The Age of Activewear: Understanding Casualised Athletic Apparel Habits Among Women through Associations with Psychosocial and Body Image Factors

Given the increasing popularity of activewear as everyday attire among women, and evidence suggesting that activewear imagery threatens women’s body image, it is imperative to quantify the scale of the activewear phenomena and its potential positive and negative psychosocial im-pact. As such, we collected both quantitative and qualitative data from women across student (N = 455) and community (N = 374) samples to measure their activewear engagement habits and potential links with psychosocial factors. Specifically, we aimed to determine the associa-tions between women’s activewear engagement behaviours (online shopping, social media fol-lowing, purchasing and wearing) and potential positive outcomes such as fitness behaviours, body appreciation, and self-esteem as well as potential negative outcomes such as idealised body aspirations, appearance comparisons, media pressure, and self-objectification. Quantita-tive results indicated that 40-87% of women engage in some activewear engagement, and quali-tative results indicated that women preferred tight forms of activewear that function similarly to shapewear (e.g., tummy control). While activewear engagement correlated positively with fit-ness behaviours, it was also correlated positively with idealised body aspirations, appearance comparisons, perceived media pressure and self-objectification. This study offers valuable in-sights into the growing cultural phenomenon of activewear, underlining the need for further research on its psychological impact.