The Effect of Sport Attire on Athletic Performance in Aesthetic and Endurance Sports: An Exploratory Study

Date of Award

5-2015

Document Type

Undergraduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Jamie Shapiro

Second Advisor

Jessica Dale

Keywords

Sport attire, Female student-athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to better understand how various sport attire (athletes’ clothing and uniform) influences the thought processes and feelings experienced by athletes. Eight female student-athletes from a large Division I university and two Division II universities representing the aesthetic and endurance sports of swimming, gymnastics, and dance participated in this study. Researchers conducted a phenomenological study in which they collected relevant experiential data from each participant using a semi-structured interview guide to assist them through the video conferencing interview process. Results of the study provided evidence that the revealing nature of athletes’ sport attire and external pressures, such as coaches, influence their level of body (dis)satisfaction. Future research should evaluate coaches’ roles as sources of external pressure. In order to better understand this, future research should evaluate coaches’ knowledge of the unhealthy risk factors that accompany athlete’s low levels of body satisfaction. The current study allowed for researchers to gain a better understanding of how female athletes perceive, think, and feel about their own bodies when wearing different levels of revealing sport attire.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Extent

42 pages

This document is currently not available here.



Share

COinS