CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEIVED PHYSICAL COMPETENCE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND GENDER TRAITS IN FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

With the assistance of six bilingual judges, Spanish translations of the Physical Self-Perception Profile, Rosenburg Self-Esteem, and a physical activity recall questionnaire were developed and administered to a sample of 43 bilinguals. Then Spanish and English versions, respectively, plus, versions of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire were administered to 95 university female students in Mexico and 122 females students in the U.S.A. Results showed that Mexican women engaged in as much leisure activity and significantly more total physical activity than U.S.A. women. They evaluated their bodies as significantly more attractive, as compared to U.S.A. females, and these evaluations were positively associated with leisure and non-leisure activity. While their endorsement of positive masculine traits was similar to that of the U.S.A. sample, their endorsement of positive feminine traits, unlike the U.S.A. sample, was related to self-esteem and to leisure activity. These results reflect both the transfer of cultural values as well as traditional Mexican gender roles