Abstract
The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the explanatory mechanism of the drive for muscularity on the relations between frustrated basic needs and diverse indicators of muscle dysmorphia. To achieve this purpose, in the first place, as a pilot study needed to pursue the hypotheses of the main study, Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale was adapted to Turkish and its psychometric properties were examined. In the main study, data were collected from 245 men with a mean age of 22.73 (SD = 3.86), who were engaged in regular bodybuilding activities. After the adaptation of Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale, the indirect predictive effects of frustrated basic needs on muscle dysmorphia symptoms through the drive for muscularity were examined via two structural equation models. Also, the moderating role of the drive for muscularity in the associations between each of the frustrated needs and muscle dysmorphia symptoms was tested via another structural equation model. Results revealed that (1) both the composite score of frustrated basic needs and frustrated relatedness are indirect predictors of all muscle dysmorphia symptoms through drive for muscularity and (2) drive for muscularity has a moderating role only in the relation between frustrated relatedness and muscle dissatisfaction (i.e., an indicator of muscle dysmorphia). These findings did not only support the assumptions of Self Determination Theory (SDT) indicating the link between frustrated needs and ill-being situations but also provided preliminary evidence for a new direction of SDT studies.
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Notes
Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS; Mayville et al. 2002), which is the other scale needed to test the hypotheses of the current study, was adapted to Turkish in the main study rather than the pilot study, since its items are more appropriate for a bodybuilder sample rather than a normal sample.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: The factors and factor loadings of the Turkish version of BSNSFS
Factors | Factor loadings |
|---|---|
Autonomy Satisfaction (Cronbach’s α = .82) | |
1. I feel a sense of choice and freedom in the things I undertake. | .63 |
7. I feel that my decisions reflect what I really want. | .81 |
13. I feel my choices express who I really am. | .81 |
19. I feel I have been doing what really interests me | .71 |
Autonomy frustration (Cronbach’s α = .79) | |
2. Most of the things I do feel like “I have to.” | .65 |
8. I feel forced to do many things I wouldn’t choose to do. | .69 |
14. I feel pressured to do too many things. | .59 |
20. My daily activities feel like a chain of obligations. | .65 |
Competence satisfaction (Cronbach’s α = .75) | |
5. I feel confident that I can do things well. | .83 |
11. I feel capable at what I do. | .80 |
17. I feel competent to achieve my goals. | .74 |
23. I feel I can successfully complete difficult tasks. | .83 |
Competence frustration (Cronbach’s α = .79) | |
6. I have serious doubts about whether I can do things well. | .80 |
12. I feel disappointed with many of my performances. | .77 |
18. I feel insecure about my abilities | .74 |
24. I feel like a failure because of the mistakes I make. | .71 |
Relatedness satisfaction (Cronbach’s α = .88) | |
3. I feel that the people I care about also care about me. | .64 |
9. I feel connected with people who care for me, and for whom I care. | .67 |
15. I feel close and connected with other people who are important to me. | .69 |
21. I experience a warm feeling with the people I spend time with. | .64 |
Relatedness frustration (Cronbach’s α = .84) | |
4. I feel excluded from the group I want to belong to. | .64 |
10. I feel that people who are important to me are cold and distant towards me. | .71 |
16. I have the impression that people I spend time with dislike me. | .70 |
22. I feel the relationships I have are just superficial. | .72 |
Appendix 2: The factors and factor loadings of the Turkish version of MASS
Factors | Factor loadings |
|---|---|
Bodybuilding dependence (Cronbach’s α = .72) | |
2. If my schedule forces me to miss a day of working out with weights, I feel very upset | .47 |
7. I often feel like I am addicted to working out with weights | .58 |
8. If I have a bad workout, it is likely to have a negative effect on the rest of my day | .51 |
12. I spend more time in the gym working out than most others who work out | .57 |
15. My self-worth is very focused on how my muscles look | .64 |
Muscle checking (Cronbach’s α = .73) | |
3. I often ask friends and/or relatives if I look big | .47 |
11. I often spend a lot of time looking at my muscles in the mirror | .68 |
18. I often seek reassurance from others that my muscles are big enough | .61 |
19. I often find it difficult to resist checking the size of my muscles | .65 |
Substance use (Cronbach’s α = .68) | |
5. I often spend money on muscle-building supplements | .56 |
6. It is OK to use steroids to add muscle mass | .24 |
9. I would try anything to get my muscles to grow | .64 |
17. I must get bigger muscles by any means necessary | .89 |
Injury (Cronbach’s α = .63) | |
10. I often keep working out even when my muscles or joints are sore from previous workouts | .41 |
13. To get big, one must be able to ignore a lot of pain | .79 |
16. I often ignore a lot of physical pain while I am lifting to get bigger | .66 |
Muscle dissatisfaction (Cronbach’s α = .73) | |
1. When I look at my muscles in the mirror, I often feel satisfied with my current muscle sizea | .88 |
4. I am satisfied with the size of my musclesa | .83 |
14. I am satisfied with my muscle tone/definitiona | .39 |
Appendix 3: Mean differences among the levels of demographic variables in terms of the study variables
Variables | N | Need frustration | Autonomy frustration | Relatedness frustration | Competence frustration | Drive for muscularity | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | ||
Relationship status | − 2.20* | – | − 1.63 | – | − 1.53 | – | − 2.21* | – | − .97 | – | |||||||||||
In a relationship | 121 | 2.13 | .62 | 2.59 | .85 | 1.81 | .67 | 1.97 | .78 | 3.38 | .91 | ||||||||||
Not in a relationship | 124 | 2.31 | .69 | 2.78 | .96 | 1.95 | .76 | 2.20 | .82 | 3.49 | .82 | ||||||||||
Body mass index category | – | .97 | – | 1.29 | – | .74 | – | .91 | – | 2.03 | |||||||||||
Underweight | 3 | 2.50 | .72 | 3.17 | 1.01 | 2.33 | 1.15 | 2.00 | .38 | 4.24 | .62 | ||||||||||
Normal weight | 158 | 2.26 | .65 | 2.76 | .88 | 1.89 | .69 | 2.15 | .07 | 3.39 | .82 | ||||||||||
Overweight | 76 | 2.13 | .68 | 2.55 | .96 | 1.88 | .76 | 1.96 | .09 | 3.53 | .96 | ||||||||||
Obese | 8 | 2.22 | .73 | 2.47 | .99 | 1.63 | .65 | 2.13 | .30 | 2.99 | .77 | ||||||||||
Perceived income level | – | 2.20 | – | 1.24 | – | .26 | – | 4.15* | – | .25 | |||||||||||
Low | 30 | 2.42 | .83 | 2.93 | 1.12 | 1.93 | .83 | 2.41a | .95 | 3.42 | .86 | ||||||||||
Middle | 189 | 2.21 | .64 | 2.67 | .87 | 1.89 | .71 | 2.07ab | .78 | 3.45 | .87 | ||||||||||
High | 26 | 2.06 | .60 | 2.59 | .93 | 1.80 | .63 | 1.80b | .78 | 3.32 | .90 | ||||||||||
Working status | − 1.34 | – | − .99 | – | − .37 | – | − 1.85 | – | − .54 | – | |||||||||||
Working | 71 | 2.13 | .61 | 2.60 | .99 | 1.86 | .66 | 1.94 | .77 | 3.39 | .89 | ||||||||||
Not working | 174 | 2.26 | .68 | 2.73 | .88 | 1.89 | .74 | 2.15 | .82 | 3.45 | .86 | ||||||||||
History of psychological disorders | 1.60 | – | 2.49* | – | .58 | – | .63 | – | − .86 | – | |||||||||||
Yes | 19 | 2.45 | .75 | 3.18 | 1.03 | 1.97 | .87 | 2.20 | .84 | 3.27 | 1.10 | ||||||||||
No | 226 | 2.20 | .65 | 2.65 | .89 | 1.88 | .70 | 2.08 | .81 | 3.45 | .85 | ||||||||||
Variables | N | Bodybuilding dependence | Muscle checking | Injury | Substance use | Muscle dissatisfaction | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | m | sd | t | F | ||
Relationship status | − 1.42 | – | − .93 | – | − 1.31 | – | − .47 | – | − 1.14 | – | |||||||||||
In a relationship | 121 | 2.75 | .85 | 2.17 | .80 | 3.26 | .97 | 1.98 | .81 | 2.53 | .79 | ||||||||||
Not in a relationship | 124 | 2.89 | .79 | 2.27 | .85 | 3.42 | .91 | 2.03 | .82 | 2.65 | .80 | ||||||||||
Body mass index category | – | 2.22 | – | .38 | – | 1.34 | – | 1.02 | – | 1.03 | |||||||||||
Underweight | 3 | 2.87 | .23 | 2.56 | 1.39 | 3.78 | .51 | 2.58 | .63 | 3.22 | 1.58 | ||||||||||
Normal weight | 158 | 2.74 | .81 | 2.19 | .78 | 3.27 | .94 | 1.98 | .75 | 2.58 | .76 | ||||||||||
Overweight | 76 | 3.02 | .86 | 2.24 | .86 | 3.43 | .95 | 2.07 | .94 | 2.55 | .84 | ||||||||||
Obese | 8 | 2.65 | .74 | 2.42 | 1.31 | 3.79 | .83 | 1.72 | .73 | 2.88 | .87 | ||||||||||
Perceived income level | – | .67 | – | 1.07 | – | .09 | – | .00 | – | 2.09 | |||||||||||
Low | 30 | 2.97 | .88 | 2.10 | .98 | 3.34 | 1.02 | 2.02 | .95 | 2.33 | .79 | ||||||||||
Middle | 189 | 2.81 | .81 | 2.26 | .80 | 3.35 | .91 | 2.00 | .79 | 2.61 | .79 | ||||||||||
High | 26 | 2.73 | .87 | 2.05 | .81 | 3.27 | 1.10 | 2.01 | .83 | 2.74 | .82 | ||||||||||
Working status | − .91 | – | − 1.38 | – | − .59 | – | .31 | – | .52 | – | |||||||||||
Working | 71 | 2.75 | .84 | 2.10 | .77 | 3.29 | .96 | 2.03 | .83 | 2.63 | .79 | ||||||||||
Not working | 174 | 2.86 | .82 | 2.26 | .85 | 3.36 | .94 | 2.00 | .81 | 2.57 | .80 | ||||||||||
History of psychological disorders | − 1.00 | – | − 1.58 | – | − .21 | – | − 1.14 | – | 1.15 | – | |||||||||||
Yes | 19 | 2.34 | 1.02 | 1.93 | .81 | 3.30 | 1.11 | 1.80 | .54 | 2.79 | .94 | ||||||||||
No | 226 | 2.84 | .81 | 2.24 | .83 | 3.35 | .93 | 2.02 | .83 | 2.57 | .79 | ||||||||||
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Selvi, K., Bozo, Ö. The dark side of bodybuilding: the role of bodybuilding activities in compensation of frustrated basic psychological needs. Motiv Emot 44, 190–208 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09805-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09805-6