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.

Identifying practices of masculinity socialization that contribute to the establishment of gender privilege can help address violence and bullying in schools (Connell, 1996). Because the sport of football is considered an important contributor to masculinity construction, establishing peer networks, and creating hierarchies of student status, this study examined the influence of social norms (i.e., moral atmosphere, meanings of adolescent masculinity) on bullying beliefs and behaviors of 206 high school football players. Results demonstrated that moral atmosphere (Peer Influence, Influential Male Figure) and adherence to male role norms significantly predicted bullying, but the strongest predictor was the perception of whether the most influential male in a player's life would approve of the bullying behavior. In addition to prevention interventions highlighting the role of influential men and masculinity norms in this process, implications for practice suggest that football players can use their peer influence and status as center sport participants to create a school culture that does not tolerate bullying.

This study investigated racial attitudes about American Indians that are electronically expressed in newspaper online forums by examining the University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname and logo used for their athletic teams. Using a modified Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) methodology to analyze over 1,000 online forum comments, the research team generated themes, domains, and core ideas from the data. The core ideas included (a) surprise, (b) power and privilege, (c) trivialization, and (d) denigration. The findings indicated that a critical mass of online forum comments represented ignorance about American Indian culture and even disdain toward American Indians by providing misinformation, perpetuating stereotypes, and expressing overtly racist attitudes toward American Indians. Results of this study were explained through the lens of White power and privilege, as well as through the framework of two-faced racism (Picca & Feagin, 2007). Results provide support to previous findings that indicate the presence of Native-themed mascots, nicknames, or logos can negatively impact the psychological well-being of American Indians.

This study represents an interdisciplinary endeavor between the fields of sport psychology and the psychological study of men and masculinity. The purpose of this study was to provide a greater understanding of the relationship between traditional masculine norms and help-seeking attitudes within the unique context of football. We examined conformity to masculine norms and help-seeking stigma within a sample of 245 college football players. Cluster analytic methods were used to create a profile of participants' conformity to traditional masculine norms (i.e., clusters), then we evaluated those clusters in relation to stigma toward seeking professional psychological help. Results indicated the presence of three clusters, each of which presented unique combinations of conformity to masculine norms: a) Non-Conforming Players; b) Paradoxical Competitors; and c) Highly Conforming Players. Members of the Highly Conforming Players and Paradoxical Competitors clusters reported significantly higher levels of stigma toward help-seeking than members of the Non-Conforming Players cluster. Results provided insight into the relationship between masculinity socialization and the stigmatization of help-seeking within sport. Psychologists can use the results of this study to design interventions to help athletes identify messages of masculinity operating within sport and encourage student-athletes to ask for help so they can better maximize their success on and off the field.

Sport exposes athletes to attributes that are typically associated with traditional masculine traits (e.g., individualism, competitiveness, aggressiveness, power). Female athletes often participate in sport using standards of traditional male athleticism, yet at the same time attempt to manage societal expectations of conforming to traditional femininity. By exploring conformity to gender norms in sport, we examined the relationship between gender norms, sport participation, and perceptions of body image among 143 female student-athletes and nonathletes. Results indicated that female student-athletes and nonathlete female college students did not differ in level of conformity to feminine norms; however, female student-athletes reported higher levels of conformity to masculine norms, particularly traditional masculine norms associated with sport participation (i.e., winning, risk taking). Additionally, participation in athletics did not significantly predict body esteem for women. Instead, conformity to three traditional gender norms–along with self-perceptions of being overweight–accounted for 53% of the variance in body esteem. Results are discussed in regard to past research and clinical applications.

This study examined racial and athletic identity among African American football players at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Negotiating the dualism of racial and athletic identities can be problematic because both roles are subject to prejudice and discrimination, particularly for student-athletes in revenue-producing sports like football. Results indicated that seniors at both institution types reported significantly lower levels of Public Regard and that lower levels of Public Regard predicted higher levels of college adjustment. Senior football players reported a greater acknowledgment that society does not value African Americans, and this acknowledgment predicted greater college adjustment. No differences between institution types in racial Centrality emerged, but football players at PWIs reported higher levels of Athletic Identity. By garnering a better understanding of the psychosocial needs of African American football players, these results can inform college student personnel who can prioritize facilitating student-athlete academic and life skills with the same attention given to ensuring their athletic success.

Female athletes in the United States face the paradoxical challenge of acquiring a degree of muscularity to be successful in their sport, yet they also endure pressure from societal expectations of femininity that often don't conform with the notion of muscularity. To address research questions about how female student-athletes balance muscularity and femininity, we conducted a mixed-methods study to examine muscularity beliefs among female student-athletes, female college students, and male college student-athletes. We quantitatively examined Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS) scores from 221 participants attending college in the Midwestern US.Results indicated that female student-athletes reported significantly higher DMS scores than female students, but male student-athletes reported the highest DMS scores in the sample.Qualitative results indicated that female student-athletes wanted to be muscular for these reasons: functionality (45%), health (42%), external gratification (21%), internal gratification (18%).

Fort Lewis CollegeWith sociocultural norms in American culture suggesting that muscularity is associated with masculinity, men often strive for a muscular physique. Because the psychological research on this drive for muscularity has focused primarily on negative outcomes, our mixed-method study intended to assess the contextual nature of this dynamic by examining muscularity within a functional context (e.g., sport). We assessed the experiences of 197 college football players who operate in this "masculinized" context (e.g., Richman & Shaffer, 2000) where muscularity is viewed functionally (i.e., maximizing athletic performance, minimizing injuries). Quantitative results indicated that athletic identity and certain traditional masculine norms (i.e., risk taking, emotional control, primacy of work) were significantly related to the drive for muscularity among college football players. Qualitative results indicated that football players primarily cited reasons for their desire to be muscular that were related to athletic functioning, while also acknowledging social benefits of external gratification (e.g., physical appearance, conformity, sex appeal) that are more prominent in the drive for muscularity literature. Results of this contextual examination were interpreted within existing theoretical frameworks of social comparison theory, masculinity socialization, and drive for muscularity.