Physical activity among Muslim women: The roles of religious identity, health consciousness, and Muslim population density

Abstract

AbstractWhile both the prevailing media discourse and extant scholarship commonly posit that the religious beliefs of Muslim women may inhibit their inclination towards physical activities, a fresh wave of critical scholarship has proposed an alternative narrative. The emergent critical perspective posits that Muslim women might extract from their religious beliefs the catalyst for their involvement in physical activity. This research aimed to explore these possibilities in greater depth by employing the social identity theory perspective. In Study 1, the authors collected data from Muslim women (N = 177) living in the US. Results indicate that religious identity was positively associated with physical activity intentions (β = 4.746, p = .010), and this relationship was bolstered among Muslim women with high levels of health consciousness (moderator) (β = 2.826, p < .001). In Study 2, the authors collected data from Muslim women (N = 322) from 34 different countries to explore the intersection of the interplay between the individual and their sociocultural milieu. Again, religious identity was positively associated with self-reported physical activity (β = 7.344, p < .001). This study contributes to the limited knowledge concerning the relationship between religious identity and physical activity participation among Muslim women.

Keywords

• religion
• Islam
• sport
• exercise
• gender