Is body image associated with perseverance? A study among people with normal and increased body weight

Figures & data

Table 1 The groups’ structure of respondents

	Subjective body weight assessment			All
BMI	Too low*	Normal	Too high
<18.5*	3 (20%)	12 (80%)	–	15 (100%)
18.5–24.99	3 (4%)	57 (68%)	24 (28%)	84 (100%)
>24.99	–	12 (34%)	24 (66%)	36 (100%)

Note: *This group was not analyzed due to low numbers.

Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index.

Figure 1 Correlation between BMI and average time spent on a single task r=0.244; p<0.05.

Figure 2 An example of a maze task.

Table 2 Perseverance as a function of body mas index (BMI)

BMI	Number of tasks performed						Time spent on tasks [s]						Average time spent on a single task [s]
	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d
Normal range (N=84)	79.86	83.73	2.25	118	0.03	0.50	640.82	598.82	2.15	118	0.03	0.47	9.76	4.14	−2.83	118	0.01	0.45
Above normal (N=36)	46.92	40.31					411.83	338.59					16.08	19.54

Table 3 Perseverance as a function of subjective assessment of body weight among the subjects with normal body mass index (BMI)

Subjective body weight assessment	Number of tasks performed						Time spent on tasks [s]						Time spent on a single task (s)
	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d
Normal (N=57)	95.58	95.19	2.27	79	0.03	0.64	740.16	686.47	1.92	79	0.06	0.54	8.89	2.92	−3.17	79	0.02	0.67
Too high (N=24)	50.00	35.05					463.13	246.88					11.97	5.83

Table 4 Perseverance as a function of subjective assessment of body weight of the subjects having body mass index (BMI) above normal

Subjective body weight assessment	Number of mazes						Time spent on task [s]						Average time spent on a single task (s)
	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d	M	SD	t	df	p	Cohen’s d
Normal (N=12)	77.50	51.09	3.78	34	0.01	1.17	619.01	484.44	2.85	34	0.01	0.86	7.57	0.97	−1.92	34	0.06	0.79
Too high (N=24)	31.63	22.19					308.25	169.20					20.33	22.89

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.