Smoking has an adverse effect on both men and women. However, researchers are not sure if there is a link between smoking and being overweight, especially among the female population. Therefore, the research on Differential Effects of a Body Image Exposure Session on Smoking Urge between Physically Active and Sedentary Female Workers was necessary. There are numerous questions that the researchers want to answer. First, they want to scrutinize the effects of a behavioral task among young female adults exercising regularly and those that do not. Secondly, the researchers want to ascertain the positive or negative effects that smoking has for addicts with regards to their motivation levels and view of self. Moreover, the scholars are interested in determining the existent correlation between nicotine withdrawal, dependence, and symptoms of depression.

There are various hypotheses that the researchers are testing in this study. First, they are convinced that the regular female smokers lack weight control tendencies in relation to physical activity. Therefore, such addicts are highly dependent on the expectation that regular smoking eliminates weight concerns. The second hypothesis is that physical activity bears an effective reinforcement aspect and salience in proper management of weight concerns, specifically among teenage female smokers. Consequently, the individuals falling under this age bracket are less likely to continue their smoking habits since they are concerned about being overweight. Lastly, the scholars hypothesized that after the body image manipulation session, the staunch overweight female addicts will be more inclined to habitual smoking in comparison to their physically active counterparts (Fielding, 2012).

In this study, the researchers sampled 16 sedentary female smokers and 21 physically active young females. All of them smoked five cigarettes daily for half a year. Then, the article authors exposed the study subjects to body images so that their concern regarding their weight and body image can intensify. The researchers captured the sample’s reactions using structured questionnaires for easier statistical analysis. However, it is notable that they failed to capture as many data as possible since overreliance on one data gathering technique invalidates the statistical outcome.

Conducting the statistical analysis involves the identification of null and positive hypotheses. In this way, the scholars can assess and test the exhaustive statistical outcome for invalidation or validation of the hypothesis. In essence, null hypotheses are factual unless proven otherwise. If this is the case, the researchers must develop an alternate hypothesis to replace the initial conviction. In this study, they concluded that indeed, female smokers consider their addictive behavior as a remedy for overweight risks. On the other hand, they confirmed that smoking and physical activity bear perceived benefits like minimal anxiety, weight control, and a positive mood.

This study assumes that all overweight women consider smoking habit as a solution. An assumption such as this is wrong, considering that different women have distinct tastes and preferences, irrespective of their health or weight. In addition, the study focuses on young female population rather than the general population. In fact, the risk is even higher for older smokers than the youth. On the other hand, this research has numerous limitations. First, the sampled population consist of a limited number of study subjects and is less diverse. Second, the time for conducting this research was inadequate (Nair et al., 2013). As an author, I would have conducted the research for a prolonged period to capture changes in subject’s convictions over time. In addition, I would incorporate women of different ages.

In summary, it is clear that the authors applied a two-way ANOVA statistical testing, considering that all the sampled subjects are female smokers. Hence, the dependent variable is ‘smoking women.’ On the other hand, the independent variables are physical inactivity (or activity) and body image. The study outcome, therefore, suggests that physical activity leads to attenuation of smoking urges among those concerned about being overweight.