Proximate and ultimate explanations for flaunting exercise on social media: Associations between mate value, mate access, self-esteem, narcissism, and posting exercise-related content on social media Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology Master’s thesis Lotta Lyytikäinen 3.10.2025 Turku The originality of this thesis has been checked in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service. Master’s thesis Subject: Psychology Author: Lotta Lyytikäinen Title: Proximate and ultimate explanations for flaunting exercise on social media: Associations between mate value, mate access, self-esteem, narcissism, and posting exercise-related content on social media Supervisors: PhD Nils Sandman, doctoral researcher Jeremia Sjöblom, and doctoral researcher Catharina Walldén Page count: thesis 29 pages, appendices 16 pages Date: 3.10.2025                                             Flaunting exercise on social media is a widespread phenomenon, but scientific research is insubstantial. To the best of my knowledge, behavior or motives on social media have not been studied with taking both, evolutionary (i.e., mate value and mate access) and traditional (i.e., self-esteem and narcissism), psychology constructs into account. This thesis investigates associations between posting exercise-related content on social media and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. This thesis also explores the associations between mate-value-based motives (e.g. wishing that posting certain content would increase their own mate value) of exercise-related social media posting and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. The survey consisted of demographic information items, a brief self-esteem measure, a brief narcissism personality trait inventory, the Mate Value and the Mate Access Scales, and questions about posting exercise-related content on social media. Participants were approached through Finland’s higher education mailing lists and data collection continued from January to February in 2025. A total of 130 participants answered the survey, and they were all included in the study. High mate value, high levels of narcissism, and low self-esteem were expected to associate with high amounts of posting exercise-related content on social media. However, results did not support these hypotheses even though the model did have a statistically significant overall fit. The analysis with mate-value-based motives as a dependent variable also had a statistically significant overall fit of the model with small explanatory power. In this model, mate value and narcissism were associated with mate- value-based motives, and they had statistically significant independent explanatory power. Based on this study, it seems that mate value and narcissism may explain the mate- value-based motives of exercise-related posting. The relatively small sample size may have limited statistical power. Some participants reported that understanding questions about mate value was difficult, which may have also affected results regarding mate value. Further research could focus on developing reliable ways to measure posting behavior on social media independently from social media use. Keywords: exercise, health, mating, narcissism, regression analysis, self-concept, social media Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Costly Signaling on Social Media ............................................................. 6 1.2 Social Media Benefits on Mate Access .................................................... 7 1.3 Narcissism .................................................................................................. 8 1.4 The Mate Value – Self-Esteem Paradox ................................................... 9 1.5 The Current Study .................................................................................... 10 2 Methods ............................................................................................................ 13 2.1 Participants and Procedure .................................................................... 13 2.2 Measures .................................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 Mate Value ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 Mate Access .................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.3 Self-Esteem ..................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.4 Narcissism ....................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.5 Exercise and Social Media .............................................................................................. 16 2.3 Statistical Methods .................................................................................. 16 3 Results .............................................................................................................. 18 3.1 Descriptive Statistics ............................................................................... 18 Table 1.................................................................................................................. 18 3.2 Data analysis ............................................................................................ 18 3.2.1 Model One: Posting Exercise-related Content ................................................................ 19 Table 2.................................................................................................................. 20 Table 3.................................................................................................................. 21 3.2.2 Model Two: Mate-value-based Motives .......................................................................... 21 Table 4.................................................................................................................. 22 4 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 23 4.1 Results from Model 1 ............................................................................... 23 4.2 Results from Model 2 ............................................................................... 24 4.3 Limitations ................................................................................................ 25 4.4 Further research ...................................................................................... 25 4.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................. 26 References .............................................................................................................. 27 Appendices ............................................................................................................. 30 Appendix A. ......................................................................................................... 30 Appendix B. ......................................................................................................... 41 5 1 Introduction When individuals post something on social media, they make multiple choices in respect to the content they are posting, e.g., deciding what to photograph, which picture to choose, and what type of texts or captions to write. These choices seem active and self-motivated which begs the question of what drives these choices. The aim of this study is to explore why individuals post exercise-related content on social media. Inarguably, social media is in part a place for presenting oneself. Even young children know how to effectively utilize different types of self-presentation in their environment (Aloise- Young, 1993). Moreover, individuals can engage, either in in-person interactions or on social media, in different types of self-presentation behaviors (Schlenker, 1980). Generally, however, self-presentation refers to monitoring our own behavior to convey a specific type of image of ourselves to perceivers (Schlenker, 1980). Indeed, social media offer platforms where individuals can easily monitor and moderate perceivers’ perceptions of themselves. On social media, individuals may deliberately select the most presentable pictures of themselves, edit pictures and even videos, or only share content to self-selected or targeted audiences through using private sharing tools or tags. However, tags can also be used to reach a wider audience. There are 570 million posts identified with the hashtag “fitness” and 313 million posts identified with the hashtag “gym” as of August 2025 on Instagram only. There is estimated to be 5.24 billion social media users as of January 2025 (Global Social Media Statistics — DataReportal – Global Digital Insights, n.d.). These numbers illustrate the extent of exercise-related posting on social media but also the extent of social media use in general. To the best of my knowledge, posting exercise-related content on social media has not been studied accounting for both, ultimate and proximate, level explanations. Ultimate-level explanations, as emphasized in evolutionary psychology, address how psychological traits and behaviors were shaped by selection pressures related to survival and reproduction across human evolutionary history (Scott-Phillips et al., 2011). Ultimate explanations often highlight mechanisms underlying mate choice, forming romantic relationships, and other adaptations related to reproductive success (Scott-Phillips et al., 2011). In contrast, traditional psychology 6 often exploits proximate-level explanations, focusing on developmental, cognitive, and social mechanisms that give rise to behavior in contemporary contexts, without reference to their evolutionary origins (Scott-Phillips et al., 2011). Presenting oneself on social media is a multifaceted phenomenon, which can be explained with both evolutionary and traditional psychology constructs. Previous research on social media posting has either focused on ultimate-level explanations, such as Vandenbroele et al. (2020) or on proximate-level explanations, such as Carpenter (2011) or Moon et al. (2016). Where evolutionary psychology might try to explain self- presentation on social media ultimately as an attempt to attract high quality mates and reproduce, traditional psychology might explain it through the individual’s personality, traits, or social needs. These approaches should not be seen as rivals, but as complementary, since neither of them may cover all possible explanations (Scott-Phillips et al., 2011). The aim of this study is to investigate associations between posting exercise-related content on social media and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. This study also includes an explorative analysis of associations between mate-value-based motives of exercise-related posting and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. 1.1 Costly Signaling on Social Media Depending on the view, sending signals about desirable personal characteristics may be considered either as self-presentation or costly signaling. Costly signaling refers to individuals sending honest signals about desirable personal characteristics through biologically costly or hard-to-fake displays (McAndrew, 2021). Mate value depicts the sum of all desirable traits in a mate which is representative of genetic quality which, in turn, predicts reproductive success (Buss, 1988). The association between posting workout-related content and mate value was examined in a previous study (Vandenbroele et al., 2020). The study focused on signals of health on social media posts as a self-promoting, costly signaling tactic. First, they concluded that displays of exercise on social media can be considered as costly signaling (Vandenbroele et al., 2020). They based their conclusions on the four criteria of costly signals, previously proposed by 7 Nelissen and Meijers (2011). Vandenbroele et al. (2020) found these displays of exercise on social media posts to 1) indicate an underlying characteristic of healthiness, 2) benefit the sender by improving their perceived mate value through increased health perceptions, 3) be easily observable, and 4) initially require high energy costs. Second, they found that high self-reports of mate value were positively related to social media sharing intentions (Vandenbroele et al., 2020). Based on this study, it seems that individuals with high mate value are more inclined to post on social media possibly due to an expectation of social rewards. Based on previous research I also argue that posting exercise-related social media content could be costly signaling. However, in this thesis the definition from Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science proposed by McAndrew (2021) is preferred. According to McAndrew (2021), for a behavior to be considered as a costly signal, it must be 1) observable by others with ease 2) costly to the individual in resources, energy, or some other significant way, and lastly 3) a reliable indicator of some desirable characteristic or trait. By itself, exercising is costly in energy and time, and a healthy appearance resulting from exercising can eventually be perceived by potential mates. Posting exercise-related content or pictures of a healthy appearance on social media could further strengthen the signaling of health and competence, i.e. mate value, to potential mates. This process could, in theory, lead to an increase in mate value, which was also supported in a previous study (Vandenbroele et al., 2020). However, it is important to note, that the action of mere posting does not require high energy costs. Posting any content on social media can be very low-cost in energy and time since it is done on a device without much physical effort. However, assuming that the displays of exercise on social media are genuine, the entire process of exercising and posting on social media requires even more time and energy than just exercising per se. 1.2 Social Media Benefits on Mate Access In addition to an individual’s mate value and sexual competition in one’s social environment, mate access also limits mating success (Wallden et al., 2020). Mate access refers to the number of interactions an individual has with potential mates and the individual’s perception of their mating opportunities (Walldén et al., 2020). In other words, mate value, meaning 8 traits that are sexually or romantically desirable (Buss, 1988), only influence mating success if one or more potential partners are available in the environment. However, it is important to note, that even though an individual would be in a committed relationship, and, therefore, not accessible to potential partners themself, they might still monitor those who are accessible (Fletcher, 2002) potentially through social media. Therefore, social media may offer many benefits regarding mate access. On social media, one might update their profile picture or description to signal to others that they are single. On the other hand, one can determine someone else’s relationship status from their profile with very little effort. Even though this would not directly increase mate access, clear signals of relationship status may make dating more time and cost efficient. However, adding friends on social media platforms may directly increase mate access through getting acquainted with new people and potential mates. Also, a previous study has found support for the association between Facebook addiction and using Facebook to meet romantic partners (Stănculescu & Griffiths, 2021). However, this study did not focus on posting content on Facebook but more on the addictive behavior patterns of Facebook use. Mate access could account for some individual differences in social media posting due to social media platforms’ potential to reach many desirable potential mates, although previous research is faint and only partially aligned with the present study. However, these results point to a current phenomenon where individuals might post on social media to increase their mate access. This and the other previously introduced benefits for mate access may help us understand what there is to gain from social media regarding mating. Still, mate value and mate access only account for ultimate-level explanations. On a proximate level, social media can also offer social validation or affirmation, which will be discussed next since some personality characteristics could also be associated with posting on social media as also suggested by previous research. 1.3 Narcissism Indeed, social media may offer social validation but an increased need for appreciation and admiration can also be indicative of narcissistic personality traits (Miller et al., 2010). Narcissism can be defined as a cold, hostile, and an antagonistic manner of interacting with 9 others combined with either vulnerable or grandiose traits (Miller et al., 2010). However, it is important to note that narcissistic traits exist on a continuum and only on the highest levels do they indicate narcissistic personality disorder, while lower levels can still shape individuals’ behavior. Miller et al. (2010) suggest that even though vulnerable and grandiose narcissism share similarities, their motivations seem different. Vulnerable narcissism might stem from a hostile attribution bias, whereas individuals with grandiose traits may possess a self- enhancement motivation (Miller et al., 2010). In this study, I suggest that specifically grandiose narcissistic traits (i.e., superiority, arrogance, entitlement, reactivity to criticism, and need for admiration; Morf & Rhodevalt, 2001) contribute to individual differences in social media activity, potentially increasing the frequency with which some individuals engage in posting compared to others. Carpenter et al. (2011) found support for the association between grandiose traits and self-promotion behavior on Facebook. Self-promotion behavior referred to posting status updates, pictures of themselves, and updating their profile pictures and descriptions (Carpenter et al., 2011). They argued that some individuals with high levels of grandiose narcissism traits would want as high friend count as possible on social media to gain attention from the widest audience possible. Another study also found that Instagram users higher in narcissism engage more in self-promotion (Moon et al., 2016). These individuals posted more selfies and self-presented photos, updated their profiles but also spent more time on Instagram and rated their profile pictures as more physically attractive (Moon et al., 2016). On the other hand, the grandiose yet vulnerable narcissistic self-concept may even lead to a chronic pursuit of external self-affirmation (Morf & Rhodevalt, 2001). However, these pursuits may be counterproductive, as narcissists might be negligent to social constraints, leading to a failure in the pursue of self-affirmation (Morf & Rhodevalt, 2001). Interestingly, a similar paradox is observable with mate value and self-esteem. 1.4 The Mate Value – Self-Esteem Paradox Previous studies suggest that lower self-esteem, characterized by a lower sense of self-worth, could be linked with higher amounts of posting social media content (Nyagah et al., 2015; Stănculescu & Griffiths, 2021), although specifically exercise-related content posting and 10 self-esteem has not been studied. Individuals with low self-esteem may use Facebook to boost their self-worth (Nyagah et al., 2015). If some women were to increase their mate value with costly signals on social media, they may either gain high social rewards or suffer plummets in self-esteem, depending on their success in augmenting mate value. This split of end-results happens since important female mate value traits (i.e. high fertility, health, and youth; Hamida et al., 1998) are perceived as more uncontrollable than relevant male mate value traits (i.e. financial security, wealth, and high status; Hamida et al., 1998). These attempts to augment mate value (i.e., change almost uncontrollable processes, such as aging for women) could lead to stable, global, and internal attributions (Hamida et al., 1998). These attributions in turn contribute to lower self-esteem (Hamida et al., 1998). Therefore, women are more susceptible to low self-esteem in the pursuit of a higher mate value. For males, low self-esteem could also be associated with failed attempts to augment mate value. The difference still is that relevant male mate value traits are perceived as more controllable and therefore, attributions from failed attempts might not be as stable, global or internal as they are in females, therefore resulting in smaller or only temporary plummets in self-esteem (Hamida et al., 1998). On the other hand, mate value enhancement effort might also be a significant predictor of self-esteem based on a previous study (Brase & Guy, 2004). From a proximate viewpoint, upward social comparison (i.e. comparing oneself with others who may possess more positive characteristics) online can also lead to low self-esteem (Vogel et al., 2014). As demonstrated by the mate value – self-esteem paradox, these ultimate-level constructs, such as mate value, and proximate-level constructs, such as self- esteem, are sometimes interwoven and therefore necessary for a complete understanding of a topic. 1.5 The Current Study This study includes two statistical models with mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism as independent variables that could account for individual differences in 1) the amount of posting exercise-related social media content and 2) the motivation related to 11 posting such content on social media. The first model that explains the amount of posting exercise-related content on social media with mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism, is the focus of this study and hypotheses are applied later. Two of the variables, mate value and mate access, aim to explain this type of posting on social media through its possible evolutionary functions, i.e. on an ultimate level, and the other two variables, self- esteem and narcissism, aim to explain this phenomenon through more direct or immediate psychological mechanisms, i.e. on a proximate level. The second model is explorative and looks at possible associations between mate-value-based motives of exercise-related social media posting and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. For the first model, I hypothesize that higher mate value will be associated with higher amounts of exercise-related social media posting when controlling for mate access, self- esteem, and narcissism. I also hypothesize that higher levels of narcissism will be associated with higher amounts of posting exercise-related content on social media (Carpenter et al., 2011; Moon et al., 2016; Morf & Rhodevalt, 2001). Additionally, I hypothesize that lower self-esteem will be associated with higher amounts of exercise-related social media posting based on previous research (Nyagah et al., 2015; Stănculescu & Griffiths, 2021; Vogel et al., 2014). Mate access could be negatively or positively associated with high amounts of exercise-related posting since directly comparable previous research was not available, and therefore, no hypothesis will be put in place. RQ How are mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism associated with exercise- related posting on social media? H1 Higher mate value is associated with higher amounts of exercise-related social media posting when controlling for mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. H2 Higher levels of narcissism are associated with higher amounts of posting exercise-related content on social media. H3 Lower self-esteem is associated with higher amounts of exercise-related social media posting. 12 RQ How are mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism associated with mate- value-based motives for posting exercise-related content on social media? 13 2 Methods Data for the survey was collected with an online survey on a REDCap server from January to February in 2025. Potential participants were approached through universities’ mailing lists. Data collection started after an approving statement from the Ethics Committee for Human Sciences at the University of Turku (see Appendix B). Participants were informed of the voluntary nature, confidentiality, and length of the study before data collection and informed consent was required before participation. The study invitation described the study topic, but specific research questions and hypotheses were not revealed. Participants did not benefit from participating in the study. Participants could terminate the survey at any point without providing a reason for doing so and in that case their data would not be used in the study. 2.1 Participants and Procedure The criteria for participating in the study were that the participant must be 18 years or older, heterosexual, fluent in Finnish, have access to a smartphone or a computer, and have posted something on social media during the last six months. Participants who were receiving monetary rewards or any financial gain for posting on social media were not allowed to participate. Participants needed to answer all questions to be included in the study. Of the 259 individuals that started answering the survey, 130 individuals (50.2%) completed it and only these individuals were included in the study. Participants’ age ranged from 19 to 69 years while mean age was 27 and median age was 24. The gender division was 86.2% females and 13.8% males. After prompts to read the privacy policy and asking for informed consent, the survey gathered demographic data of age (18–100), gender (0 = Female, 1 = Male, 2 = Other), the length of a possible relationship (0 = No relationship, 1 = Under 6 months, 2 = Over 6 months), and whether the participant is actively searching for a partner (0 = No, 1 = Yes). After that, the participant completed the following instruments in the order of listing: the Brief Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Super-Brief Pathological Narcissism Inventory, the Mate Value Scale, the Mate Access Scale, and a set of questions under the title “Exercise and Social Media”. Detailed description of these measures is described in the next section. 2.2 Measures 14 Before completing the Mate Value and Mate Access scales, the participants were instructed that potential partners, a frequently used term in the instruments, referring to anyone, considering their sex and age, that the participant could be sexually or romantically interested in. See Appendix A. for all questions used in the survey. 2.2.1 Mate Value The four-item Mate Value Scale (Edlund & Sagarin, 2014; MVS) was used to measure the participants’ self-perceived value as a mate. In this study, the Finnish back translated version of the MVS was used. Responses were given on a 7-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating higher mate value. Edlund and Sagarin (2014) found the MVS to be reliable and a valid measure of mate value. Reliability was tested through internal consistency and retesting. The internal consistency was good (α = .86) and so was test-retest reliability, r = .85, p < .001 (Edlund & Sagarin, 2014). Convergent validity of the MVS was demonstrated by the MVS correlating highly with other measures of mate value and discriminant validity by not correlating with social desirability (Edlund & Sagarin, 2014). To conclude, the MVS seems to be a valid and reliable unidimensional measure of mate value. In this study, the MVS demonstrated excellent reliability (α = .91). 2.2.2 Mate Access A Finnish back translated version of the Mate Access Scale (Walldén et al., 2020) was used which assesses perceived mating opportunities (P factor) with six items and preferred encounters with potential mates (E factor) with seven items. Responses were on 4-, 5-, or 7- point Likert scales, with higher scores indicating higher mate access. This scale was expanded for this thesis’s survey with question 5.2 (see Appendix A.) about meeting potential partners online. The Mate Access scale demonstrated good internal reliability with α = .84 for E factor and α = .87 for P factor (Walldén et al., 2020). In this study, the Mate Access Scale demonstrated similarly a good level of reliability (α = .81). 15 2.2.3 Self-Esteem The Brief Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Monteiro et al., 2021) was used to evaluate participants’ self-esteem. This instrument did not have an established Finnish translation; therefore, this study utilized the translations available of the instrument found from Finnish mental health care clinics’ sites (Terapiatalo Noste, n.d.; Mielipalvelut Oy, n.d.). The responses were given on a 4-point Likert scale. The first two items are reversed. Overall, a higher score indicates higher self-esteem. The brief five item version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale has indicated a unidimensional structure, convergent validity, high reliability (α= .88), and the same correlation pattern with the Big Five personality traits as the full-length Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale (Monteiro et al., 2021). In this study, the Brief Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale also demonstrated good reliability (α = .85). 2.2.4 Narcissism A Super-Brief Pathological Narcissism Inventory (SB-PNI; Henttonen et al., 2022) was used to evaluate narcissism. The items of the original full-length instrument have been independently translated, modified by an expert according to backtranslation, and tested comprehensibility on native Finnish speakers which were then adapted to the SB-PNI (Henttonen et al., 2022). In this study, the SB-PNI was used and it consists of a grandiosity subscale and a vulnerability subscale, and they both contain six items making up the instrument’s 12 items in total. Responses were given on a 6-point Likert scale, and a higher score indicates higher narcissism. The SB-PNI has demonstrated good levels of general factor and subfactor reliability with a bifactor model α = .84 (Henttonen et al., 2022). In my study, the SB-PNI had the same level of reliability (α = .84). 16 2.2.5 Exercise and Social Media With nine items, we measured the amount of posting exercise-related content (5- and 6-point Likert), and mate-value-based motives for such posting (5-point Likert). Additionally, some questions gathered background information on the participants' overall exercising (0 = no, 1 = yes), frequency of exercise (4-point Likert), and rate of deceit on social media posts (5-point Likert). Amount of Posting Exercise-Related Content on Social Media These items (3-6) measured social media posts’ contents through asking whether participants post pictures of their bodies or exercise efforts (5- and 6-point Likert). Moreover, participants were asked, how frequently they take advantage of exercising to post on social media, and how many times they post about one exercise. Added together, these form the first model’s dependent sum variable for the amount of posting exercise-related content. These 4 items demonstrated an acceptable reliability of α = .73. Mate-Value-Based Motives for Posting Exercise-Related Content These items (7-8) in the survey gathered data regarding participants’ mate-value-based motives for actual or potential posting about exercising. Participants were asked if they wished that posting exercise efforts would positively affect their value as a mate perceived by potential partners, and how much they thought it would affect their value as a mate perceived by potential partners. These questions aimed to capture the level of awareness behind the possible mate-value-based motives for posting exercise-related content. Added together, these form the second model’s dependent sum variable, mate-value-based motives for posting exercise-related content. These two items demonstrated questionable reliability of α = .63. Participants were also asked if they have ever exaggerated or totally faked their exercise posts, and how often they might have done it. This item was included to obtain important information about the validity of exercise posts as signals of health or mate value. 2.3 Statistical Methods 17 This study utilized two linear multiple regression analyses, and they were conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics (Version 29) with the limit value for significance being set to .05. The first linear multiple regression model included the sum scores of mate value, mate access, narcissism, and self-esteem as independent variables and the amount of posting exercise- related content as a dependent variable. The second model included the sum scores of mate value, mate access, narcissism, and self-esteem as independent variables and the mate-value- based motives as a dependent variable. 18 3 Results 3.1 Descriptive Statistics Table 1. Key Background Descriptives of The Sample Item n % Gender 0 = Female 112 86.2 1 = Male 18 13.8 Relationship length 0 = No relationship 46 35.4 1 = Under 6 months 5 3.8 2 = Over 6 months 79 60.8 Actively seeking a partner 0 = No 107 82.3 1 = Yes 23 17.7 Exercise frequency 0 = Less than once a week 9 6.9 1 = Once a week 10 7.7 2 = A few times a week 56 43.1 3 = Almost every day 55 42.3 Rate of deceit* 0 = Never 120 92.3 1 = Seldom 9 6.9 2 = Sometimes 1 0.8 3 = Often 0 0.0 4 = Always 0 0.0 Note. N=130. *This item measured if participants have ever exaggerated or totally faked their exercise posts, and how often they might have done it. 3.2 Data analysis 19 The aim of the first model was to analyze if high mate value is associated with high amounts of posting exercise-related content on social media controlling for mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. On the other hand, the aim of the second model was to seek mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism are associated with mate-value-based motives for such posting. 3.2.1 Model One: Posting Exercise-related Content This multiple regression analysis included the sum scores of mate value, mate access, narcissism, and self-esteem as explaining variables and the amount of posting exercise- related content as a dependent variable. Before multiple regression analysis, the correlations between the dependent variable, and background, and sum score variables of mate value, mate access, narcissism, and self-esteem (see Table 2) were examined. The dependent variable, amount of posting exercise-related content, had statistically significant positive correlations with mate value (p = .005) and mate access (p = .016). However, the dependent variable did not correlate with self-esteem or narcissism. Additionally, the dependent variable had statistically significant positive correlations with exercise frequency (p = .006) and deceitfulness (p = .036). 20 Table 2. Correlations Between Study Variables (1-6) and Background Variables (7-11) Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. Amount of Posting Exercise- related Content 2.63 2.62 1 2. Mate Value 14.33 4.02 .247** 1 3. Mate Access 16.31 6.43 .203* .646** 1 4. Self-Esteem 10.92 2.98 .148 .611** .419** 1 5. Narcissism 27.48 9.28 .082 -.144 -.256** -.405** 1 6. Mate-Value- Based Motives for Posting 2.26 1.73 .119 .161 .062 -.082 .230 1 7. Age 27.37 9.40 -.142 -.076 .018 .118 -.386** -.238** 1 8. Relationship Length a 1.26 0.95 -.052 .281** .451** .244** -.370** -.149 .255** 1 9. Active Seeking a .18 .38 .092 -.214* -.291** -.237** .237** .164 -.116 -.614** 1 10. Exercise Frequency a 2.21 0.86 .249** .255** .160 .220* -.070 .053 -.074 .030 -.042 1 11. Deceitfulness a 0.08 0.31 .182* .084 .154 -.111 .148 .029 -.066 .006 .070 -.038 Note. N=130. a See variable coding from Table 1. *p < .05. **p < .01. The overall fit of the multiple regression model was statistically significant with an F-statistic of 2.91 (p = .024). This model explained 6% of the total variation in the dependent variable (Adjusted R2 =.06). See Table 3 for regression coefficients. Based on Squared Semipartial correlations and t-tests of independent variables, no single variable had an independent statistically significant effect. Residuals were examined with histograms, Normal P-Plots, and scatterplot and they were normally distributed, linear, and homoscedastic. 21 Table 3. Multiple Linear Regression Coefficients of Model 1. Variable B SE 95% CI  p LL UL Constant -1.50 1.43 -4.32 1.32 - .295 Mate Value 0.10 0.09 -0.07 0.27 .15 .261 Mate Access 0.05 0.05 -0.05 0.14 .12 .308 Self-Esteem 0.07 0.10 -0.14 0.27 .07 .531 Narcissism 0.05 0.03 -0.01 0.10 .16 .093 Note. N = 130. Dependent variable: amount of posting exercise-related content. CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit: UL = upper limit. 3.2.2 Model Two: Mate-value-based Motives This analysis explored the associations of mate value with mate-value-based motives for posting exercise-related content controlling for mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. It included sum scores of mate value, mate access, narcissism, and self-esteem as explaining variables and mate-value-based motives for posting exercise-related content as a dependent variable. Overall fit of the model was statistically significant with an F-statistic of 3.88 (p = .005). This model explained 8% of the total variation in the dependent factor (Adjusted R2 =.08). Based on Squared Semipartial correlations and t-tests of independent variables, significant variables for this model were mate value and narcissism, see Table 4. Residuals were examined with histograms, Normal P-Plots, and scatterplot and they were normally distributed, linear, and homoscedastic. 22 Table 4. Multiple Linear Regression Coefficients of Model 2. Variable B SE 95% CI  p LL UL Constant 0.53 0.91 -1.28 2.33 - .567 Mate Value 0.13 0.06 0.02 0.24 0.31 .019 Mate Access -0.003 0.03 -0.06 0.06 -0.01 .930 Self-Esteem -0.11 0.7 -0.24 0.02 -0.19 .109 Narcissism 0.04 0.02 0.001 0.07 0.20 .042 Note. N = 130. Dependent variable: mate-value-based motives for posting exercise-related content. CI = confidence interval; LL = lower limit: UL = upper limit. 23 4 Discussion This study examined the associations between exercise-related social media posting and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism to understand why many individuals post exercise-related content on social media. Second, we explored the associations between mate- value-based motives of such posting and mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism. Based on the analyses, it seems that these variables better explain the motives for exercise-related posting rather than the behavior of exercise-related posting. Even though our first model’s fit was statistically significant, the variables independently could not explain the individual variation in the reported amounts of exercise-related social media posting. Additionally, the model’s explanatory power was small. The second model also explained a small amount of the individual variation in the reported mate-value-based motives for exercise-related posting. 4.1 Results from Model 1 H1 Our first model suggests that mate value is not associated with higher amounts of exercise-related social media posting since mate value did not have an independent statistically significant effect. This result was unexpected in the light of previous research (Vandenbroele et al., 2020). Additionally in the context of our study, where mate value was included along with narcissism, mate value was expected to have the most explanatory power out of the variables. Overall, mate value could not explain high amounts of exercise related posting and therefore, our first hypothesis did not gain support from this study. H2 When looking at the effects of the variables individually from the coefficients table (see Table 3) narcissism seems stronger than mate value, which was surprising. Although previous research (Carpenter et al., 2011; Moon et al., 2016) have found associations between narcissism and posting on social media, they have not taken mate value in account. However, narcissism did not have an independent statistically significant effect on the amounts of exercise-related social media posting. H3 An association between low self-esteem and high amounts of posting exercise-related content was expected since previous research has demonstrated strong associations between low self-esteem and high amounts of using social media (Nyagah et al., 2015; Stănculescu & Griffiths, 2021; Vogel et al., 2014). However, this was not observed in our study which could be explained by the focus of studying social media posting rather than social media use or 24 consumption, which were additionally included in previous research. Or maybe low self- esteem could inhibit individuals from posting on social media, if they are fearful of other’s reactions due to low self-worth. This would on the other hand also go in line with our finding of narcissism having the strongest associations, although not statistically significant, with posting, since individuals with narcissistic tendencies might have temporarily very high self- esteem and even delusional thoughts of oneself. Mate access was not a significant variable in our analysis. This finding is partly against previous research since one study has found support for the association between Facebook addiction and using Facebook to meet romantic partners (Stănculescu & Griffiths, 2021). Facebook addiction, which can include posting exercise-related content, although it was not explicitly mentioned in the article, to meet romantic partners can be considered as an attempt to increase mate access but in our study, no association was found. This outcome with mate access is possible for a few reasons: First, if posting exercise-related content as a strategy to increase mate access is a valid hypothesis, it could be the case, that some people with currently low mate access post high amounts of exercise-related social media content to increase their mate access. At the same time, someone could have, during the last six months, increased their mate access through posting exercise-related social media content, which would then lead into a U-curve-type association. Here, individuals with either low or high mate access would post higher amounts of exercise-related social media content, which cannot be captured by a linear regression model. Even though there could have been a positive and statistically significant correlation between posting exercise-related social media content and mate access, a linear regression model may not totally capture the process-like nature that posting behavior and following increases in mate access possess. 4.2 Results from Model 2 The second model was a little stronger with an 8% explanatory power and suggests that mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism may explain mate-value-based motives in exercise-related social media posting. This is not as surprising since the dependent variable, mate-value-based motives, was quite closely related to mate value which was one of the independent variables. In this analysis, mate value seemed to be the strongest variable, and it maintained an individual statistically significant effect (see Table 4). Narcissism had independent explanatory power in this analysis with a similar effect size as in the first model 25 (see Table 4 & 3). This was not too surprising since the questions regarded one’s perceived image and the thrive to be perceived positively by others which in part also describes narcissistic tendencies. 4.3 Limitations Overall, the sample may have limited results on many levels. First, the sample was relatively small (N=130) which limits statistical power. Although information of education level was not gathered, the sampling method only targeted people in higher education. Therefore, the results of this study may not be applicable for people of all education levels. In addition, there was an overrepresentation of females in the sample. Furthermore, no gender minorities were included in the final sample. For the reason of defining a simple study subject, the study only focused on heterosexual relationships. All in all, the makeup of the sample may have affected results in many respects. Some participants reported answering the questions in the Mate Value and Mate Access scales in an unintended manner because they were in a committed relationship already. However, the participants were instructed to answer those scales with the notion of a potential partner referring to anyone, considering their sex and age, that the participant could be sexually or romantically interested in. Understandably, some people might have answered in a manner that was not intended in the survey, if the instruction still remained unclear for them. In our study, it might be the case, that some people obtained lower scores on the Mate Access and Mate Value scales due to misinterpretation of the scales’ items or purpose which would then limit the observed associations. The used instruments demonstrated good reliability in this study, and in previous studies. However, we used measures in this study, that tried to capture behavior for which there was not any prior instruments. This led to self-made questions and variables of exercise-related posting behavior and its motives, and these two variables showed an acceptable and a questionable level of reliability. Also, the manner of measuring the amount of posting exercise-related social media content might not have been comprehensive enough which should also be considered in further research. 4.4 Further research 26 In the future, there should be more focus on developing reliable measures for different types of social media behaviors that differentiate between consuming social media content or creating it. Also, for further research where topics of mate value and mate access are studied with surveys or questionnaires, the instructions could be made even clearer for respondents, so the scores would better represent the underlying characteristics that the researchers are trying to measure. Also, more complex research methods or setups may be necessary if this previously mentioned hypothetical strategy regarding mate access and social media posting are under interest. In addition, mate access and social media have not, to the best of my knowledge, been studied before, which could be an interesting ground for further exploration. 4.5 Conclusions Based on these analyses, mate value, mate access, self-esteem, and narcissism did not explain variation in amounts of exercise-related posting on social media, whereas they may explain some of the mate-value-based motives of exercise-related posting. Even though, there is not much previous psychological research on social media posting, there are good grounds for subsequent research. Further research could benefit from taking a wide approach that includes phenomena from both fields of psychology, traditional and evolutionary. This study suggests that narcissism and mate value may explain the motives of some social media posting, which could be a good starting point for further research. Further research should also explore these topics in gender minorities and different sexual orientations for more applicable results. Wide and inclusive approaches might generate a deeper understanding of the topic, and integrating different approaches allows the scientific field to broaden. 27 References APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Motivation. In APA Dictionary of Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://dictionary.apa.org/motivation Aloise-Young, P. A. (1993). The Development of Self-Presentation: Self-Promotion in 6- to 10-Year-Old children. Social Cognition, 11(2), 201– 222. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1993.11.2.201 Brase, G. L., & Guy, E. C. (2003). The demographics of mate value and self- esteem. 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Walldén, C., Westerlund, M., Gunst, A., Santtila, P., & Antfolk, J. (2020). Finding the Mating Gear: The development and validation of a mate access scale. Evolutionary Psychology, 18(3), 147470492093558. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704920935583 30 Appendices Appendix A. 1. Demografiset tiedot 1.1 Ikä 1.2 Sukupuoli a) Nainen b) Mies c) Muu 1.3 Oletko tällä hetkellä yli 6 kk kestäneessä parisuhteessa? a) Kyllä b) En 1.4 Oletko tällä hetkellä alle 6 kk kestäneessä parisuhteessa? a) Kyllä b) En 1.5 Etsitkö aktiivisesti kumppania tällä hetkellä? a) Kyllä b) En 2. Itsetunto, Brief Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale 2.1 Joskus minusta tuntuu, ettei minussa ole mitään hyvää. a) täysin samaa mieltä b) jokseenkin samaa mieltä c) jokseenkin eri mieltä d) täysin eri mieltä 2.2 Kaiken kaikkiaan minusta tuntuu, että olen epäonnistunut ihminen. a) täysin samaa mieltä b) jokseenkin samaa mieltä c) jokseenkin eri mieltä d) täysin eri mieltä 2.3 Löydän itsestäni useita ylpeyden aiheita. a) täysin samaa mieltä b) jokseenkin samaa mieltä 31 c) jokseenkin eri mieltä d) täysin eri mieltä 2.4 Kaiken kaikkiaan olen tyytyväinen itseeni. a) täysin samaa mieltä b) jokseenkin samaa mieltä c) jokseenkin eri mieltä d) täysin eri mieltä 2.5 Suhtaudun itseeni myönteisesti. a) täysin samaa mieltä b) jokseenkin samaa mieltä c) jokseenkin eri mieltä d) täysin eri mieltä 3. Narsismi, Super-Brief Pathological Narcissism Inventory 3.1 Kun ihmiset eivät huomaa minua, tulen tyytymättömäksi itseeni. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.2 Joskus välttelen ihmisiä pettymyksen pelossa. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.3 Tunnen itseni tärkeäksi, kun toiset tukeutuvat minuun. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 32 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.4 Unelmoin usein saavutuksista, jotka todennäköisesti ovat kykyjeni ulottumattomissa. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.5 Minun on vaikea olla tyytyväinen, ellen tiedä toisten ihailevan minua. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.6 Kuvittelen usein tulevani palkituksi ponnisteluistani. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.7 Minua vaivaavat ajatukset ja huolet siitä, että useimmat ihmiset eivät ole kiinnostuneita minusta. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.8 Pidän siitä, että minulla on ystäviä, jotka tukeutuvat minuun, sillä se saa minut tuntemaan itseni tärkeäksi. 33 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.9 Minun on vaikea olla tyytyväinen itseeni, ellen tiedä toisten pitävän minusta. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.10 Unelmoin usein sankaritekojen tekemisestä. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.11 Unelmoin usein, että saisin tunnustuksen saavutuksistani. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 3.12 Kun toiset näkevät vähänkin siitä, mitä tarvitsen, ahdistun, ja tunnen häpeää. 0 = Ei kuvaa minua ollenkaan 1 2 3 4 34 5 = Kuvaa minua täysin 4. Kumppaniarvo, Mate Value Scale Seuraavat kysymykset koskevat ajatuksiasi siitä, kuinka houkuttelevaksi koet itsesi mahdolliselle romanttiselle tai seksuaaliselle kumppanille. Tässä "mahdollisella kumppanilla" tarkoitetaan ketä tahansa henkilöä, josta voisit olla seksuaalisesti tai romanttisesti kiinnostunut huomioiden heidän sukupuolensa ja ikänsä. 4.1 Kaiken kaikkiaan, millaiseksi arvioisit oman houkuttelevuutesi kumppanina seuraavalla asteikolla? 1 äärimmäisen epähoukutteleva 2 3 4 5 6 7 äärimmäisen houkutteleva 4.2 Kaiken kaikkiaan, millaiseksi toisen sukupuolen edustajat arvioisivat sinun houkuttelevuuttasi kumppanina seuraavalla asteikolla? 1 äärimmäisen epähoukutteleva 2 3 4 5 6 7 äärimmäisen houkutteleva 4.3 Kaiken kaikkiaan, miten uskot vertautuvasi muihin ihmisiin houkuttelevuuden suhteen kumppanina seuraavalla asteikolla? 1 paljon matalampi kuin keskiverto 2 matalampi kuin keskiverto 3 hieman matalampi kuin keskiverto 4 keskiverto 5 hieman korkeampi kuin keskiverto 6 korkeampi kuin keskiverto 7 paljon korkeampi kuin keskiverto 35 4.4 Kaiken kaikkiaan, kuinka hyvä kumppaniehdokas olet? 1 todella huono ehdokas 2 huono ehdokas 3 jokseenkin huono ehdokas 4 keskiverto ehdokas 5 jokseenkin hyvä ehdokas 6 hyvä ehdokas 7 erittäin hyvä ehdokas 5. Kumppanisaatavuus, Mate Access Scale Vastaa seuraaviin kysymyksiin mahdollisista kumppaneista. Tässä "mahdollisella kumppanilla" tarkoitetaan ketä tahansa henkilöä, josta voisit olla seksuaalisesti tai romanttisesti kiinnostunut huomioiden heidän sukupuolensa ja ikänsä. 5.1 Kuinka monta mahdollista kumppania tapaat tavallisena päivänä jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi? Älä laske henkilöitä, joita tapaat internetissä. 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai enemmän 5.2 Kuinka monen mahdollisen kumppanin kanssa olet vuorovaikutuksessa internetissä tavallisena päivänä jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi? 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai enemmän 5.3 Kuinka monelle mahdolliselle kumppanille puhut tavallisena päivänä jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi? Älä laske henkilöitä, joita tapaat internetissä. 0 = 0 36 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai useammalle 5.4 Ajattele ihmisiä, joille puhut tavallisena päivänä jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi. Kuinka monesta heistä olet seksuaalisesti kiinnostunut? 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai useammasta 5.5 Ajattele ihmisiä, joille puhut tavallisena päivänä jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi. Kuinka monen heistä luulet olevan seksuaalisesti kiinnostunut sinusta? 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai enemmän 5.6 Kuinka monelle mahdolliselle seurustelukumppanille puhut tavallisena viikonloppuna? 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai enemmän 37 5.7 Kuinka monelle mahdolliselle seksikumppanille puhut tavallisena viikonloppuna? 0 = 0 1 = 1–3 2 = 4–9 3 = 10–19 4 = 20–49 5 = 50–99 6 = 100 tai enemmän 5.8 Tapaatko jokapäiväisessä elämässäsi yhtä monta potentiaalista kumppania kuin haluat? 0 = en läheskään niin montaa kuin haluan 1 = vähemmän kuin haluan 2 = lähes niin monta kuin haluan 3 = kyllä, niin monta kuin haluan 5.9 Saatko yhtä monta romanttista kutsua (esim. joku kutsuu sinut treffeille) kuin haluat (tai jopa enemmän kuin haluat)? 0 = en läheskään niin montaa kuin haluan 1 = vähemmän kuin haluan 2 = lähes niin monta kuin haluan 3 = kyllä, niin monta kuin haluan 5.10 Jos etsisit uutta houkuttelevaa seksikumppania, minkälaiseksi arvioisit mahdollisuutesi löytää sellaisen viikon sisällä? 0 = erittäin alhaisiksi 1 = hieman keskimääräistä alhaisemmiksi 2 = keskitasoisiksi 3 = hieman keskimääräistä korkeammaksi 4 = erittäin korkeiksi 5.11 Jos etsisit uutta seurustelukumppania, minkälaiseksi arvioisit mahdollisuutesi löytää sellaisen kuukauden sisällä? 0 = erittäin alhaisiksi 1 = hieman keskimääräistä alhaisemmiksi 2 = keskitasoisiksi 3 = hieman keskimääräistä korkeammaksi 38 4 = erittäin korkeiksi 5.12 Jos etsisit uutta houkuttelevaa seksikumppania, missä ajassa uskot realistisesti, että löytäisit sellaisen? 3 = viikon sisällä 2 = kuukauden sisällä 1 = 6 kuukauden sisällä 0 = yli 6 kuukaudessa 5.13 Mikäli yrittäisit, montako seksikumppania luulet, että saisit verrattuna muihin samanikäisiin ja saman sukupuolen edustajiin? 0 = paljon vähemmän kuin muut 1 = vähän vähemmän kuin muut 2 = yhtä monta kuin muut 3 = vähän enemmän kuin muut 4 = paljon enemmän kuin muut 5.14 Kuinka usein saat seksuaalisia ehdotuksia ihmisiltä, joista voisit olla kiinnostunut? 0 = en koskaan 1 = melko harvoin 2 = joskus 3 = melko usein 4 = lähes päivittäin 6. Liikunta ja sosiaalinen media 6.1 Harrastatko säännöllistä liikuntaa? a) Kyllä b) En 6.2 Kuinka usein harrastat mitä tahansa liikuntaa? a) Harvemmin kuin kerran viikossa b) Kerran viikossa c) Parista muutamaan kertaan viikossa d) Lähes joka päivä 6.3 Oletko julkaissut kuvan liikuntasuorituksestasi viimeisen 6 kk aikana sosiaaliseen mediaan? a) Et kertaakaan b) Kerran 39 c) Joitakin kertoja d) Kerran kuukaudessa e) Viikoittain f) Päivittäin 6.4 Oletko julkaissut kuvan kehostasi viimeisen 6 kk aikana sosiaaliseen mediaan? a) Et kertaakaan b) Kerran c) Joitakin kertoja d) Kerran kuukaudessa e) Viikoittain f) Päivittäin 6.5 Arviolta mieti, kuinka monta kertaa neljästä päätät julkaista liikuntasuorituksestasi sosiaaliseen mediaan jotakin. a) 0 % eli en koskaan tai todella harvoin b) 25 % eli neljäsosan kerroista c) 50 % eli puolet kerroista d) 75 % eli usein e) 100 % eli lähes jokaisen kerran tai aina 6.6 Jos julkaiset suorittamastasi liikunnasta jotakin sosiaaliseen mediaan, kuinka monta julkaisua teet samasta liikuntasuorituksesta? a) En julkaise liikuntasuorituksistani koskaan mitään. b) 1 c) 2 d) 3 e) 4 f) 5 tai enemmän 6.7 Jos julkaiset suorittamastasi liikunnasta jotakin sosiaaliseen mediaan, toivotko julkaisun näkemisen parantavan potentiaalisten kumppaneiden mielikuvaa sinusta? a) en yhtään b) hieman c) jonkin verran d) melko paljon e) erittäin paljon 40 6.8 Jos julkaiset suorittamastasi liikunnasta jotakin sosiaaliseen mediaan, kuinka paljon uskot tai luulet sen parantavan julkaisun nähneiden potentiaalisten kumppaneiden mielikuvaa sinusta? a) en yhtään b) hieman c) jonkin verran d) melko paljon e) erittäin paljon 6.9 Oletko liioitellut tai kokonaan sepittänyt liikuntasuorituksiasi sosiaaliseen mediaan? a) en koskaan b) harvoin c) joskus d) usein e) aina Paljon kiitoksia kyselyyn vastaamisesta! 41 Appendix B. Lausunto 1 (2) 03.12.2024 Asiatunnus TY/1235/06.01.01/2024 Turun yliopiston ihmistieteiden eettisen toimikunnan ihmistieteellisten tutkimusten jaosto Ihmistieteellisen tutkimuksen eettinen ennakkoarviointi Tutkimuksen nimi Itsetunnon, narsismin, kumppaniarvon ja kumppanisaatavuuden yhteys sosiaaliseen mediaan urheilusuoritusten julkaisemisen kanssa Tutkimuksen yhteyshenkilö Lotta Lyytikäinen Tutkimuksesta vastaava henkilö Nils Sandman Käsittely ihmistieteiden eettisen toimikunnan ihmistieteellisten tutkimusten jaostossa Tutkija on pyytänyt ennakkoarviointilausuntoa tutkimussuunnitelmansa eettisyydestä ja muista tutkimukseen liittyvistä riskeistä. Turun yliopiston ihmistieteiden eettisen toimikunnan ihmistieteellisten tutkimusten jaosto on kokouksessaan 3.12.2024 käsitellyt hakijan pyynnön, tutkimussuunnitelman ja siihen liittyviä asiakirjoja. Toimikunta on pyytänyt hakijaa täydentämään hakemustaan. Hakija on toimittanut pyydetyt täydennykset. Lausunto Kun otetaan huomioon tutkijan pyyntö, mainitusta tutkimuksesta asiakirjoista saatava selvitys sekä Tutkimuseettisen neuvottelukunnan ohjeet ihmiseen kohdistuvan tutkimuksen eettisistä periaatteista sekä ihmistieteiden eettisestä ennakkoarvioinnista Suomessa (2019), toimikunta antaa puoltavan lausunnon. Toimikunnan käsityksen mukaan ennakkoarvioitavana oleva suunniteltu tutkimus on eettisesti hyväksyttävä. Käsittelyyn osallistuneet henkilöt Asian käsittelyyn ovat osallistuneet Janne Salminen toimikunnan puheenjohtajana sekä Mika Koivisto, Leo Lahti, Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, Elsa Saarikkomäki, Helena Siipi, Riikka Turtiainen ja Marjaana Veermans toimikunnan jäseninä. 42 Toimikunnan sihteerinä on toiminut Kirsi Klemelä ja henkilötietojen käsittelystä vastaavana asiantuntijajäsenenä Johanna Rauma. Turun yliopisto 20014 Turun yliopisto / Puhelin 029 450 5000 Y-tunnus 0245896-3 utu.fi Lausunto 2 (2) 03.12.2024 Asiatunnus TY/1235/06.01.01/2024 Lisätietoja Toimikunnan sihteeri Kirsi Klemelä, sähköposti eettinen@utu.fi tai puh. +358 50 303 0346 Muutoksenhaku Jos ennakkoarviointilausunnon pyytäjä ei hyväksy ihmistieteiden eettisen toimikunnan päätöstä tai lausunnon sisältämiä muutosehdotuksia, hän voi pyytää asiasta lausuntoa Tutkimuseettiseltä neuvottelukunnalta. Perusteltu lausuntopyyntö liitteineen tulee jättää kahden kuukauden kuluessa eettisen toimikunnan päätöksestä. Lausunto on sähköisesti allekirjoitettu Turun yliopiston UTUsign-palvelussa. Janne Salminen Puheenjohtaja Kirsi Klemelä Sihteeri Turun yliopisto 20014 Turun yliopisto / Puhelin 029 450 5000 Y-tunnus 0245896-3 utu.fi Statement (Unofficial translation) 1 (2) 03.12.2024 Case Number TY/1235/06.01.01/2024 The Ethics Committee for Human Sciences at the University of Turku, Humanities and Social Sciences Division 43 Ethical review of humanities and social sciences research Title of the research project Associations between self-esteem, narcissism, mate value, mate access and posting workoutrelated content on social media Contact person for the research Lotta Lyytikäinen Principal investigator of the research project Nils Sandman Handling the matter at the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Ethics Committee for Human Sciences The researcher has requested an ethical review statement on the ethicality of the research plan and on other risks related to the research. The Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Ethics Committee for Human Sciences at the University of Turku has in its meeting on 3.12.2024 processed the applicant’s request, the research plan, and the related documents. The Humanities and Social Sciences Division has asked the researcher to supplement the application. The researcher has submitted the requested amendments. Statement When considering the researcher’s request, information about the research obtained from the delivered documents, and the national guidelines for the ethical principles of research with human participants and ethical review in human sciences, the Ethics Committee gives assent to the research. According to the Ethics Committee, the planned research project under the ethical review can be ethically approved. Persons participating in the processing of the matter The matter has been handled by Janne Salminen as the chair of the Committee and Mika Koivisto, Leo Lahti, Eriikka Paavilainen-Mäntymäki, Elsa Saarikkomäki, Helena Siipi, Riikka Turtiainen and Marjaana Veermans as the members of the Committee. Kirsi Klemelä was the secretary of the Committee and Johanna Rauma the expert member on processing personal data. 44 University of Turku Postal address FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland / Telephone +358 29 450 5000 Business ID 0245896-3 utu.fi Statement (Unofficial translation) 2 (2) 03.12.2024 Case Number TY/1235/06.01.01/2024 More information Secretary Kirsi Klemelä, email eettinen@utu.fi or tel. +358 50 303 0346 Appeals If the person who has requested an ethical review statement does not accept the changes proposed in the statement or the decision of the human sciences ethics committee, they may request a statement on the matter from the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). The request for a statement, including the grounds for requesting a statement, must be submitted within two months of the ethics committee’s decision. This document has been electronically signed with UTUsign. Janne Salminen Chair Kirsi Klemelä Secretary 45 Tämä dokumentti on allekirjoitettu sähköisesti Turun yliopiston UTUsign-järjestelmällä This document has been electronically signed with UTUsign system of the University of Turku Päiväys / Date: 15.01.2025 14:46:57 (UTC +0200) Kirsi Klemelä kehittämisasiantuntija Turun yliopisto Organisaation varmentama (UTU-käyttäjätunnus) Certified by organization (UTU user account) Organisaation varmentama Päiväys / Date: 15.01.2025 16:28:49 (UTC +0200) Janne Salminen professori Turun yliopisto Organisaation varmentama (UTU-käyttäjätunnus) Certified by organization (UTU user account) Organisaation varmentama