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The sex-role orientation and personality characteristics of female college athletes
Abstract
Female athletes have often experienced internal conflict because society still expects them to be passive and submissive women. This behavior is diametrically opposed to the characteristics which a good competitor should possess. In recent years, the area of psychology of sportswomen has received the research attention which for years was reserved only for men. Research which dealt with the personality profiles of female athletes, or their sex-role orientations, was examined and critiqued. Most of the studies in this area concluded that there were psychological differences between female athletes and female non-athletes, or the general female population. While it is difficult to point to definitive conclusions from these studies because of diverse samples and different instruments, with great caution it may be stated that female athletes are achievement-oriented and very independent. After the background methodology was presented, a number of instruments were administered: the Personality Research Form (PRF), the PRF-Andro, and the Sports Background Inventory. The sample was composed of 99 Division I female athletes from several different New England teams. A number of statistical tests were conducted (t-test, Pearson's Correlation, Spearman's Correlation, ANOVA, ANCOVA, MANOVA, and MANCOVA) to determine whether women athletes differ among each other and between themselves and other college women. The women athletes in this study were found to have greater needs for achievement, aggression, and dominance. The sample was found to be distributed differently across the sex-role categories from what was expected from probability or from the normed population. The four sex-role groups were also found to differ in personality traits (achievement, aggression, and dominance).
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
Bruno, Keith, "The sex-role orientation and personality characteristics of female college athletes" (1987). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI8805898.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8805898