A Sociological Analysis of Factors Affecting the Tendency of Youth to Manage the Body (Case study: 16-18 youth in Isfahan)

Today, body management and the variables influencing it tend to be one of the most important topics in sociology. The body is not merely a biological and psychological aspect, but rather is a socially constructed phenomenon. The body should be regarded as a pivot that makes it possible for humans to understand the world. It is through the body that the individual assumes the essence of his or her existence according to social and cultural conditions, age, gender, and personality. The development of nutrition, health and sports technologies along with independence of operation, intense consumerism, the importance of youth and the growing interest in young and beautiful bodies have greatly been influenced by the popular culture of new media. These issues have made body a central theme in the social and cultural studies of contemporary society. Media in advertising and virtual space with a variety of advertising patterns, especially in sports clubs, instill a need for beauty and fitness among their target audience, mainly teenagers and young adults.

The research method was descriptive-analytical and in terms of its purpose, it was pragmatic. It was implemented by field method. The statistical population of the study was girls and boys aged 16-18 years in Isfahan who participated in 470 public and private clubs active in the field of bodybuilding and aerobics in the first six months of 2018. Due to the lack of accurate statistics of their numbers, based on Kerjesi and Morgan's table for an unknown society, 384 individuals were selected as the research sample by the available sampling method. The research measurement tool consisted of a researcher-made questionnaire whose surface and content validity, after consultation with professors and experts, were verified by a careful examination of its texts and research literature (n = 10 persons). Its reliability was also calculated by Cronbach’s alpha (0.86). Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, and second-order confirmatory factor analysis) were used to analyze the data.

Studies show that in today's business community, in most cases, the value given to a person's appearance is greater than the value given to his personality, character, and behavior. Therefore, many young people nurture their body to be exposed to fashion in order to attract attentions because they believe that the body's appearance (being muscular and handsome) is one of the most important factors in making relationships and drawing attentions. Therefore, by raising awareness and insight in the society, especially among the youth, it is necessary to internalize the value of each person in addition to the facial aspects of body and fitness and physical strength in his dignity, modesty, and modes of behavior and character in communicating with others. Therefore, reducing various facets of a person's character to a mere aesthetic beauty cannot be an absolute value. The results showed that the most important factors affecting youth tendency to body management were, respectively, youth culture (0.84), social acceptance and peer group (0.81), satellite and media advertising (0.79), reference groups (0.72), body dissatisfaction (0.71), economic factors (0.62), and cultural capital (0.41). In this regard, it is suggested that sports managers and executives, especially leisure-time sports, be provided with training sessions for coaches and managers of sports clubs in the Ministry of Education, sports federations and subsidiaries such as sports clubs, universities and private sports clubs in order to explain the philosophy and principles of fitness and leisure activities. Moreover, by formulating laws and regulations along with by-laws required to suit the circumstances of society for bodybuilding centers and sports clubs, they elaborate a code of ethics in the field of bodybuilding and take regulatory actions and effective measures in this regard. They also describe the negative effects and consequences of youth make up in the mass media, especially television.