OBSERVATIONAL SYSTEM FOR THE PROXEMICS COMMUNICATION OF THE FITNESS INSTRUCTOR (SOPROX-FITNESS): DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION AND PILOT STUDY

Abstract

S. Mendes Alves, J. J. Fernandes Rodrigues, M. Castañer Balcells, O. Camerino Foguet, P. J. Richheimer Marta de Sequeira, L. A. Dias Carvalhinho, V. A. da Costa Simões y S. Carla Alves Franco

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the
Observational System for the Proxemic Communication of the Fitness
Instructor, as well as conduct a pilot application of the same. During the
development and validation process of the new observation system it was
employed five sequential phases. At the end of this process, it was established the
validity and reliability of 5 coding dimensions and 23 categories of instructor
proxemics behavior to create the final version of the observational system. This
version of the observational system was applied in a pilot study conducted in a
sample of 12 fitness instructors from four different group-exercise classes. The
results indicated that instructor proxemics behaviour could be feasibly coded
with the Observational System for the Proxemic Communication of the Fitness
Instructor, having been held a comparative analysis about its intervention in the
various activities, albeit with a small sample size.