The Cornerstone Committee reviewed several high-quality submissions for the 2019 Thesis Award.
The 2019 Thesis Award winner is Alexandra Rodriguez, for her thesis entitled “Exploring Social Comparison and Sociocultural Attitudes in Athletes with Physical Disabilities.” Rodriguez completed her Master’s thesis under the supervision of Alison Ede, PhD, at California State University, Long Beach.
Rodriguez is a first-year doctoral student at University Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UW-Milwaukee). At UW-Milwaukee, Alexandra is working towards her PhD in kinesiology with an emphasis in psychosocial aspects of body image and a cognate in counseling under the supervision of Christy Greenleaf, PhD. Rodriguez plans to continue her research line of body image among athletes with physical disabilities and hopes to expand this research to military personnel who have been wounded in combat.
Thesis Synopsis
Previous research on body image has highlighted specific populations such as females, college students and athletes. Though there has been an abundant amount of research on these populations, one population that has received minimal attention is athletes with physical disabilities. This study explored the differences in social comparison and the internalization of sociocultural attitudes (e.g., thin/low body fat, muscularity and general attractiveness) among athletes with physical disabilities. Results showed that female athletes with congenital disabilities participated more in social comparison than female athletes with acquired disabilities. However, no significant differences in the internalization of sociocultural attitudes were found between male and female athletes.
The results suggest that among athletes, disability type may have a larger impact on the use of social comparison than gender. Previous literature has found that individuals who acquire physical disabilities experience a period of psychological adjustment, which could be positive or negative given access to rehabilitation. To date, current studies have not identified whether individuals with congenital disabilities experience a similar period of psychological adjustment. Thus, it is imperative that future research examine how the time with a physical disability influences social comparison. In regard to the internalization of sociocultural attitudes, the finding could lend support to prior research that suggested that participation in sport could shift the focus of appearance of the body to function of the body (Galli, Reel, Hendersen, & Detling, 2016).