Exercising impressive impressions: the exercise stereotype in male targets

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the exercise stereotype and the non‐exerciser stereotype on male targets, and the moderating effects of impression motivation in 184 female and 73 male Swedish undergraduate students. The participants read a description of one of the following male targets: a typical exerciser, an active living target, an excessive exerciser, a non‐exerciser, or a control target, and then rated these targets on 12 personality (e.g. lazy–hard worker, dependent–independent) and eight physical (e.g. scrawny–muscular, sick–healthy) dimensions. They also completed the Impression Motivation scale of the Self‐Presentation in Exercise Questionnaire, measuring motivation to self‐present as an exerciser. MANCOVAs demonstrated a significant main effect for both personality and physical attributes ( P <0.05). Overall, the typical exerciser, the active living target, and the excessive targets received more positive ratings than, in particular the non‐exerciser target but also the control target. The non‐exerciser target was rated less favorably compared with the control target. The impression motivation of the participants moderated the exercise status/rating relationship for the physical but not the personality attributes. The results of the study are discussed in the context of gender and cultural aspects of the exercise stereotype phenomenon.