Psychological Predictors of Fitness and Performance in Active Duty U.S. Navy Personnel

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to assess the role of psychological variables (e.g., mood scales, physical estimation and attraction, physical self-concept, and personality scales) in predicting physical performance and fitness measures in a sample of military volunteers. Subjects were 102 active duty U. S. Navy personnel, 64 males and 38 females. Subjects performed a number of physical performance and fitness tasks (including 1.5-mile run, carrying task, and incremental treadmill task), and completed a battery of standardized questionnaires. Results were analyzed by multiple regression technique. The primary findings were: (a) questionnaire measures, most notably the Attraction score from the Physical Estimation and Attraction Scale, can be used to predict performance and fitness measures in an active duty Navy sample; (b) while fitness measures are clearly superior to questionnaire measures in predicting physical performance, questionnaire measures, again most notably the Attraction score, can be used to enhance the prediction equation over fitness measures alone; (c) there were only minimal differences between males and females in significance of questionnaire measures to predict performance or fitness.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 08, 1988
Accession Number
ADA200377

Entities

People

  • David G. Mcdonald
  • James A. Hodgdon
  • Marcie B. Beckett

Organizations

  • Naval Health Research Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Basic Training
  • Body Composition
  • Equations
  • Information Science
  • Missouri
  • Personality
  • Physical Activity
  • Physical Fitness
  • Psychology
  • Regression Analysis
  • Social Sciences
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Students
  • Treadmills
  • Universities
  • Volunteers

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Exercise and Sports Science.
  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Psychometric Testing or Psychological Assessment.