Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Visualization of Intensity Levels to Reduce the Gap Between Self-Reported and Directly Measured Physical Activity
Published on: March 7, 2019
The Effect of Men's Body Attitudes and Motivation for Gym Attendance
Kim M Caudwell1, David A Keatley
11Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine Research Group, School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia; and 2Forensic and Clinical Psychology Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Caudwell, KM and Keatley, DA. The effect of men's body attitudes and motivation for gym attendance. J Strength Cond Res 30(9): 2550-2556, 2016-The current study integrates men's body attitudes with implicitly and explicitly measured motivation to investigate the role of these factors in predicting gym attendance. Male participants (N = 99) who regularly attended a gym were recruited to participate in an online questionnaire. Participants completed implicit and explicit measures of motivation, explicitly measured men's body attitudes, and reported the average number of gym visits per week. Attitudes related to body fat and explicitly measured autonomous motivation significantly predicted typical gym attendance. Implicitly measured motivation significantly and negatively predicted gym attendance. Results indicate some support for a dual-systems account of gym attendance. Men's body attitudes and autonomous motivation influences gym attendance; however, implicitly measured motivation showed antagonistic effects. Although individuals may explicitly state their autonomous motivation for gym attendance, attendance may also be influenced at the explicit level. Health and fitness professionals may improve gym attendance by focusing on people's reasons for attending a gym, facilitating autonomous motivation in clients, and minimizing the influence of controlled reasons for exercise.
Related Concept Videos
Exercise and Muscle Performance
Endurance exercises
Endurance exercises involve running, swimming, or cycling, which require repetitive movements with low force output. When a person engages in endurance exercise, a few noticeable changes occur in their skeletal muscles. For instance, the number of capillaries...
Factors Influencing Attraction II: Physical Attraction
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Relationship Formation
Factors Affecting Body Temperature
Factors may include:
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...

