Relationship Between Sport Participation, Gender Norm Conformity, and Athlete Satisfaction

Abstract

Success in sports depends upon factors that are characteristic of both feminine and masculine gender norms. Feminine norms – focusing on relationships, practicing kindness – foster important team dynamics, and a positive team dynamic contributes to athletes’ overall satisfaction (Crawley, Foley, & Shehan, 2008). At the same time, athletes must also adhere to traditional masculine norms such as a willingness to take risks and a desire to win. These too contribute to athletes’ overall satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to examine gender norm conformity and satisfaction with colligate athletics across three different types of sports teams: appearance-focused, endurance, and contact. Performance for appearance-centered sports centers on how an athlete’s body looks during competition, endurance sports focus on strength, and contact sports require a combination of strength, risk, and aggression (Varnes, Stellefson, Janelle, Dorman, Dodd, & Miller, 2013). Although other researchers have investigated gender norms and satisfaction among college athletes, they have not differentiated by sport type.