The Effect of a Weight Training Program on the Happiness of Young Women

An increasing body of research indicates that exercise has some positive psychological effects. But few studies focus specifically on weight training as the treatment, or happiness as the dependent variable. Additionally, much research has focused on psychological state changes from immediately before, to immediately following a physical activity. Little has been reported on the relationship between weight training and general happiness over a longer period of time, (i.e. three to four months). The purpose of this study was: (a) to determine the effect of beginning and maintaining a regular weight training program on the happiness of previously sedentary women, (b) to determine the effect of beginning and maintaining a weight training program on the self-percieved health, attraction to physical activity, happiness, self-esteem and life satisfaction of previously sedentary women, and (c) to compare the effectiveness of short answer Likert scale questions on happiness, self-percieved health, attraction to physical activity, self-esteem and life satisfaction to the scores derived from the Psychap Inventory. This project involved two separate studies. The first involved a small group of women recruited from the general public, and the second involved a larger sample of women recruited from university health and weight training classes. Approximately one-half of the subjects weight trained for 15 weeks. The other half did not train. A survey consisting of the Psychap Inventory and five Likert scale questions relating to happiness was administered to all subjects before the training began and after the 15 weeks. Repeated Measures ANOVA and ANCOVA indicated that, in general, the weight training programs did not significantly affect the happiness, self-percieved health, attraction to physical activity, self-esteem or life satisfaction of the women. High correlations between some Psychap Inventory scores and Likert scale items indicated the efficacy of using the Likert scale questions to measure happiness