A Comparison of Quality of Life and Body Image of Female Yoga Practitioners and Novices Aged 25 to 45 in the City of Tehran

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Vol-7, Special Issue-Number4-June, 2016, pp1010-1017 http://www.bipublication.com

Research Article

A Comparison of Quality of Life and Body Image of Female Yoga Practitioners

and Novices Aged 25 to 45 in the City of Tehran

Sara Alsadat Pourrahmat1 and Shilan Sheikh Aghaei2

1_{MSc Sociology of Sport; Science and Research Branchof Tehran,} Islamic Azad University, Iran

2_{MSc Sport management; Eslamshahr Branch,}

Islamic Azad University, Iran

ABSTRACT

The aim of present study is to compare the quality of life and body image of female yoga practitioners and novices. This study was done through descriptive comparative survey in which data was collected through survey and field work. The study population included all female yoga practitioners and non-athletes aged 25 to 45 in the city of Tehran. 120 female yoga practitioners and 120 non-athletes living in districts 2 and 18 were randomly chosen to be the sample population. To measure participants’ body image and quality of life, body-self relations and standard Sf36 questionnaires were used respectively. Both face and content validity of questionnaires were confirmed by the judgment of 6 experts and professors. Reliability of the questionnaires used for body image and quality of life, as measured by Cronbach’s alpha using SPSS 21.0, were 0.87 and 0.92 respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics (i.e. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test) in SPSS 21.0 were used to analyze data. The findings of the comparison of quality of life between female yoga practitioners and non-athletes showed a meaningful contrast (t=20.327, p=0.001). There was also a meaningful contrast between body image of women who practiced yoga and those who did not (t=2/278, p=0.021). Based on this significant effect of yoga on quality of life and body image, regular practice of yoga is recommended to men and women.

Keywords: quality of life, body image, yoga

INTRODUCTION

Attitude toward life has changed dramatically and people strive to improve different aspects of their life. This has captured the attention of experts in welfare organizations and social institutions as well as scientists and researchers in social sciences, psychological well-being, medicine, and physical education (Ramezaninezhad et al, 2010). Quality of life refers to general well-being of individuals, people living in their vicinity and the conditions determined by society. It also includes individuals’ natural reaction to their environment. Quality of life is also defined as the perception of an individual or a group on how their needs are met and their opportunities to realize their goals

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at a personal scale. One of these activities is participating in common leisure time and athletic activities. Thus, they gain mental and physical health benefits from such activities and improve the quality of their life (VaezMousavi, 2007). A study by Mac Aulay and Morris (2007) showed that physical activity is a behavioral pattern which is constantly in direct relationship with quality of life and another study by Ramezaninezhad (2010) that compared quality of life in participants and non-participants in public sports showed a significant difference between the two groups. In other words, quality of life, subscales of physical well-being, job satisfaction, social interactions and creative and innovative behavior in participants in public sports was better. However, body image is one of crucial personality variables. Body image as a mental concept is defined by physical appearance which could be either positive or negative (Brudzynski&Ebben, 2010). Sundes (2009) states that body image is conceptualized based on a multifaceted structure. In fact, body image is a complicated concept which includes biological, psychological, internal and external social factors (quoted by Alipour, 2009). According to Smith (2004) every individual has a particular perception of them body which is the main constituent of their personality. This image comprises all the impressions a person has about themselves and others. Studies carried out in Germany indicated that 50 to 88 per cent of teenage girls have a negative impression of shape and size of their bodies; women also think more about the shape of their bodies compared to men. Related studies show that teenagers in particular dissatisfied with their body image (Huebscher, 2010). The number of studies which investigate this issue in teenagers is relatively low. Recent meta-analytic review of 57 studies revealed that physical exercise enhances body image (Goldfield et al, 2012). Body image can affect the level of participation in physical exercises since it can act as a motivating factor or a barrier (Brudzynski and ebben, 2010). In their study, Abbot and Barber (2011) compared body image in sedentary girls

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meaningful contrast between quality of life and body image among female yoga practitioners and non-athletes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study was done through descriptive comparative survey in which data was collected through survey and field work. Research population consisted of all female yoga practitioners and non-athletes aged 25-45 living different districts of Tehran. Using descriptive survey, 120 women who practiced yoga and 120 female non-athletes from district 2 and 18 were chosen randomly as the sample population. Sample population was divided into groups based a preliminary question. Based on this criterion, women who had practiced yoga regularly for more 5 years were classified as athletes and those who practiced less than this period of time or did not practiced at all were classified as non-athletes. The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire was used to measure body image. MBRSQ is a 46-item self-report scale which was devised by Cash et al (1987) in 1986 and 1987 to measure body image. The subscales of this questionnaire include 1) appearance evaluation 2) appearance orientation 3) fitness evaluation and 4) ftness orientation. The overall score collected using the 35-item MBRSQ , which ranges from 35 to 230 determines the body image. The items of the questionnaire were developed using 5-point

Likert scale, with 1 being “completely agree” and 5 “completely disagree”.

Standard “SF36” questionnaire was administered to measure quality of life. Ware &Sherbourne created SF36 or Short Form Health Survey in the U.S in 1992 and its validity and reliability were analyzed for variety of patients. This questions has 36 items which measure 8 different aspects of health, namely general health, physical functioning, limitations of usual role activities due to physical problems, limitations of role activities due to emotional issues, pain, social functioning, fatigue and energy and mental health. The lowest score in the question is 0 and the highest is 100. face and content validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by the judgment of 6 professors as well as supervisor of the research. Reliability of the questionnaires measured by Cronbach’s alpha for body image and quality of life were 0.87 and 0.92 respectively. To analyze data inferentially and test the hypothesis of present research, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS 21.0 were deployed.

Findings of the research

Before doing statistical tests and because of having presumption about using or not suing parametric statistical test, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. Therefore, variable used in this research was analyzed and the results of analysis can be seen in table 1.

Table1 – Statistics of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test to determine the normal distribution of data

No. Criteria of questionnaire Items

z sig distribution

1 Appearance evaluation 0.001 2.467 non-normal

2 Appearance orientation non-normal

3. Fitness evaluation non-normal

4. Fitness orientation non-normal

5. Body image normal

1. Physical functioning non-normal

2. Limitations of usual role activities due to physical problems non-normal

3. Limitations of role activities due to emotional issues non-normal

4. Fatigue and energy non-normal

5. Emotional health non-normal

6. Social functioning non-normal

7. pain non-normal

8. General health non-normal

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Findings of this study on the difference between quality of life of female yoga practitioners and non-athletes using independent t-test showed that there is a significant contrast between the quality of life of the two groups (t=2.327, p=0.001). In this hypothesis testing, Levene’s Test was used for testing assumptions of equality or inequality of variances since the assumption is that the equality of variances is the insignificance factor of the test (table 2)

Table 2. Findings of t-test which indicate the difference in quality of life in female yoga practitioners and non-athletes Dependent

Variance Group

Number of

participants Mean

Standard

deviation Levene’s Test t-test

Quality of life

Female yoga

practitioners 120 83.70 5.18 F

level of

significance t

Degree of freedom

Level of significance

Female

Non-athletes 120 69.81 8.81 1.45 0.234 2.327 238 0.001

The results of independent t-test about the difference of body image among female yoga practitioners and female non-athletes also showed a meaningful contrast in body image perceived by both groups (t=2.278 , p= 0.021). In this hypothesis testing, Levene’s Test was used for testing assumptions of equality or inequality of variances since the assumption is that the equality of variances is the insignificance factor of the test (table 3).

Table 3.Findings of t-test which indicate the difference in body image among female yoga practitioners and non-athletes

Dependent

Variance Group

Number of

participants Mean

Standard

deviation Levene’s Test t-test

Body image

Female yoga practitioners

120 193.13 2.98 F level of

significance t

Degree of freedom

Level of significance

Female Non-athletes

120 154.05 2.64 0.49 0.485 2.278 238 0.021

The results of Mann-Whitney U test about the difference of aspects of quality of life among female yoga practitioners and female non-athletes also indicated a meaningful contrast in physical functioning(z= -2.14, p=0.000),energy(vigor) (z= -2.87, p=0.000), limitations of usual role activities due to physical problems (z= -3.34, p=0.000), pain (z=-1.78, p=0.000), limitations of role activities due to emotional issues (z=-4.24, p=0.000 ), and emotional health; however, there was no significant contrast in social functioning between the two groups of this study (table 4).

Table 4. Results of Mann-Whitney U test about the difference of aspects of quality of life among female yoga practitioners and female non-athletes

Items

Variables Sample

Mean

score N

Mann-Whitney

U Z Sig

Physical functioning

practitioner 54.79 120

500,1842

-2.14 0.000

non-athlete 15.1 120

Limitations of usual role activities due to physical problems

500,176

-3.34 0.000

Limitations of usual role activities due to emotional issues

000,2124

-4.24 0.000

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Energy (vigor)

500,2678

-2.87 0.000

non-athlete 4.9 120

Emotional health practitioner 17.67 120 500,1678

-1.78 0.000

Social Functioning practitioner 78.69 120 000,2789

-1.24 0.234

Pain practitioner 6.72 120 000,2984

-1.78 0.000

General health

500,1787

-7.45 0.000

The results of Mann-Whitney U test about the significant difference on body image between female yoga practitioners and female non-athletes showed that there is a meaningful contrast in appearance evaluation (z= -0.543, p= 0.000) and fitness evaluation (z= -0.916, p= 0.501) but there was no significant difference in appearance orientation (z= -0.674, p=0.501) and fitness orientation (z=-0435, p=0.431) between the groups in the study (table 5).

Table 5. Results of Mann-Whitney U test for determining the difference in aspects of body image between female yoga practitioners and non-athletes

Items

Variables Sample Mean score N Mann-Whitney U Z Sig

Appearance evaluation practitioner 54.76 120 3791.5 -0.542 0.000

Appearance orientation practitioner 37.23 120 3746.5 -0.674 0.501

Fitness evaluation practitioner 63.45 120 3663.5 -0.916 0.000

Fitness orientation practitioner 37.69 120 3829.5 -0.435 0.431

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of present research, there is a significant contrast in quality of life of female yoga practitioners and female non-athletes. With the exception of social functioning, there was also a meaningful difference in all aspects of quality of life between the two groups. The findings of this research are consistent with those of VaezMousavi (2007), Ramezaninezhad (2010), Zaj

Foroush (2011), Janson et al (2010), Solaymani et al (1391) and Asgarinezhad (2015).

A comparison of findings of these studies suggests that most authors showed that quality of life in athletes is much higher than that of non-athletes. The findings also indicate a link between physical activity and quality of life. This link was mentioned in a 2013 study by Rahbari et al who

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quality of life (i.e. physical, mental and social) in participants.

Elements of quality of working life can also be a good indicator of level of comfort and well-being. In a 2010 study, Ramezaninezhad compared the quality of life among those who participated in group exercises and individuals who did not and found a significant different in the quality of life of the two groups. In other words, quality of life, subscales of physical well-being, job satisfaction, social interactions and creative and innovative behavior was better in participants compared to non-participants. Therefore, every individual does variety of physical and mental activities to obtain the qualitative standards of life at a personal scale. Participating in common leisure time and athletic activities is a good example of such activities that people can gain mental and physical benefits and even enhance their status in this aspect of life since quality of life is considered synonymous to health and well-being. As studies shown, practicing yoga is a good way to reach such goals and improve quality of life. Based on quality-of-life theory and the findings of present research, it can be concluded that emotional and factors stem from an individual’s cognitive judgment of life satisfaction or evaluating when they feel safe and happy and whether their expectations in their working life is satisfactory. Similar to cognitive theories with life satisfaction approach, in quality-of-life theory, life satisfaction is determined by an individual evaluates the level of fulfillment of their goals, expectations and needs. Therefore, the noticeable difference between what an individual has and what they seek to gain in life is the determining factor in their level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Finally, quality of life is considered the same as satisfaction (to what extent an individual reaches their goals) in this theory and life satisfaction is always an integral part of theories and assessments of quality of life. As shown in the results, there is a meaningful difference in body image between women who practiced yoga regularly and those who did not. There is was also a significant difference in

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body image are directed influenced by many physical exercises and yoga can be classified as one type of these exercises because this is one of elements of self-image and also a part of appearance evaluation. It is well-established fact that most women are not satisfied with the face of physique and this could be worsened with an unfit body. The results about the difference in fitness evaluation in yoga practitioners and non-athletes can be considered consistent with studies done by Ikonian (2005) and Andersona et al (2005) which showed that this type of exercises have significant effect on how individuals prepare themselves and how prepared they feel through influencing their physical and mental perceptions. This type of influencing can be considered a physical self-assessment which suggests a multifaceted preparation to an individual. A probable explanation for lack of contrast in appearance orientation and fitness orientation could be that one of the reason for lack of influence is the extent to which a body part or body is considered important for fitness. Assuming that one can get a better facial attraction through exercise is somewhat unexpected. Another reason for this could be the way exercises affect the muscles. Muscles that are normally active in yoga exercises are located in extremities of the body which are not so much related to the idealistic image a person has or would like to have.

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