Physical Fitness and Social Factors Case of Women in Isfahan

Paying much attention to one's appearance and body is one of the major consequences of today's consumer society which has manifested itself in going on diets, body building, and losing weight. The present article aims to study the factors that affect this tendency among women residing in Isfahan. To do this, 340 women aged 20-42 were selected using a stratified sampling technique. Bourdieu's and Goffman's ideas along with those of Giddens and exchange theory were used to construct a theoretical framework that associated certain variables to tendency toward physical fitness. The findings showed that the mean for tendency toward physical fitness was 43.2 (expected mean was 33). The results also showed that a woman's perceptions of men's views regarding women's shapes, wanting to be liked by others, and usage of mass media were positively associated with tendency toward physical fitness. The association between satisfaction with one's body and tendency toward physical fitness was reverse. No association was found between age, and socio-economic status and tendency toward physical fitness. Regression analysis indicated that three independent variables (women's perceptions of men's views, wanting to be liked, and spouse's education) together could explain 24 percent of the variance of the dependent variable