This study explored gender role conflict (GRC), athletic identity, and stigma toward seeking professional psychological help among college football players. Using cluster analysis, three distinct patterns or clusters of responding to the four GRC subscales emerged. The cluster of football players that reported the highest levels of all four GRC subscales also reported significantly higher levels of athletic identity and stigma toward seeking professional psychological help. Other clusters reported lower levels of GRC, indicating a degree of heterogeneity in how football players report socialization stress related to their masculinity. The results are discussed within the context of masculinity, sport, and the socializing influence of football in American society. Despite societal stereotypes, college football players are a diverse group of men who define their masculinity differently.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.