In S. Serpa, J. Alves, V. Ferreira & A. Paula-Brito (Eds.), Sport Psychology: an integrated approach. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress of Sport Psychology (pp. 539-543). Lisbonne: I.S.S.P. SELF-APPRAISAL OF PHYSICAL FITNESS D. Delignières*, A. Marcellini*, P. Legros** & J. Briswalter* *Institut National du Sport et de l'Education Physique, Paris, France **Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France Key-words : perceived fitness, physical self-worth, anxiety, self-esteem, masculinity. INTRODUCTION. Beyond an improvement of physical capacities and health, the aim of fitness programs is an enhancement of psychological well-being (Rejeski & Kenney, 1987). The psychological benefits of physical practise have been evidenced by many authors: in particular, participation in aerobic exercise programs results in a significant decrease of anxiety (Fasting et Gronningsaeter, 1986; Hayden, Allen et Camaione, 1986; McGlynn et al., 1983). Recent researches have shown that the physiological adaptation has no direct influence on psychological functioning. (Fasting et Gronningsaeter, 1986; Hayden, Allen et Camaione, 1986). These results led several authors to consider that psychological benefits of such programs are more related to the perception of fitness improvement rather than to an objective improvement (Abadie, 1988a, 1988b; Heaps, 1978; Leonardson, 1977). This hypothesis could have important consequences in the development of physical exercise programs. For example it could be proposed to focus exercises on the more salient dimensions of perceived fitness, in the aim to optimize the psychological benefits of practise (Balogun, 1986). Such a proposition requires a better understanding of the process of fitness perception. Abadie (1988a) showed that self-perceived fitness is a multidimensional construct, which can be represented by a four-factors structure: cardio-vascular endurance, muscular flexibility, muscular strength, and body composition. Nevertheless his work do not allow to specify the weight of each dimension in the perception of fitness. Moreover the hypothesis can be advanced that this factorial structure is dependent on subjects' age and sex. Then the aim of the first experiment was to specify the respective importance of the four dimensions isolated by Abadie, considering age and sex. EXPERIMENT 1 Method and Procedure Subject. 247 subjects were involved in the experiment. They were divided, according to their age (< or > 50 years) and sex, into four groups which were labelled middle-aged males group (N= 56, mean age: 36.4, s.d.: 5.3), old males group (N= 46, mean age: 58.5, s.d.: 6.0), middle-aged females group (N= 78, mean age: 39.0, s.d.: 6.2), old females group (N=67, mean age: 59.3, s.d.: 5.6), Method. Each subject completed a self-appraisal questionnaire, adapted from Borg, Skinner et Bar-Or (1972). This questionnaire was composed of 5 scales, related to endurance, strength, flexibility, body composition and fitness. Each dimension was rated according to a 13-grades category scale, every second grade anchored with verbal expressions, denoting how much above or below the mean the grade was. For example, for the physical fitness scale: 1: "I am completely out of form", 3: "I have a poor fitness, with regard to my age", 5: "My fitness is slightly below the average of those of my age", 7: "My fitness is quite normal, with regard to my age", 9: "My fitness is slightly above the average of those of my age", 11: "I have a very good fitness, with regard to my age", 13: "I am exceptionally fit". Subjects are requested to rate their physical capacities with regard to their sex and age. Data analysis . The relationships between the 5 scales were studied with Pearson product-moment correlations and factor analysis. Then, the scales were compared according to Student paired-test procedure. 1