Abstract
The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of a rash guard on the likability of a swimming class from the perspective of the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit. In study 1, 127 college students (20.35years old; 54 males, 73 females) completed a retrospective survey on the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit in junior high school. The results revealed that psychological difficulty can be divided into four concerns: body shape, other people′s gaze, sunburn, and body hair. In study 2, 315 students (13.39years old; 165 males, 150 females) belonging to a junior high school that allowed them to wear a rash guard in swimming class and 290 students (13.93years old; 138 males, 152 females) belonging to a junior high school that did not allow them to wear a rash guard in swimming class completed a survey on the likability of the swimming class, requests for wearing a rash guard in future classes, and the psychological difficulty of wearing a swimsuit. The results revealed that wearing a rash guard impacted the likability of a swimming class by reducing students′ anxiety about sunburn.
