The Psychology & Personality of Fitness Fanatics

What is the personality and general psychology of a person that could be called a fitness fanatic? These are people that always workout and stay in shape.

The Casuals

Most people that workout (The Casuals) do so for temporary reasons. One example of this is working out and keeping in shape when they are single in order to attract a partner. Then, when they are in a long-term relationship or get married, they let themselves go. Another example would be getting into shape for the summer, or a holiday.

Then we have those that workout and stay in shape consistently throughout their entire lives. These are the people that I’m talking about. What common personality traits do they have? This also tells us what motivates them.

Big Five Personality Traits

Openness

People high in the interest in the aesthetics aspect of the openness trait are likely to appreciate the aesthetic aspect of being in good shape and having a good physique. A muscular male physique does look good to most people. Bodybuilding is an activity based purely on aesthetics.     

Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is the hard-working trait. So, fitness enthusiasts are going to be fairly high to very high in this trait. The industrious aspect is particularly connected to hard work. We also have the aspects of achievement seeking, orderliness, and discipline. Orderliness is associated with perfectionism, wanting symmetry. High orderliness is also connected to (OCD) obsessive compulsive disorder.

So, a hypothesis is that there is a disproportionally high number of fitness fanatics that suffer with OCD.  

Extroversion

Extroverts are more likely to seek higher social status, and your physical condition can increase your status somewhat. The most obvious example of this would be a man that wants to bulk up, increasing his size and strength, as these are often perceived as high status indicators.

Extroverts are also more prone to reward sensitivity, and they may also be seeking that attention that they get from being more aesthetically pleasing.

However, how extroverted someone is, is a lesser factor and motivator than some of the other traits. I would call myself a fitness fanatic, but I am certainly not extroverted.  

Agreeableness

People that are into sports are likely to be on average lower on the trait of agreeableness. This is because low agreeableness is connected to a more competitive person. This may also be true for the fitness fanatic.

Being high in agreeableness will also strongly influence someone’s interests and activities. These people are more likely to have a much stronger interest in people’s relationships, and people’s lives in general. In fact, it’s probably their dominant interest and motivator.

Neuroticism

Those who are high in neuroticism may suffer with higher levels of self-consciousness. So, improving your appearance could be a motivator. High neuroticism is also likely to be connected to hypochondria. Some people may become fitness fanatics in order to offset their anxiety about illness.

Those high in neuroticism will generally feel more negative emotions. Being somewhat of a fitness fanatic may be one way to counter this. It’s well understood that exercise and fitness are good for mental health as well as physical health. It may also counter their fear by making themselves stronger and less vulnerable. So, they can protect themselves from dangers which they often worry about.

Not everyone who is a fitness fanatic will be high in neuroticism. However, it’s likely to be an influencing factor for some.

High Extroversion & Low Agreeableness = Narcissism

High extroversion and low agreeableness is a combination that predicts narcissism. Narcissists tend to be shallow people that only focus on surface level attributes such as appearances. They are also not motivated by the health aspects of fitness, so they are more likely to use steroids to gain a certain appearance. They also tend to be competitive people that want to beat others.

You can spot a narcissist by noticing if they are always comparing themselves to others. Excessively looking down on others, and engaging in bullying tactics to make themselves look good. Generally, they are only focused on the shallow and the superficial.

These people are not really fitness fanatics, they are only interested in how they appear to others.