Gender-Typed Sport Practice, Physical Self-Perceptions, and Performance-Related Emotions in Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Youth sport experience provides opportunities for physical, personal, and social development in youngsters. Sport is a social system in which socially constructed gender differences and stereotypes are incorporated, and specific sport activities are often perceived as gender characterized. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between some salient physical and emotional self-perceptions and the type of sport practiced. A sample of 261 female athletes, aged 14–21 years (Mage = 15.59, SD = 2.00), practicing different sports, categorized as feminine (e.g., artistic and rhythmic gymnastics), masculine (e.g., soccer and rugby), or neutral (e.g., track and field and tennis), took part in a cross-sectional study. Significant differences were observed between aesthetic sports and other types of sports. Athletes involved in aesthetic sports reported the lowest values in their feelings of confidence and the highest values in feelings of worry related to competition. This may be attributed to the evaluation system of aesthetic sports, in which the athlete’s performance is evaluated by a jury. At the same time, they reported low values of dysfunctional psychobiosocial states associated with their general sport experience, likely because of their physical appearance close to the current body social standards for girls. Notwithstanding the differences by type of sport, athletes of all disciplines reported high mean values of functional psychobiosocial states, suggesting that their overall sporting experience was good.

The Influence of Physical Education on Self-Efficacy in Overweight Schoolgirls: A 12-Week Training Program

“…At the end of the intervention program, the BMI average in the EG was considerably improved, whereas, in the CG, it remained stable or even increased. These findings are consistent with previous studies that demonstrate an association between body weight, self-efficacy, and aerobic physical activity exists ( Trost et al, 2001 ; Ievers-Landis et al, 2019 ; Morano et al, 2020 ). The results of these studies support the hypothesis that moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise activity is more effective than low-intensity exercise in inducing weight loss ( Keane et al, 2017 ).…”

Corporate governance in sports organizations: A gendered approach. Final report 2022

“…Netball is usually perceived as a feminine sport (Sobal & Milgrim, 2019) or a women's game (Broomhall, 1994). According to Metheny's (1965) categories, Gymnastics was one of the permissible sports for girls and defined as a female-appropriate sport (Morano et al, 2020;Riemer & Visio, 2003), or as simply a feminine sport (Plaza et al, 2017;Sobal & Milgrim, 2019). Moreover, the UK's sports with the second-highest number of female board members, Dance and Horse-riding, are mostly associated with the female gender by the literature (Plaza et al, 2017;Sobal & Milgrim, 2019).…”

“…The general results of the study highlight that female gender-typed sports do not in themselves have the ability to promote a better position for women in their governance unless somehow supported by gender quotas. Literature focused on the sex-typing of sports showed that gender division in sports tended to resist through time and gender policies adopted at the national or European level (Klomsten et al, 2005;Morano et al, 2020;Plaza et al, 2017) Specifically, some types of sports such as Danc-ing and Gymnastics are traditionally considered to be related to hegemonic femininity (Plaza et al, 2017;Sobal & Milgrim, 2019).…”

Sport Participation in Early and Middle Adolescence: The Interplay Between Self-Perception and Psychobiosocial Experiences in Predicting Burnout Symptoms

“…Sport involvement offers young people the opportunity to learn and develop numerous physical skills and abilities, which in turn enhance their physical self-perceptions. Indeed, research findings in children and adolescents have consistently shown organized sports participation to be positively related to physical self-concept ( Balaguer et al, 2012 ; Amado-Alonso et al, 2018 ; Morano et al, 2020b ), self-esteem, and sport competence ( Rubeli et al, 2020 ).…”