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Adolescents’ Perceptions of Masculine and Feminine Values in Sport and Physical Education: A Study of Gender Differences

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Abstract

In present study we investigated possible gender differences in how 357 secondary-school students valued the importance of masculine and feminine characteristics within sport and physical education and how their ratings of values were related to their participation in gendered sport. The results indicated that boys rated appearance strength, sports competence, endurance strength, and masculinity as significantly more important than did girls. Girls rated appearance good looking face, appearance slender, and femininity as significantly more important than did boys. Further, more boys participated in traditionally masculine sports, whereas girls to a greater extent participated in traditionally feminine sports. A discriminant function analysis separated the masculine sport group from the feminine sport group, which suggests that higher scores on the masculine function were indicative of lower value on appearance slender and flexibility, accompanied by higher value on appearance strength and masculinity. For the feminine sport group, this pattern was the opposite.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

    Anne Torhild Klomsten

  2. University of Western Sydney, Australia

    Herb W. Marsh

  3. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

    Einar M. Skaalvik

  4. Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Anne Torhild Klomsten

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  1. Anne Torhild Klomsten
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  2. Herb W. Marsh
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  3. Einar M. Skaalvik
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Correspondence to Anne Torhild Klomsten.

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Klomsten, A.T., Marsh, H.W. & Skaalvik, E.M. Adolescents’ Perceptions of Masculine and Feminine Values in Sport and Physical Education: A Study of Gender Differences. Sex Roles 52, 625–636 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-3730-x

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