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With the aim of advancing the literature on impression management in physical activity settings, we developed a theoretically derived 2 by 2 instrument that was designed to measure different types of context-specific self-presentation motives. Following item generation and expert review (Study 1), the instrument was completed by 206 group exercise class attendees (Study 2) and 463 high school physical education students (Study 3). Our analyses supported the intended factor structure (i.e., reflecting acquisitive-agentic, acquisitive-communal, protective-agentic, and protective-communal motives). We found some support for construct validity, and the self-presentation motives were associated with variables of theoretical and applied interest (e.g., impression motivation and construction, social anxiety, social and achievement goals, efficacy beliefs, engagement). Taken together, the results indicate that the Self-presentation Motives for Physical Activity Questionnaire (SMPAQ) may be useful for measuring various types of self-presentation motives in physical activity settings.

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An experiment was conducted to investigate how self-presentation imperatives can influence cognition and affect. Participants were 70 collegiate and recreational athletes who were recruited because of the relevance of self-presentation processes in sport. Athletes were asked to read either a script which de-emphasized self-presentation concerns (low self-presentation) or emphasized self-presentation concerns (high self-presentation). The scripts were developed for the purpose of the study and depicted a pre-competition scenario. The low self-presentation manipulation group reported more of a challenge state of appraisal, higher self-efficacy, lower avoidance goal focus, and more positive affect, while the high self-presentation manipulation group reported more of a threat state of cognitive appraisal and more negative affect. Nonsignificant differences were observed between groups for the perception of positive affect and negative affect. These findings provide preliminary evidence that self-presentation imperatives can impact the cognitive appraisal and affect of athletes as they prepare for competition.

We tested the effects of advertisements about a fictitious exercise class-derived using the theoretical constructs of agency and communion-on recipients' perceptions about, and interest in, the class. The final sample consisted of 150 adults (M = 44.69, SD = 15.83). Results revealed that participants who received a communal-oriented message reported significantly greater exercise task self-efficacy and more positive affective attitudes relative to those who received an agentic-oriented message. Communal (relative to agentic) messages were also indirectly responsible for greater intentions to attend the class, via more positive self-efficacy beliefs and affective attitudes. These findings were obtained despite the use of another manipulation to orient participants to either agency or communion goals. The results indicate that the primacy of communion over agency for message recipients may extend to exercise settings and may occur irrespective of whether participants are situationally oriented toward agency or communion.