A Person-Perception Study of the ‘Healthy Body–Healthy Mind’ Stereotype

In a person-perception study, examining whether information regarding physical fitness leads to judgements about psychological well-being, 114 subjects were presented with aural descriptions of a fictitious character. Half the subjects received information which suggested that the target person was physically fit, while half were told that he or she was not fit. The person was rated on a series of 6-point scales of psychological well-being. The results indicated that a ‘healthy body — heallhy mind’ stereotype exists, for both male and female stimulus character and held by both male and female subjects.