Physical social anxiety and addiction to exercise: analysis of the mediating role of basic psychological needs

Based on self-determination theory, the goal of this study was to analyze the relation between social physique anxiety and exercise addiction taking into account the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction/thwarting. A total of 328 males aged between 18 and 60 years (M-age = 35.52, SD = 9.42) involved in endurance exercise modalities completed a multi-section questionnaire that assessed the target variables. Bootstrap multiple mediation analysis revealed that social physique anxiety positively predicted exercise addiction, both directly and indirectly through the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs. Moreover, the indirect effect through satisfaction of the need for competence was greater than the other mediated effects, which showed a weak magnitude. Overall, the findings of the study highlight that body image and related self-presentation concerns, may explain exercise addiction. However, this relationship seems to occur more directly, than through basic psychological need satisfaction/thwarting experiences in the exercise context.