Individuals often make judgements of others based upon first impressions. Physica appearance can be a major influence on a person’s snap judgement of another individual, leading to a perception of that individual’s intellectual competence. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if physical appearance and dress of an Athletic Trainer (AT) influences student athletes’ perception of an AT’s competence. The secondary purpose was to elucidate the influence of physical appearance and dress on student athletes’ perception of AT competence. Research with a mixed-methods design was conducted via an electronically distributed quantitative survey. Student athletes who competed at colleges or universities within NATA District 5 were contacted via e-mail and asked to participate in an electronic survey. One hundred fifty-six student athletes completed the demographic information and the Student Athlete Response Form (SAR Form) that contained questions in reference to an image of a male or female AT who was underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese and dressed in either business casual or athletic attire. Students athletes were also asked to select the BMI of an AT that would best demonstrate competency. After completing the electronic survey, eighteen student athletes volunteered to be interviewed to fulfill the qualitative portion of this study. The results supported the primary hypothesis that student athletes scored obese ATs as less competent than normal and underweight ATs. A One-way ANOVA was conducted and a significant main effect was found for AT BMI. The Scheffe post-hoc test revealed that the AT BMI category of obese differed significantly in composite SAR mean score from underweight and normal weight AT BMI categories. A significant main effect was also found for AT dress: business casual or athletic attire. Business casual attire was perceived as more competent than athletic attire dress. The BMI Silhouette Scale Data was analyzed using a paired t-test which resulted in a significant difference between the perceived ideal male BMI and female BMI at p<0.001. The overall AT BMI that was perceived as the most competent was a BMI of 25.59 plus or minus 4.07. The main theme that emerged from the qualitative data analysis was that physically fit and knowledgeable athletic trainers are perceived as competent. In conclusion, this research indicates that student athletes perceive a relationship between an AT’s physical appearance and competence. More specifically, student athletes perceived a non-obese and professionally dressed AT as more competent than the alternative.
