength would report
mental health-related outcomes (Fox, 2000). higher global self-esteem.
Individuals high in self-esteem tend to experi-
ence less depression and hopelessness, greater
positive affect (Crocker etal., 1994), and greater Methods
levels of perceived autonomy (Marmot, 2003). Participants
Low self-esteem in adolescence and young
adulthood can be especially problematic, as it is Participants were 95 men and 31 women aged
related to a more negative trajectory of mental 1831years. All were graduate or undergradu-
health over time, including greater likelihood of ate students enrolled in a one-credit introduc-
experiencing depression, depression symptoms, tion to weight training physical education class
and suicide ideation (Lee etal., 2014; Rawana at a large university in the southwestern United
and Morgan, 2014; Steiger etal., 2014). States.
It may be that self-esteem varies with changes
in physical self-perception. Among male and
Measures
female college students, self-esteem has repeat-
edly been shown to be associated with aspects of Demographic questionnaire.The demographic
physical appearance; for example, body satisfac- questionnaire assessed gender, age, ethnicity,
tion (Sira and Pawlak, 2010). While there is and year/grade level at the university.
ample support connecting exercise and psycho-
logical constructs that are closely related to self- Self-esteem.The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
esteem, such as physical self-concept (Babic (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to measure
self-esteem. This 10-item scale measures global into a position where the line from the center of
self-esteem (e.g. I feel that I have a number of the hip joint to the center of the knee was paral-
good qualities) on a 4-point scale ranging from lel to the floor, and returning to standing. Each
strongly agree to strongly disagree. There participant performed a warm-up set of eight
are five reverse coded items, and scores can repetitions using a resistance that was approxi-
range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating mately 50percent of his or her perceived maxi-
a greater level of self-esteem. The scale is known mum. Subsequent lifts were 13 repetitions of
to be reliable and valid in college student popu- progressively heavier weight until the partici-
lations (Sinclair etal., 2010). pant could only successfully complete one rep-
etition (i.e. the 1-RM), which was within five
Body mass index.Standard procedures were trials. A 35minutes of rest period was provided
used to measure height and body weight. Par- between each attempt.
ticipants removed their shoes and height was
measured with a stadiometer. Body weight was
measured using a calibrated electronic scale. Procedures
Body mass index (BMI) was then calculated as A cross-sectional design was used for this study.
weight (kg)/height2 (m). Participants were recruited during their regu-
larly scheduled physical education class by a
Body fat. Body fat was measured using a dual researcher. Participation in this study was one of
hand-held multi-frequency bioelectrical imped- several activities students could use to make up
ance analysis (BIA) device (Omron BF 300; a class absence and receive class credit. All of
Omron Matsusaka Co., Ltd., Matsusaka, Japan). the data were collected during a single session.
Measurements were taken in accordance with Participants first filled out the questionnaires
the manufacturers recommended guidelines. and then completed the physical assessments.
This method has been shown to be a reliable The study protocol was approved by the
and valid indicator of body fat in similar Universitys Institutional Review Board.
research (Lintsi etal., 2004).
For example, media outlets have continued to that muscular strength is particularly important
use men who are more muscular, idealizing for men engaged in resistance training, as it
the perfect physique (Olivardia etal., may be a reminder of their personal success or
2004). Moreover, the medias portrayal of the failure with resistance training and ultimately
ideal female physique has changed over time influence their self-esteem.
to resemble a figure that is very lean. This is Finally, it is possible that self-esteem influ-
dramatically different than the muscular fig- enced muscular strength in this study.
ure pursued by men (Olivardia etal., 2004). Specifically, those with low self-esteem might
As a consequence, attaining greater levels of have performed poorly on the maximal hand-
muscularity and physical strength may be grip or 1-RM squat, in part or wholly because
particularly important for college men, but they have low self-esteem. Research has
not women. shown that those with low self-esteem are
Other research supports the idea that physi- harder to motivate (Lachowicz-Tabaczek and
cal strength is valued by men (McCreary etal., nieciska, 2014) and perform worse on tests
2005) and is routinely associated with being that occur in public (Baumeister etal., 2003).
masculine (Grogan and Richards, 2002). For Given that there were no significant differ-
example, it has been suggested that for some ences in self-esteem between the men and
men, the purpose of being muscular is to pub- women, however, this is the least likely expla-
licly convey increased strength, power, and nation, as it would not explain why muscular
manliness (Olivardia, 2001). Given that all of strength was significantly associated with self-
the participants in this study were enrolled in a esteem in men only.
weight training physical education course, it is Going forward, additional research will be
likely that they all valued muscular strength to needed to further explore the findings of this
some degree; however, the magnitude to which study and build on its limitations. For example,
it was connected to their self-esteem or other there were 31 women in this study, and it may
feelings of self-acceptance, self-worth, and have been underpowered to detect a meaningful
self-respect appears to have been different for relationship between muscular strength and
men and women. Given the association between self-esteem. Moreover, this may be a unique
self-esteem and other mental health outcomes, population of college students, as all of the par-
it may be prudent for practitioners or coaches to ticipants in this study were interested in being
monitor self-esteem levels when working with physically active and enrolled in a weight lift-
young men in this type of environment (e.g. a ing class. Thus, it will be important to deter-
weight training setting). mine whether the relationship (including gender
Another plausible explanation is that the differences) between muscular strength and
men in this study, who likely valued being self-esteem exists in other populations (e.g.
physically strong, experienced and perceived a middle-aged adults and physically inactive men
recent change in their muscular strength. If so, and women). Other research testing different
this could have positively influenced their self- measures of muscular strength (e.g. 1-RM chest
esteem, as self-esteem is known to fluctuate in press) and self-esteem (e.g. contingent self-
response to experiences of success and failure esteem) will also be required. Finally, longitu-
(Crocker and Wolfe, 2001). More specifically, dinal research measuring changes in muscular
the self-esteem scores could have been more strength and self-esteem, as well as other related
reflective of contingent self-esteem. Contingent factors (e.g. motivation), are now warranted.
self-esteem can be defined as the extent to
which an individuals self evaluation is depend- Funding
ent upon a self-imposed criterion or event This research received no specific grant from any
(Crocker and Park, 2004; Crocker and Wolfe, funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-
2001). As such, the results of this study suggest profit sectors.
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