The Role of Physical Activity in Attentional Bias to Body Pictures and Body Image Dissatisfaction in Women

Attentional biases are thought to contribute to body image dissatisfaction and due to the role of sports facilitation on health, the aim of this research was to study the role of physical activity in attentional bias to body pictures and body image dissatisfaction in women. The research was causal-comparative and correlational. In 130 participants who had participated in sports (n=65) and no participated in sport (n=65) that were homogenized with active group, attentional bias and body image dissatisfaction were investigated. Dot-probe task was used for attentional bias and multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire was used for body image dissatisfaction. Pearson test was used to examine the correlation between attentional bias and body image dissatisfaction. To evaluate the role of physical activity and compare these variables in two groups, independent t-test was used. The results showed a significant relationship between attentional bias and body image dissatisfaction and there was a significant difference between the two groups in these variables that non-active group showed significant high body image dissatisfaction. There was better assessment of body and more positive image of the body limbs in the active group. It seems that unrealistic measurement of beauty and fitness and the expectations of individuals' body itself and others might be changed with appropriate sports and physical activity.