The Role of Self-Objectification and Physical Exercise in Social Appearance Anxiety and Restrained Eating Among Female College Students

This study aims to explore the relationship and underlying mechanisms between social appearance anxiety (SAA) and restrained eating (RE) among female college students. Although previous studies have shown a correlation between SAA and RE, the internal pathways remain unclear. Based on social comparison theory and objectification theory, this study constructs a model that includes self-objectification (SO) as a mediating variable and physical exercise (PE) as a moderating variable to analyze the impact mechanisms of SAA on RE. Adopting a cross-sectional online survey design, this study collected data from 2161 female college students in China. The results showed that SAA was significantly positively related to SO (<i>β</i> = 0.37, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and RE (<i>β</i> = 0.34, <i>p</i> < 0.001). SO partially mediated the relationship between SAA and RE (<i>β</i> = 0.125, 95% CI [0.104, 0.149]). Moreover, PE moderates the relationship between SAA and RE (<i>β</i> = -0.15, <i>p</i> < 0.001). However, PE's moderating effect is insignificant in the relationship between SO and RE. These findings offer valuable insights and suggest that interventions targeting SAA and SO, as well as promoting PE, may help improve RE among female college students.