Sport Stereotypes and Gender

Abstract

Two samples were used to assess the sex linkage of a wide range of sports. One sample rated each of 68 sports (Matteo, 1984) on perceived acceptability and likelihood of participation for both females and males. The other judged the same 68 sports for masculinity-femininity and perceived complexity. Additionally, all 68 sports were compared to Metheny's (1965) physical activities criteria for perceived appropriateness for female participation. Results indicated that masculinity-femininity judgments were similar to those obtained by Matteo (1984) and that correlations of sex linkage of sport with acceptability and likelihood of participation were high, especially for judgments about female participants. Agreement between sex-type categories for sports and Metheny's (1965) criteria was most consistent for sports receiving either the most extreme masculine or most extreme feminine ratings. It appears that perceptions of the masculinity or femininity of sports are influenced by the gender of who actually participates in those sports as well as the physical activities involved in the sports. Finally, the correlation between mean masculinity-femininity and simplicity-complexity ratings was small and not significant. Indeed, those groups of sports categorized as masculine and feminine were rated as equally complex, and both groups were judged as significantly more complex than the sports classified as neutral. This finding negates Deaux's (1984) contention that feminine tasks are inevitably judged to be simpler than masculine tasks.