The Relationship Among Ego Orientation, Attitudes Toward Masculinity, and the Weight Loss Behaviors of High School Wrestlers

Abstract

LEARNING OUTCOME:To identify the potential influence of certain psychosocial factors on the weight loss behaviors of high school wrestlers. The purpose of this study was to test for associations among ego orientation, attitudes toward masculinity, and the weight loss behaviors of a purposive sample of high school wrestlers in western and central New York. With a response rate of 51%, 104 high school wrestlers answered a researcher developed questionnaire adapted from Duda and Nicholls (1992); Pleck, Sonenstein, and Ku (1993), and Steen and Brownell (1990). The questionnaire was administered by the primary author in the high school settings. Results indicated that the average subject began losing (“cutting”) weight at age 14 and underwent 5 weight cutting cycles during the competitive season. The average subject utilized fluid restriction once every two weeks and food restriction once per week in order to lose weight. Pearson's product moment correlations revealed that attitudes toward masculinity had a significant, positive relationship with lifetime weight loss, use of weight loss methods and both the frequency and extent of weight loss during the competitive season (p ≤ 0.05). Ego orientation was positively correlated with extent of weight loss during the season (p ≤ 0.05). These findings suggest that certain psychosocial factors linked to gender identity may influence the weight loss behaviors of high school wrestlers. This has implications for a newly emerging area of research on men's health, which may assist individuals involved in athletics and health care in identifying those wrestlers most likely to engage in unhealthy weight loss practices.