Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Sport = Male… But Not All Sports: Investigating the Gender Stereotypes of Sport Activities at the Explicit and Implicit Levels

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The main objectives of the present studies were to update the explicit gender stereotypes linked to sport activities and examine whether they are associated with gender, age, personal practice, and general feminization rates of participation (Study 1, N = 690), as well as to investigate the potential effects of implicit gender sport stereotypes on the categorization of gendered names (Study 2, N = 53) and on perceptions of feminine, neutral, and masculine silhouettes (Study 3, N = 42). Study 1 indicated that explicit gender stereotypes are still attached to sport activities, with little variations according to personal characteristics but with a strong association with actual feminization rates. In Study 2, which focused on implicit stereotypes, we observed a slower identification of male names when participants were primed with feminine sport activities. In Study 3, neutral silhouettes were more frequently categorized as women following a feminine sport, but as men following a masculine sport. Our research suggests that sport activities are still gendered, both at the explicit and implicit levels, which may lead individuals to adjust their own participation even outside their consciousness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Banaji, M. R., & Greenwald, A. G. (1995). Implicit gender stereotyping in judgments of fame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 181–198. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.68.2.181.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Banaji, M. R., & Hardin, C. D. (1996). Automatic stereotyping. Psychological Science, 7, 136–141. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00346.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (2000). The mind in the middle: A practical guide to priming and automaticity research. In H. T. Reis & C. M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 253–285). New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511996481.017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, M. H. (2001). Introduction to behavioral research on the internet. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blair, I. V., & Banaji, M. R. (1996). Automatic and controlled processes in stereotype priming. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1142–1163. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouchard, C., Blair, S. N., & Haskell, W. L. (2012). Physical activity and health. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brook-Gunn, J. (1989). Pubertal processes and the early adolescent transition. In W. Damon (Ed.), Child development today and tomorrow (pp. 155–176). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castelli, L., Macrae, C. N., Zogmaister, C., & Arcuri, L. (2004). A tale of two primes: Contextual limits on stereotype activation. Social Cognition, 22, 233–247. doi:10.1521/soco.22.2.233.35462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalabaev, A., Sarrazin, P., Fontayne, P., Boiché, J., & Clément-Guillotin, C. (2013). The influence of gender stereotypes and gender roles on participation and performance in sport and exercise: Review and future directions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 14, 136–144. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.10.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheryan, S., Plaut, V. C., Davies, P., & Steele, C. M. (2009). Ambient belonging: How stereotypical environments impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 1045–1060. doi:10.1037/a0016239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, K. L., Bos, H. M., Merry, M. S., & Sandfort, T. G. (2013). Gender, ethnicity, religiosity, and same-gender sexual attraction and the acceptance of same-gender sexuality and gender non-conformity. Gender Roles, 68, 724–737. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0135-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csizma, K. A., Wittig, A. F., & Schurr, K. T. (1988). Sport stereotypes and gender. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 10, 62–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damian-Gaillard, B., Montañola, S., & Olivesi, A. (2014). L’assignation de genre dans les medias. Attentes, perturbations, reconfigurations [The assignation of gender in the Medias. Expectations, disruptions, reconfigurations]. Res Publica: Presse Universitaire de Rennes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davisse, A., & Louveau, G. (1993). Sports, école, société: La part des femmes [Sports, school, society: The women’s part]. Revue Française de Pédagogie, 103, 115–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Beuckelaer, A., & Lievens, F. (2009). Measurement equivalence of paper-and-pencil and online organizational surveys: A large scale examination in 16 countries. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 58, 336–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehaene, S., Naccache, L., Le Clec’H, G., Koechlin, E., Mueller, M., Dehaene-Lambertz, G., & Le Bihan, D. (1998). Imaging unconscious semantic priming. Nature, 395, 597–600. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2008.00350.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Economic and Social Affairs of United Nations. (2007). Femmes en l’an 2000 et au-delà [Women in 2000 year and beyond]. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/Women_and_Sport_French-web.pdf.

  • Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5–18. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.56.1.5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draine, S. C., & Greenwald, A. G. (1998). Replicable unconscious semantic priming. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 127, 286–303. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.127.3.286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H., & Steffen, V. J. (1984). Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social roles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 735–754. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.46.4.735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, S. T., & Neuberg, S. L. (1990). A continuum of impression formation, from category-based to individuating processes: Influences of information and motivation on attention and interpretation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1–74). New York, NY: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontayne, P., Sarrazin, P., & Famose, J. P. (2002). Effet du genre sur le choix et le rejet des activités physiques et sportives en Éducation Physique et Sportive: une approche additive et différentielle du modèle de l’androgynie. [Effect of gender on choice and rejection of sports and physical activities in physical education and sports: An additive and differential approach of the androgyny model]. Movement & Sport Sciences, 45, 45–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredricks, J. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2004). Parental influences on youth involvement in sports. In M. R. Weiss (Ed.), Developmental sport and exercise psychology: A lifespan perspective (pp. 145–164). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, J. B., & Ambady, N. (2011). A dynamic interactive theory of person construal. Psychological Review, 118, 247–279. doi:10.1037/a0022327.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • French Interdepartmental Committee of Women’s Rights. (2012). Une troisième génération des droits des femmes: vers une société de l’égalité réelle [A third generation of women’s rights: Toward a society of real equality]. Retrieved from http://femmes.gouv.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/CI-DDF-RELEVE-V7.pdf.

  • French Ministry of Sports. (2013). Les chiffres clés de la féminisation du sport en France [The key numbers of sport feminization in France]. Retrieved from http://www.sports.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/ccfs_2012-2013_06062014.pdf.

  • French Ministry of Women’s Rights. (2015). Vers l’égalité réelle entre les femmes et les hommes - Chiffres Clés – L’essentielle édition 2015 [Toward a real equality between women and men – Key numbers – The essential edition 2015]. Retrieved from http://femmes.gouv.fr/publications/egalite-entre-les-femmes-et-les-hommes/vers-legalite-reelle-entre-les-femmes-et-les-hommes-chiffres-cles-lessentiel-edition-2015/.

  • French Sports National Olympic Committee. (2012). Charte d’éthique et de déontologie du sport Français [Charter of ethics and conduct of the French sport]. Retrieved from http://franceolympique.com/files/File/publications/Charte%20ethique%20et%20de%20deontologie%20du%20sport%20adoptee%20par%20AG%20CNOSF%202012.05.10.pdf.

  • Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. K. L. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1464–1480. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., Banaji, M. R., Rudman, L. A., Farnham, S. D., Nosek, B. A., & Mellott, D. S. (2002). A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept. Psychological Review, 109, 3–25. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.109.1.3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta, V. K., Turban, D. B., & Bhawe, N. M. (2008). The effect of stereotype activation on entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1053–1061. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1053.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, M., & Greer, J. D. (2009). The influence of gender-role socialization, Media use and sports participation on perception of gender-appropriate sports. Journal of Sport Behavior, 32, 207–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, W., Gawronski, B., Gschwendner, T., Le, H., & Schmitt, M. (2005). A meta-analysis on the correlation between the Implicit Association Test and explicit self-report measures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1369–1385. doi:10.1177/0146167205275613.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hundhammer, T., & Mussweiler, T. (2012). How gender puts you in gendered shoes: Sexuality-priming leads to gender-based self-perception and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 176–193. doi:10.1037/a0028121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. L., & Tassinary, L. G. (2005). Perceiving gender directly and indirectly: Meaning in motion and morphology. Psychological Science, 16, 890–897. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01633.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, K. L., Iida, M., & Tassinary, L. G. (2012). Person (mis)perception: Functionally biased gender categorization of bodies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279, 4982–4989. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.2060.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Karpinski, A., & Steinman, R. B. (2006). The Single Category-Implicit Association Test as a measure of implicit social cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 16–32. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.91.1.16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kawakami, K., Dion, K. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (1999). Implicit stereotyping and prejudice and the primed Stroop task. Swiss Journal of Psychology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Revue Suisse de Psychologie, 58, 241–250. doi:10.1024//1421-0185.58.4.241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koivula, N. (1995). Ratings of gender appropriateness of sports participation: Effects of gender-based schematic processing. Gender Roles, 33, 543–557. doi:10.1007/bf01544679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, K. A., Kang, J., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). Implicit social cognition and law. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 3, 427–451. doi:10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.3.081806.112748.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemm, K. M., Dabady, M., & Banaji, M. R. (2005). Gender picture priming: It works with denotative and connotative primes. Social Cognition, 23, 218–241. doi:10.1521/soco.2005.23.3.218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lentillon, V. (2009). Les stéréotypes sexués relatifs à la pratique des activités physiques et sportives chez les adolescent(e)s Français et leurs conséquences discriminatoires [The gender stereotypes related to the practice of sport and physical activities among French adolescents and their discriminatory consequences]. Bulletin de Psychologie, 62, 15–28. doi:10.3917/BUPSY.499.0015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leyens, J. P., Yzerbyt, V., & Schadron, G. (1994). Stereotypes and social cognition. Bruxelles: Mardaga. doi:10.2307/2077497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, S. S., Vos, T., Flaxman, A. D., Danaei, G., Shibuya, K., Adair-Rohani, H., & Aryee, M. (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, 380, 2224–2260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzi-Cioldi, F. (1995). Homogeneity of gender groups in memory. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 193–217. doi:10.1006/jesp.1995.1010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louveau, C. (2004). Sexuation du travail sportif et construction sociale de la féminité [Sexuation of sporting work and social construction of feminity]. Cahiers du genre, 36, 163–183. doi:10.3917/cdge.036.0163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matteo, S. (1986). The effect of gender and gender-schematic processing on sport participation. Gender Roles, 15, 417–432. doi:10.1007/bf00287981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matteo, S. (1988). The effect of gender-schematic processing on decisions about gender-inappropriate sport behavior. Gender Roles, 18, 41–58. doi:10.1007/bf00288016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messner, M. A. (2002). Taking the field: Women, men, and sports. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messner, M. (2011). Gender ideologies, youth sports, and the production of soft essentialism. Sociology of Sport Journal, 28, 151–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metheny, E. (1965). Connotations of movement in sport and dance. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, F., & Rothermund, K. (2014). What does it take to activate stereotypes? Simple primes don’t seem enough a replication of stereotype activation (Banaji & Hardin, 1996; Blair & Banaji, 1996). Social Psychology, 45, 187–193. doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Institute of Health and Medical Research. (2008). Activité physique: contextes et effets sur la santé. [Physical activity: Contexts and effects on health.] Retrieved from http://www.ipubli.inserm.fr/handle/10608/80.

  • Ndobo, A. (2013). Discourse and attitudes on occupational aspirations and the issue of gender equality: What are the effects of perceived gender asymmetry and prescribed gender role? European Review of Applied Psychology, 63, 231–241. doi:10.1016/j.erap.2013.02.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., Banaji, M. R., & Greenwald, A. G. (2002). Harvesting implicit group attitudes and beliefs from a demonstration web site. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6, 101–115. doi:10.1037/1089-2699.6.1.101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nosek, B. A., Smyth, F. L., Hansen, J. J., Devos, T., Lindner, N. M., Ranganath, K. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). Pervasiveness and correlates of implicit attitudes and stereotypes. European Review of Social Psychology, 18, 36–88. doi:10.1080/10463280701489053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riemer, B. A., & Visio, M. E. (2003). Gender-typing of sports: An investigation of Metheny’s classification. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 74, 193–204. doi:10.1080/02701367.2003.10609081.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. R., & Shinew, K. J. (2008). Perspectives of women college athletes on sport and gender. Gender Roles, 58, 40–57. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9275-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, L. A., & Pheelan, J. E. (2010). The effect of priming gender roles on women’s implicit gender beliefs and career aspirations. Social Psychology, 41, 192–202. doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, J. R., & Ambady, N. (2006). Math is hard! The effect of gender priming on women’s attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 428–436. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2005.06.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797–811.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stromquist, N. P. (2004). Inequality as a way of life: Education and social class in Latin America. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 12, 95–119. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nation Statement. (2013). Secretary-General’s message to the World Health Assembly. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/sg/STATEMENTS/index.asp?nid=6826.

  • Van-Tuyckom, C., & Scheerder, J. (2010). Sport for all? Insight into stratification and compensation mechanisms of sporting activity in the 27 European Union member states. Sport, Education and Society, 15, 495–512. doi:10.1080/13573322.2010.514746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, T. L., Sheeran, P., & Pepper, J. (2012). Gaining control over responses to implicit attitude tests: Implementation intentions engender fast responses on attitude‐incongruent trials. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 13–32. doi:10.1348/014466610x532192.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, S. C., & Petty, R. E. (2001). The effects of stereotype activation on behavior: A review of possible mechanisms. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 797–826. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.127.6.797.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This publication was generously facilitated by Jan Yoder, the Editor in chief of Sex Roles, and we are grateful for that. Also, we would like to thank the two reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory Epsylon “Dynamics of Human Abilities and Health Behavior” (EA 4556), University of Montpellier, 4 Boulevard Henri IV, 34 000, Montpellier, France

    Mélissa Plaza, Julie Boiché, Lionel Brunel & François Ruchaud

Authors
  1. Mélissa Plaza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julie Boiché
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lionel Brunel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. François Ruchaud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mélissa Plaza.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(DOCX 47 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Plaza, M., Boiché, J., Brunel, L. et al. Sport = Male… But Not All Sports: Investigating the Gender Stereotypes of Sport Activities at the Explicit and Implicit Levels. Sex Roles 76, 202–217 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0650-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0650-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation