Abstract
Research on the relationship of sport participation and adjustment has been largely inconclusive for both males and females. The present investigation addresses this question by comparing male and female participants and nonparticipants on locus of control, a dimension of personality allegedly related to adjustment. Because of social pressures against participation for females, it was hypothesized that women participating on organized teams would reflect a more internal locus of control of their own lives than those who did not participate or participated “for fun” only. No difference between participation groups was predicted for males. The results indicated a sex-by-participation interaction, with female “organized” participants being the most internal and male nonparticipants being the most external. The results, which provide partial support for the hypotheses, were interpreted in terms of context-specific sex-role prescriptions.
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The authors wish to acknowledge the critical review of Dr. John Lewko.
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Kleiber, D.A., Hemmer, J.D. Sex differences in the relationship of locus of control and recreational sport participation. Sex Roles 7, 801–810 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287765
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287765