Peer attitudes towards adolescent participants in male- and female-oriented sports.
This study examined gender stereotypes in peer ratings of femininity and masculinity for adolescent participants in three sports. Following a preliminary study of gender stereotyping of several sports, high school students rated unfamiliar cohorts each of whom was described in a single paragraph as either a male or female dedicated participant in one of three sports. A total of 12 different descriptive paragraphs were used in a 2 (race) x 2 (sex) x 3 (sport) design. Each of these paragraphs, although short, ascribed a variety of traits that could be seen by raters as the independent variables: name (initials only), age, race, gender, hours of practice per week, number of competitions/performances per year, sport, and self-confidence. For this reason, raters were highly unlikely to surmise that sex and sport were the primary independent variables in the study. As predicted, there was a consistent decrease in rated femininity and increase in masculinity for both male and female adolescent targets as they switched from participating in a "feminine" (ballet) to a neutral (tennis) to a "masculine" (karate) sport. These results suggest that sex stereotypes for certain sports may influence who elects to participate and how participants are viewed by others.
Alley
Thomas R
TR
Department of Psychology, 418 Brackett Hall, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-1355, USA. ALLEY@clemson.edu
Hicks
Catherine M
CM
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012574:Schools; D019529:Sexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D012933:Social Identification; D012938:Social Perception; D013022:South Carolina; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D013240:Stereotyping