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This study was designed to determine if a male physical educator’s appearance of body fatness affects his ability to teach and instill good exercise intentions in high school students. Subjects, 850 students in six schools, viewed one of two 20-minute videotapes in which exercise concepts were presented. The tapes were identical with one exception: In one of the tapes the instructor’s body dimensions were altered by a “fat suit.” Immediately after seeing their tape, the students completed a content examination and questionnaire. Analysis of variance revealed that the viewers of the overweight instructor’s tape scored lower on all aspects of the examination ( p .01). It was concluded that a male physical educator’s appearance may be a very powerful mediator of teaching effectiveness. Further ideas for study in this area were suggested and possible implications for teacher education schools were made.
Melville et al. (1988) studied this question.
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