ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
Associations between weight stigma and exercise avoidance motivation among college students: exploring the roles of internalized weight stigma and social anxiety.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Exercise motivation patterns in emerging adults: dual roles of weight and shape concern in activation and inhibition pathways.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Appearance anxiety and college students' exercise participation: a chain mediation model of negative body image and exercise self-efficacy.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- An avoidance trap? Within-person dynamics between social interaction anxiety and the tendency to avoid physical activity and sport among Chinese university students: a four-wave random-intercept cross-lagged panel study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The relationship between weight stigma and physical activity avoidance among college students: a chain mediation of body image and psychological resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Weight stigma is linked to a range of adverse outcomes, including reduced engagement in physical activity, yet the psychological pathways underlying these associations remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the relationship between weight stigma and motivation to avoid exercise, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of internalized weight stigma and social anxiety. Methods: A total of 1,397 Chinese university students (aged 17-25) were recruited via the online survey platform Sojump. Participants completed validated questionnaires assessing weight stigma, exercise avoidance motivation, internalized weight stigma, and social anxiety. Structural equation modeling was employed to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the College of Physical Education, Southwest University. Results: Correlational analyses suggested a partial mediation model, in which weight stigma contributed to exercise avoidance motivation both directly and indirectly via internalized weight stigma and social anxiety. Specifically, higher weight stigma was linked to greater internalized weight stigma ( Limitations: The limitations of this study include the use of a cross-sectional design, which precludes causal inferences, and the relatively small number of individuals with a high BMI in the sample, which may limit the broader applicability and generalizability of the findings. Conclusion: We recommend that interventions focus on reducing internalized weight stigma and social anxiety to help individuals overcome exercise avoidance motivation, thereby promoting physical activity and improving mental health.
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