Sports participation and its effect on self-esteem and body image in college students

This study examined sports participation of males (n = 34) and females (n = 66) enrolled in undergraduate and graduate studies at a metropolitan university in the Northeastern United States, while exploring the effects of sports participation on their self-esteem and body image. Independent t-tests revealed that sports participation seemed to have little or no effect on an individual's self-esteem for either gender. As predicted, although women had a greater discrepancy between their actual and ideal body figure than males, sports participation showed no correlation for body satisfaction or dissatisfaction.