The purpose of this study was to examine the social-psychological benefits of sports and fitness identities, that is thinking of oneself in terms of one's fitness activities (e.g., as a runner, a golfer, etc.). Past research has demonstrated that exercise has a positive impact on one's physical and psychological health. However, the research has not examined how the identities associated with exercise affect one's health. This study used Identity Theory and a stress and coping perspective to examine the direct effects of holding a fitness identity as well as possible indirect effects. The indirect effects included whether or not fitness identities would buffer the effects of stressful life events on one's health, and whether the identities would lead to a greater sense of mastery and more active coping in dealing with stressful life events. The data for this study were from a two-wave prospective panel study of 532 married and divorced adults from the Indianapolis area. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 1988 and 1990. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the direct and indirect effects of fitness identities while controlling for the amount of exercise. The results indicated that holding a fitness identity has a direct positive impact on both one's physical and mental health. However, it had no effect on mastery or the type of coping techniques one used, and it did not buffer the effect of negative life events and strains on health. The amount of exercise also had a direct effect on physical health but it did not have a direct effect on mental health. The amount of exercise had an indirect effect by buffering the effect of negative life events on mental health. These results demonstrate the importance of examining the role of fitness identities when analyzing the effects of exercise on well-being.
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