The influence of close others’ exercise habits and perceived social support on exercise

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Abstract

Objectives

Exercise rates are low, but perceived support from close others can influence exercise habits. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of perceived support for exercise as well as close others’ exercise habits on own exercise, and to examine the differential effects of friend’s exercise and romantic partner’s exercise.

Design

Undergraduates (N = 220) at a northeastern university completed questionnaires on their own exercise habits, their romantic partner’s and best friend’s exercise habits, and perceived support for exercise.

Results

Friend’s exercise was associated with own exercise, but only when perceived support was high. Being male, partner’s exercise, and friend’s exercise all independently predicted own exercise.

Conclusions

Exercise habits of close others are associated with one’s own exercise habits, though this relationship may vary depending on perceived support. Attention should be paid to women’s exercise habits, since they are less likely to exercise than men.

Highlights

► We examined social support, close others’ exercise, and own exercise. ► We also examined the effects of friend’s versus romantic partner’s exercise. ► Friend’s exercise was associated with own exercise when perceived support was high. ► Exercise of close others and social support are associated with own exercise.

Section snippets

Participants

Undergraduates at a public northeastern university who were required to fulfill research participation requirements participated in the study. Since a focus of the study was to compare perceived exercise habits of friends and romantic partners, only participants in a romantic relationship were included (N = 220). Participants reported on the perceived exercise habits of their best friend and their romantic partner. Participants’ age ranged from 18 to 26 (M = 18.9), and gender was 56.4% female and

Results

Descriptive statistics and correlations between study variables for the sample are reported in Table 1. We tested for multicollinearity by examining variance inflation factors, none of which exceeded 4.0, indicating no problems with multicollinearity (Kleinbaum, Kupper, Muller, & Nizam, 1998). Independent samples t-tests examining gender differences for support for exercise and own, partner’s, and friend’s exercise were not statistically significant.

Results of the hierarchical regression are

Discussion

With exercise rates being low, it is important to examine predictors of exercise, such as perceived social support. Findings demonstrated that perceived exercise habits of both best friends and romantic partners are independently associated with one’s own exercise habits, when controlling for body weight. There are a few possible explanations for this association. First, friends and romantic partners may model exercise behavior. That is, people may exercise based on what they see their close

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