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C 2003)
Sex Roles, Vol. 49, Nos. 1/2, July 2003 (

Sports Participation and Self-Esteem: Variations

as a Function of Gender and Gender Role Orientation1
Anne Bowker,2 Shannon Gadbois,3,5 and Becki Cornock4

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender, sports participation, and gender orientation in predicting individuals domain-specific and global self-esteem. A sample of
100 Grade 11 students completed measures of self-perception, body image, gender orientation,
and sports participation. The results showed that although boys reported greater satisfaction
with weight and appearance, there were no gender differences in general self-worth. In addition, more feminine individuals who participated in competitive sports reported lower levels
of perceived athletic competence and global self-worth, but reported higher self-esteem when
they participated in more noncompetitive sports. Although sports participation does predict
self-esteem, participants gender orientation and the type of sports in which they participate
are moderating factors.
KEY WORDS: self-esteem; body image; sports; gender; gender role orientation.

Adolescence is a time of transition, as individuals struggle to deal with physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout this developmental period.
Such change can be stressful and require significant
psychological adjustment. Although it is important to
keep in mind that only about 20% of adolescents have
serious adjustment difficulties during the adolescent
period (Offer, Ostrow, & Howard, 1981), a decline
in self-esteem can have a significant impact on daily
functioning and future aspirations.
Adolescent girls, in particular, demonstrate significant declines in self-esteem throughout this developmental period (Basow & Rubin, 1999; Gilligan,
1990; Pipher, 1994; Simmons & Blyth, 1987). Boys
self-esteem also declines during adolescence (Eccles
et al., 1989; Wigfield, Eccles, MacIver, Reunman, &

Midgley, 1991) although, in many cases, this decline appears less dramatic than that of girls.6 In
the present study, we focused on sports participation as a possible protective factor, and examined
the relationship between sports participation and selfesteem as a function of both gender and gender
orientation.
Positive self-esteem, or general self-worth
(GSW), allows individuals to feel good about who
they are and what they can do, while at the same time
giving them the confidence necessary to meet new
challenges (Harter, 1988, 1990, 1997). Individuals with
high self-esteem generally have greater, and more accurate, self knowledge than do individuals with low
self-esteem (Baumgardner, 1990). High self-esteem
is also related to active engagement in daily activities,
a more optimistic attitude, and better psychological
health (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Positive self-esteem
and a stable sense of self are both important protective
factors against psychopathology (Rutter, 1997), including eating disorders and other body image-related

1 Portions

of this paper were presented at the Biennial Meetings

for the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis,
MN, April 2001.
2 Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
3 Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada.
4 University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department
of Psychology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
R7A 6A9; e-mail: gadbois@brandonu.ca.

6 These

dramatic decreases in girls self-esteem are noted most

significantly for White girls, and are less apparent for girls of
African descent (American Association of University Women,
1992; Eccles, Barber, Jozefowicz, Malenchuk, & Vida, 1999).

47

C 2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation

0360-0025/03/0700-0047/0

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48
problems. Individuals with low self-esteem often feel
inadequate and incompetent, expect to fail, and eventually give up. This self-fulfilling prophecy can beget
a cycle of failure, which becomes difficult to escape
(Snyder, 1979).
Self-esteem can be regarded as an overall rating of self-worth (as GSW implies), and, at the same
time, self-esteem can also be domain-specific. For example, Harters research highlights 12 such domains
including perceived intelligence, athletic competence,
physical appearance, scholastic competence, and social acceptance. Harter (1988) believes that it is important to partition self-esteem into categories, as an
individuals sense of worth may vary depending on
the context. It is in these subdomains where the most
consistent gender differences have been found. Marsh
(1998) found the largest gender differences in the
physical ability and appearance domains, where boys
have higher scores than girls. Physical appearance has
been found to be the single most important predictor of GSW across the life cycle (Harter, Bresnick,
Bouchey, & Whitesell, 1997).
Appearance is very important to adolescents.
Their physical self-esteem (e.g., feelings about appearance) is consistently the most important predictor of
GSW (Harter, 1990), and it is even more important
for girls than it is for boys. It is a concern that, given
its perceived importance, girls physical self-esteem
tends to be lower than boys. Ferron (1997) suggested
that body image is paramount in adolescence as young
individuals deal with both the bodily changes initiated by puberty and increased interest from and toward the other sex. How adolescents adapt to these
changes influences their level of self-esteem as appearance and body image are closely related to GSW.
Research suggests that the physical changes related
to puberty are more difficult for girls to cope with.
It is, in fact, quite normative for girls at this time to
experience body dissatisfaction related to the weight
gain and increased gender role expectations associated with puberty (Attie & Brooks-Gunn, 1989). Girls
are expected to be more interpersonally oriented, to
care about others feelings, and so forth, and, as a
result, they are more vulnerable to others opinions
of them and behavior toward them. To be physically
attractive is to be perceived as feminine and popular (Mazur, 1986; Striegel-Moore, 1993). Thus, girls
physical self-esteem may be negatively affected during adolescence, and, as a result, their general selfesteem may decrease significantly as well.
Physical self-esteem or general satisfaction with
body image may be enhanced during adolescence

Bowker, Gadbois, and Cornock

(for both boys and girls) through sports involvement.
The health benefits of sports, such as increased aerobic power, increased muscle strength, and decreased
obesity (Centre for Research on Girls and Women
in Sport, 1997) have been demonstrated clearly. According to Koivula (1999), individuals who participate in sports have a more positive perceived body
image than do individuals who do not participate in
sports. Because boys consistently outnumber girls in
sports participation (Centre for Research on Girls
and Women in Sport, 1997; Eccles & Barber, 1999;
Gibbons & Lynn, 1997) boys may feel more positively
about their bodies than girls do, particularly during
adolescence. In addition, those girls who do not experience a decline in self-esteem (or who do not differ
from boys with regard to perceived body image satisfaction), may, in fact, be those who participate in
sports.

Self-Esteem and Sports Participation

Although there appears to be a definite link between sports participation and physical competencies, the relation between sports participation and
general self-esteem is less clear. Previous research
is limited and somewhat inconsistent; only a few of
the researchers have distinguished between global
self-esteem and domain-specific indices (e.g., perceived physical competence). Some studies (Centre
for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, 1997;
Jaffee & Manzer, 1992; Koivula, 1999; Taylor, 1995;
Wilkins, Boland, & Albinson, 1991) have shown that
individuals who participate in sports have higher
self-esteem than nonparticipants. Butcher (1989), for
example, found that adolescent girls who were involved in sports had higher self-esteem than nonparticipants. However, other researchers (e.g., Jackson &
Marsh, 1986; Marsh & Jackson, 1986) have reported
a weak link between sports participation and global
self-esteem or even a negative relationship (Richman
& Shaffer, 2000). Gibbons and Lynn (1997) argued
that there is little and conflicting evidence that participation in sports or even that winning at sports directly leads to increases in self-esteem (p. 56). What
still needs to be determined is how sports participation enhances self-esteem and what level or type of
self-esteem it enhances.
Jackson and Marsh (1986) suggested that sports
participation influences global self-esteem indirectly
by enhancing physical competence and body esteem.
Recent research by Richman and Shaffer (2000)

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Sports Participation
supports this notion. Although the authors did find
a positive relationship between sports participation
and general self-esteem, in the absence of enhanced
physical self-esteem and positive body image as moderators, sports participation had a negative influence
on global self-esteem in college women. Sports participation may influence global self-esteem indirectly.
Greater sports participation may enhance physical
self-esteem, which in turn, predicts more positive
global self-esteem.
A more indirect link between sports participation
and global self-esteem is also supported by Marshs
work with elite athletes (Marsh, 1998). His data suggest that, as athletes perform at higher levels, their
skills or athletic competence increase and that this
increase in self-efficacy may translate into increased
GSW. One might also reason then, that sports participation at a higher level of competitiveness would also
have a stronger effect on body esteem, and ultimately
on GSW.

Gender Orientation and Sports Participation

We know that men and boys outnumber women
and girls in sports participation. One reason for this
difference may have to do with gender role orientation. In discussing the fact that boys felt more positively about themselves than girls with regard to physical ability and appearance, Marsh (1998) suggested
that these gender differences tended to be consistent
with traditional gender role stereotypes.
Sports are still generally considered to be a
masculine domain (Gibbons & Lynn, 1997; Jaffee
& Manzer, 1992; Koivula, 1999; Shaw, Kleiber, &
Caldwell, 1995). Bem (1974) argued that individuals
with a masculine gender role orientation might inhibit behaviors that are stereotyped as feminine. In
contrast, those with a feminine gender role orientation might inhibit behaviors that are stereotyped as
masculine. It is thus reasonable to assume that adolescent girls, who are more likely to hold a feminine
gender role orientation, may not engage in sports activities because sports are considered to be masculine
activity. According to Sabo (1985), girls have difficulty reconciling the competitive nature of sports with
their emerging femininity. Similarly, Eccles, Barber,
Jozefowicz, Malenchuk, and Vida (1999) reported
that many young women still believe that there is an
inherent conflict between feminine-goal values (i.e.,
being concerned with the thoughts and feelings of
others) and highly competitive achievement activi-

49
ties, which would include sports. They may feel that
by striving to be the best they run the risk of hurting someone elses feelings and being seen as too
aggressive.
Bem and Lenney (1976) found that cross-sex behavior is motivationally problematic for gender-typed
individuals and that they actively avoid it. As a result, actually engaging in cross-sex behavior caused
gender-typed participants to report greater psychological discomfort and more negative feelings about
themselves. Thus adolescent girls who hold a feminine gender role orientation and are forced to participate in sports, may actually show a decrease in
GSW despite the positive benefits that sports have to
offer.
Researchers have also reported more positive associations between masculinity and body image/physical competence. Findings by Boldizar (1991)
suggest that masculinity is strongly associated with
both perceived athletic competence and physical attractiveness for both men and women. Richman
and Shaffer (2000) found that masculinity was positively related to both physical competence and GSW,
whereas femininity was generally unrelated to either
sports participation or physical competence.
In this study it was hypothesized that a more masculine gender role orientation would be positively related to both GSW and body image. Furthermore, it
was hypothesized that individuals with a more feminine gender role orientation would be less likely to
participate in sports and would therefore also have
a more negative body image and lower levels of
GSW.

Measuring Sports Participation

Research that has linked sports participation to
positive psychological outcomes has often employed
a fairly crude participation measure. In many studies
participants were simply compared with nonparticipants, whereas in others individuals have been categorized into levels of participation, typically with regard to skill level (e.g., elite athletes). Richman and
Shaffer (2000) categorized female college students
sports participation by examining the high school
sports teams with which they had been involved, the
total number of years of sports participation as an adolescent, and perceived level of involvement in high
school sports. A summary score was calculated by
summing each of these three scores; higher scores
were indicative of greater sports participation.

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50
In this study, participants were senior high school
students who provided information about their current and previous sports involvement (both at school
and in the community) and the number of years of
involvement for each sport. Level of sports participation was defined as either competitive (including
school and community teams for which individuals
had to try out) or recreational (teams for which
there are no required skill criteria). Individuals thus
received two scores: one represented the total number of years in competitive sports, and the other was
the total number of years in recreational sports.
In summary, the purpose of this study was to
examine gender differences in domain-specific and
global self-esteem and to clarify the role of sports
participation and gender role orientation in predicting these gender differences. It was expected that
boys would report more positive self-esteem (particularly with regard to physical attractiveness and
athletic competence) than would girls. It was further
expected that greater sports participation (at both
competitive and recreational levels) would predict
greater physical competence and more positive body
esteem. This relation was hypothesized to be stronger
for competitive sports experience than for recreational sports experience.
It was expected that the relationship between sports participation and self-esteem would be
stronger for domain-specific self-esteem (e.g., physical self-esteem) than for general self-worth. These
relationships were expected to vary by gender and
gender role orientation. Also, it was expected that
gender role orientation would be an even stronger
predictor of outcome than gender itself. Individuals
with a more masculine gender role orientation may be
more likely to participate in sports and enjoy its benefits; whereas individuals with a more feminine gender
role orientation may not derive the same benefits from
sports.

METHOD
Participants
The participants in this study were 100 (60 girls,
40 boys) mostly White, middle class, Grade 11 students (mean age = 16.1 years) from two high schools
in a small city in southwestern Manitoba, Canada
(population 30,000). Participants were drawn from
two of the citys three high schools. Sixty-nine participants in the study were drawn from the largest

Bowker, Gadbois, and Cornock

city high school (34% of the approximately 200 grade
11 students; maximum school population of 1200 students), and 31 participants were drawn from the smallest high school in the city (69% of the approximately
45 grade 11 students; maximum school population
of 450 students). Participation was voluntary and all
those who chose to participate had parental permission. Each participant signed a consent form that outlined the study and assured confidentiality.

Measures
Self-Perception Profile
This measure, developed by Neeman and Harter
(1986), was used to measure adolescents selfperceptions, globally and in specific domains (e.g.,
athletic competence, appearance, social acceptance).
Participants responded to each item using a structured
alternative format scale where higher scores are indicative of more positive self-perceptions. The scale
has been shown to have adequate validity and reliability; reliability coefficients range from .80 to .88
(Neeman & Harter, 1986).
This measure was normed on 17- to 23-year-old
college students, however, the content of the subscales, particularly those most relevant to this study, is
essentially the same for both the adolescent and college student version of this measure (see Neeman &
Harter, 1986). Thus, we felt confident in using this version for the high school sample.7

Body-Esteem Scale
This scale was developed by Mendelson, White,
and Mendelson (1998) in order to determine how positively individuals perceive themselves in terms of appearance and body image. The Body Esteem Scale
was normed on 12- to 25-year-olds and deemed appropriate for these age groups (that is, young adolescents to early adults). Participants were asked to rate
their agreement with the 23 items (such as, Weighing myself depresses me) using a 5-point Likert scale
that ranged from never (0) to always (4). Again, high
scores were indicative of more positive body esteem.
For this study, we used two subscale scores from this
7 This

study was part of a larger project that included both high

school and 1st year university students. As such, it was our goal to
use measures that were appropriate, yet consistent, for both age
groups.

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scale: satisfaction with appearance and satisfaction
with weight. Both subscale scores showed good reliability ( = .92 and .94, respectively).
Although there is some overlap between the appearance subscale on the self-perception scale and the
appearance subscale of the Body Esteem scale, they
are intended to assess different aspects of physical
self-esteem. The latter scale focuses more on feelings
and emotions associated with ones body (e.g., I feel
ashamed of my body; I wish I looked like somebody
else; Im looking as nice as Id like to). In contrast,
the appearance subscale on the self-perception scale
includes items that refer to both physical appearance
and weight and encourages peer comparisons (e.g.,
Some students like their physical appearance the
way it is, but other students do not like their physical appearance).

Gender Role Orientation

In order to give each participant a gender role
orientation score, we followed a procedure outlined
in a study by Harter, Baum, and Whitesell (1999).
Specifically, in their study participants were given a
list of 34 words (17 masculine attributes, 17 feminine
attributes) in a randomized order and were told to
pick five words (e.g., competitive, gentle, dominant,
dependent) to describe themselves in various situations (e.g., with family, with same-sex peers, with
other sex peers). Using this same word list, we asked
participants to describe themselves (using as many
of the 34 words as they liked) generally (i.e., how I
am) and in six different domains (i.e., with my family,
with friends, within a romantic relationship, when I
am playing sports, when doing other leisure activities,
and at school).8 The number of feminine and masculine words used for self-description was summed
across all domains. This sorting task allowed us to calculate three gender scores for each participant: (1) a
feminine score that was the proportion of feminine
attributes used; (2) a masculine score that was the
proportion of masculine attributes used; and (3) an
androgyny score that was the absolute value of the difference between the feminine and masculine proportion scores. Lower scores were indicative of greater
androgyny.
8 The

only difference between our procedure and that of Harter

et al. (1999) was the number of domains (we used more) and the
number of words per situation (Harter et al. set a limit of 5, but
we did not place any limit).

51
Sports Participation Information Sheet
Participants completed a questionnaire developed for this study that was intended to provide information regarding their years of experience and level
of participation in any leisure activities (particularly
sports) in which they had participated. Participants
could detail a maximum of five sports in which they
were currently, or had previously been, involved. Participants provided information about their current
and past sports participation including the duration
of their involvement in each sport, the level at which
they were participating (i.e., competitive and/or recreational), and whether or not they had won any awards
in each sport.9 The basic distinction between these
levels is that competitive sports reflects school, city,
or provincial representative (players tryout) team
participation, whereas recreational sports represents
a noncompetitive environment (i.e., intramural sports
or community initiatives) where everyone plays, and
fun is emphasized over winning.
This information was used to give each participant two sports participation scores (competitive and
recreational) equivalent to the total number of years
they had participated at each level; higher scores in
each reflect greater experience and skill in each category. For example, an individual with 10 years of competitive level participation was considered to be at a
higher level of participation than someone with a total
of 3 years of competitive participation.
Procedure
Data collection took place near the beginning
of the academic year. Paper and pencil questionnaires were administered by the experimenters to
small groups of participating students in their local
high schools. The questionnaires took approximately
45 min to complete.
Following data collection and preliminary analyses, return visits were made to the schools near
the end of the school year. At that time, participants were provided with a summary of the results
of the study. Interested parents were also provided
with a brief two-page summary of the study and the
outcomes.
9 Sports

that were initially categorized by the individual as

recreational but for which they also reported receiving an
award or medal were recategorized by the experimenters as
competitive.

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Bowker, Gadbois, and Cornock

RESULTS
Descriptive Analyses
A series of one-way ANOVA analyses were performed on the variables of interest (see Table I)
in order to determine if any significant gender differences existed. Significant gender differences were
found for both Body Esteem (BE) variables; boys reported greater satisfaction than girls with both weight
(mean score of 3.07 vs. 2.01) and appearance (mean
score of 2.91 vs. 2.25). Boys endorsed a significantly
more masculine gender role orientation (mean proportion of .54 vs. .44), whereas girls endorsed a significantly more feminine gender role orientation (mean
proportion of .55 vs. .43). However, the gender role
orientation scores varied extensively within gender.
For boys, the range of masculine proportion scores
was .30 to .83, and the range for feminine proportion
scores was .17 to .70. For girls, the range of masculine
proportion scores was .15 to .88, and feminine proportion scores varied from .13 to 1.00. Androgyny scores
also varied extensively (M = .19; range was 0.66) for
boys and (M = .24; range was 0.75) for girls. No significant gender differences were found for androgyny, and this variable was not used in any subsequent
analyses.
With regard to sports participation, 71% of the
sample was currently participating in at least one
sport, and this did not vary by gender. The aver-

age number of years for participation in competitive sports was 6 (SD = 9.0), and the average number of years for recreational participation was 4.5
(SD = 5.5). Again, there were no significant gender
differences.10
GSW did not vary significantly by gender (M =
2.97, for both boys and girls). However, there were
significant gender differences in several of the subdomains; boys had significantly more positive selfperceptions. In particular, boys felt more positively
about their own physical attractiveness and athletic
competence than did girls (see Table I).
Intercorrelations among the relevant variables
are presented in Table II. Sports participation was
unrelated to GSW and only moderately related to
domain-specific self-esteem variables (e.g., level of
recreational participation was positively related to
perceived physical attraction, r = .20 p < .05). The
strongest relations were observed between gender
role orientation and the self-esteem indices. That is, as
expected, masculine gender role orientation was significantly and positively related to satisfaction with
weight, satisfaction with appearance, and with perceived athletic competence and perceived physical attraction. In contrast, feminine gender role orientation
was negatively correlated with these variables. In a
similar pattern, GSW was correlated positively with
masculinity and negatively with femininity, although
these correlations did not reach significance.
Regression Analyses

Table I. Gender Differences in Self-Esteem and Body Image

Satisfaction Indices
Variable

Boys (M = 40)

Girls (N = 60)

M (SD)

M (SD)

2.91 (.56)
3.07 (.62)

2.25 (.73)
2.01 (.93)

2.97 (.52)
2.70 (.40)
2.78 (.62)
2.89 (.65)
2.78 (.64)
2.85 (.41)
2.97 (.65)
2.90 (.58)
2.71 (.53)
2.78 (.52)
2.93 (.60)
2.36 (.61)
2.85 (.61)

2.97 (.64)
2.41 (.43)
2.45 (.91)
3.21 (.72)
3.19 (.84)
3.16 (.61)
2.30 (.65)
3.02 (.60)
2.75 (.69)
2.92 (.70)
2.93 (.71)
2.30 (.70)
2.87 (.71)

Body-esteem scale
Appearance
Weight
Self-perception profile
for college students
Global self-worth
Physical attraction
Athletic competence
Parent relationships
Close friendships
Morality
Humor
Job competence
Scholastic competence
Social acceptance
Intellectual ability
Romantic relationships
Creativity
p

< .05. p < .01. p < .001.

We conducted a series of hierarchical regression analyses in order to examine further the relations between gender, gender role orientation, sports
participation, GSW, and physical self-esteem (perceived physical attraction and perceived athletic competence).11 We expected the relations between sports
participation and self-esteem to vary significantly as
a function of gender and gender role orientation, as
well as the level of self-esteem being investigated (i.e.,
domain specific vs. general self-esteem). Although
sports participation and self-esteem indices were not
10 The

rate of sports participation within our sample is similar to a

Statistics Canada (1992) report that indicated that 77% of 15- to
18-year-olds regularly participated in sports in Canada.
11 Given the overlap between the two subscales on the body esteem
questionnaire and perceived physical attraction from the SelfPerception Profile (Neeman & Harter, 1986), regression analyses
are not reported for the two body esteem subscales. Results of
these analyses are consistent with the overall pattern of results
reported herein.

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53
Table II. Intercorrelations Between All Variables in Regression Analyses

Total years in recreational sports

Total years in competitive sports
Satisfaction with appearance
Satisfaction with weight
Perceived athletic competence
Perceived physical attractiveness
General self-worth
Masculine gender orientation
Feminine gender orientation
p

.15
.16
.18
.14
.20
.04
.16
.18

.07
.19
.18
.11
.03
.14
.14

.74
.26
.45
.38
.30
.23

.35
.56
.19
.28
.29

.38
.38
.54
.50

.48
.35
.37

.25
.23

1.0

1.0

< .05. p < .01.

strongly correlated, regression analyses afford an opportunity to observe interactions between relevant
variables. That is, regression analyses offer the chance
to investigate the moderating roles of gender and gender role orientation in predicting self-esteem.
As we were particularly interested in the moderating effects of gender and gender orientation, a
series of interactions terms were computed to allow
us to explore these effects. All analyses were hierarchical, with gender entered on step 1; masculinity
and femininity (gender role orientation) entered on
step 2; gender by masculinity and gender by femininity entered on step 3; competitive sports participation and recreational sports participation entered
on step 4; and masculinity by competitive sport, masculinity by recreational sports, femininity by competitive sports, and femininity by recreational sports entered on step 5. The order in which the variables were
entered allowed us to control for the effects of gender
and gender role orientation in Steps 1, 2, and 3 before
exploring the effects of sports participation in Step 4,
and the combined effects of gender role orientation
with sports participation in Step 5.
The hierarchical regression analyses reflect our
theoretical assumptions with regard to the importance
of gender role orientation as a moderating variable
and the differential relationships between level of
sports participation and self-esteem (both general and
domain-specific).

Predicting Perceived Physical Attraction

Recall that boys felt significantly more positively
about both their physical appearance and their athletic competence. With regard to physical appearance,
regression analyses revealed a significant effect of
both gender and gender role orientation (Steps 1 and
2). As Table III shows, consistent with the descriptive

analyses, gender accounted for a significant proportion of the variance; boys reported higher scores on
this self-domain than did girls, B = .32, R2 = .10.
Feminine gender role orientation was negatively related to physical appearance scores; higher femininity
scores predicted lower perceived physical attraction,
B = .32, R2 = .18. There were no other significant
predictors.

Predicting Perceived Athletic Competence

The next regression analysis (see Table IV) examined athletic competence. Consistent with the
Table III.
Step
1
2
3
4
5

Hierarchical Regression Analysis That Predicts

Perceived Physical Attraction
Variable entered

Cumul R2

R2 change

Gender
Masculine GO
Feminine GO
MASCGO Gender
FEMGO Gender
Competitive sport
Recreational sports
FEMGO COMP
FEMGO REC
MASCGO COMP
MASCGO REC

.10
.18

.10
.08

.19

.01

.21

.02

.24

.03

.32
.02
.32
.18
.31
.13
.03
.20
.04
.00
.00

Note. Masculine GO = masculine gender orientation; Feminine

GO = feminine gender orientation; MASCGO Gender = masculine gender orientation by gender; FEMGO Gender = feminine gender orientation by gender; Competitive sport = cumulative number of years playing competitive sports; Recreational
sports = cumulative number of years playing recreational sports;
FEMGO COMP = feminine gender orientation by competitive; FEM REC = feminine gender orientation by recreational;
MASCGO COMP = masculine gender orientation by competitive; MASCGO REC = masculine gender orientation by recreational. NB. All predictor variables, with the exception of sex, were
standardized prior to analyses.
p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

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Bowker, Gadbois, and Cornock

Table IV. Hierarchical Regression Analysis That Predicts Athletic

Competence
Step
1
2
3
4
5

Variable entered
Gender
Masculine GO
Feminine GO
MASCGO Gender
FEMGO Gender
Competitive sport
Recreational sport
FEMGO COMP
FEMGO REC
MASCGO COMP
MASCGO REC

R2 change

.04

.26

.04
.22

.28

.02

.31

.03

.36

.05

.20
.00
.51
.14
.32
.16
.05
.24
.02
.00
.00

Cumul R2

Note. Masculine GO = masculine gender orientation; Feminine

GO = feminine gender orientation; MASCGO Gender = masculine gender orientation by gender; FEMGO Gender = feminine gender orientation by gender; Competitive sport = cumulative number of years playing competitive sports; Recreational
sports = cumulative number of years playing recreational sports;
FEMGO COMP = feminine gender orientation by competitive; FEM REC = feminine gender orientation by recreational;
MASCGO COMP = masculine gender orientation by competitive; MASCGO REC = masculine gender orientation by recreational. NB. All predictor variables, with the exception of sex, were
standardized prior to analyses.
p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

previous analysis, both gender and gender role orientation were significant predictors; boys reported
greater athletic competence, B = .20, R2 = .04, and
higher femininity scores again predicted lower perceived competence, this time in the athletic domain,
B = .51, R2 = .26. An interesting femininity by level
of competitive participation interaction was found on
Step 5, B = .24, R2 = .36. A simple slope analysis
revealed that greater competitive participation predicted higher athletic competence, but only at lower
levels of feminine gender role orientation (see Fig. 1).
In fact, higher levels of competitive participation were
related to lower perceived athletic competence when
femininity scores were high.
In summary, both gender and gender role orientation significantly predicted physical self-esteem.
A more feminine gender role orientation was negatively related to both indices of physical self-esteem.
Similar to previous analyses, however, sports participation did not play a significant role in predicting perceived physical attractiveness. That is, level of sports
involvement did not play a role in determining how
physically attractive individuals perceived themselves
to be. Competitive sports participation did, however,
interact with gender role orientation such that a more
feminine gender role orientation, in conjunction with
greater competitive sports involvement, actually pre-

Fig. 1. Femininity and level of competitive participation predicting

athletic competence.

dicted lower perceived competence in the athletic

domain.
Predicting General Self-Worth
Finally, although there were no significant gender differences with regard to general self-worth, we
examined the possibility that the predictor variables
were differentially related to this dependent variable
for boys and girls. The results showed an interaction
between feminine gender role orientation and level of
sports participation. As can be seen in Table V, there
were no significant predictors until Step 5, but both
the femininity by competitive participation and the
femininity by recreational participation interactions
were significant predictors of GSW, B = .39 and .26,
respectively, R2 = .22. Simple slope analysis revealed
that individuals with the highest levels of GSW were

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Sports Participation

55

Table V. Hierarchical Regression Analysis That Predicts General

Self-Worth (GSW)
Step
1
2
3
4
5

Variable entered
Gender
Masculine GO
Feminine GO
MASCGO Gender
FEMGO Gender
Competitive sport
Recreational sport
FEMGO COMP
FEMGO REC
MASCGO COMP
MASCGO REC

R2 change

.00
.06

.00
.06

.06

.00

.07

.01

.22

.15

.01
.06
.21
.26
.23
.04
.01
.39
.26
.00
.00

Cumul R2

Note. Masculine GO = masculine gender orientation; Feminine

GO = feminine gender orientation; MASCGO Gender = masculine gender orientation by gender; FEMGO Gender = feminine gender orientation by gender; Competitive sport = cumulative number of years playing competitive sports; Recreational
sports = cumulative number of years playing recreational sports;
FEMGO COMP = feminine gender orientation by competitive; FEM REC = feminine gender orientation by recreational;
MASCGO COMP = masculine gender orientation by competitive; MASCGO REC = masculine gender orientation by recreational. NB. All predictor variables, with the exception of sex, were
standardized prior to analyses.
p < .05. p < .01. p < .001.

those who were both high in femininity and in recreational sports participation (see Fig. 2), whereas individuals who were high in femininity but had low levels of recreational participation had lower levels of
GSW. This means that individuals who are more feminine in their gender role orientation and have more

Fig. 3. Femininity and level of competitive participation predicting

GSW.

experience in recreational sports have higher GSW

than individuals who are more feminine in their gender role orientation but do not participate in many
recreational sports activities.
In contrast, the interaction between femininity
and competitive participation (see Fig. 3) suggests that
individuals with a more feminine gender role orientation who engage in more competitive sports have
lower GSW than do individuals with a more feminine gender role orientation who participate less often
in competitive sports. In fact, this interaction shows
the opposite effect to that found above with respect
to recreational participation. Thus, the results indicate that sports participation does predict self-esteem
(both domain specific and general self-worth), but
that this relationship is qualified by the individuals
gender role orientation and the competitiveness of
the individuals sports experience.

DISCUSSION

Fig. 2. Femininity and level of recreation participation predicting

GSW.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sports participation and self-esteem
and the potential moderating roles of gender role

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56
orientation and gender. Such information could assist
us in our attempt to understand the gender differences
in self-esteem commonly reported in the literature.
Three findings, in particular, should be emphasized.
First, although boys and girls differed significantly on
satisfaction with weight, appearance, and perceived
physical attraction, there were no significant differences in GSW. This finding highlights the importance
of distinguishing between global self-worth and domain specific self-esteem. That is, despite differences
that showed that boys were more satisfied with the
way they look, boys and girls were not significantly different with regard to GSW. This implies that for girls
competence in other domains may be compensating
for the lower scores on satisfaction with physical appearance. However, even with these significant gender differences in satisfaction with appearance and
weight, both boys and girls mean scores were above
2 on a 4-point scale. These results indicate that the
mean scores for both groups still reflected a positive
rating of satisfaction with their bodies.
Second, the results of this study also showed
that participants gender role orientation, rather than
their gender alone, predicted their feelings about their
own appearance and athletic competence. Regression
analysis revealed that femininity was a significant predictor of appearance; more feminine individuals felt
less positively about their appearance. Researchers
(Alfieri, Ruble, & Higgins, 1996; Basow & Rubin,
1999) have noted that adolescence is a time when
both boys and girls adopt more rigid notions about
gender roles. This means that an adolescent boy who
defines himself in more masculine terms is also more
likely to be satisfied with the way he looks. In contrast, an adolescent girl who defines herself in more
masculine terms is more likely to be dissatisfied with
the way she looks. This may be so because, perhaps
despite her orientation, there is social pressure to
fit the more stereotypical feminine gender type for
appearance.
Finally, perhaps the most interesting results are
the interactions between femininity and level of sports
participation that predict athletic competence and
GSW. Marsh (1998) found that elite athletes have
higher self-esteem than nonathletes, which would
seem to suggest that, in order for psychological and
physical benefits of sports to be noticeable, the individual must be participating at a level that requires
superior skill and significant competitiveness. Our results, which describe a group of participants with a
range of athletic skill, emphasize the role of competition and qualify this finding with respect to gender role

Bowker, Gadbois, and Cornock

orientation. Individuals who had higher participation
at the competitive level also had higher levels of athletic competence and GSW, however this was only
the case for those individuals who were also lower in
femininity.
Conversely, those adolescents who were high in
femininity and participated in competitive sports had
lower levels of perceived athletic competence and
GSW. This seems to suggest that there is an optimal
level for sports participation that depends on an individuals gender role orientation. Specifically, depending on ones gender role orientation, participating in
a more or less competitive environment can benefit
ones sense of self. This idea of a fit between competitiveness of participation and gender role orientation is further supported by our finding that highly
feminine individuals had the highest levels of GSW
the longer they had participated in noncompetitive
or recreational sports.
A partial explanation for this finding may be derived from research conducted by Bem and Lenney
(1976), who found that pressuring gender-typed individuals to engage in cross-sex activities can create
psychological distress. In the current study, although
the type of activity in which participants engaged was
not mandated by external forces, individuals who endorsed a more feminine gender role orientation may
not necessarily have benefited from upper level competitive participation as they may have perceived this
level of sports to be incongruent with their gender
role orientation. Further, participation at a competitive level requires a greater degree of skill and training
in skill development that in turn results in the greater
physical strength required to perform these skills successfully. The result may be that athletes who compete at a higher level may have body types that are
more muscular or leaner. On the other hand, recreational level sports are more socially oriented, and,
consequently, put less emphasis on physical (skill)
development. Research shows that women and girls
find a less competitive and more socially oriented
atmosphere more appealing than do men and boys
(Dubois, 1990; Flood & Hellstedt, 1991; Gibbons &
Lynn, 1997; Knoppers & Schuiteman, 1986; Koivula,
1999). The findings of the present study show that
gender role orientation also contributes to the understanding of who might benefit from sports participation. Specifically, those with a more feminine gender
role orientation, regardless of whether they are boys
or girls, may experience greater benefits from participating in less competitive and more socially oriented
sports activities.

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Sports Participation
The fit between level of sports participation and
gender role orientation may be further complicated
given the context within which athletic activities take
place. For example, in an effort to develop competitive
teams within a relatively small community or school,
organizers often must draw upon a smaller pool of
individuals with the athleticism or experience to participate at a competitive level. The result is a potential
increased likelihood of pressure on individuals whose
gender role orientation does not fit favorably with this
type of athletic endeavour. Given that the selection
pool in smaller communities and schools is limited for
competitive teams there may be a greater risk within
these environments than in environments where the
pool for selection is greater. On the other hand, for
the same reasons, smaller communities and schools
may have greater difficulty meeting the needs of
those who would be well suited to competitive sports
participation.
There has been a great deal of discussion concerning gender differences in sports participation,
given the fact that boys participate more often than
girls. Results of this study help to explain why more
adolescent girls may not engage in sports. More importantly, however, the results of the present study
emphasize that ones gender role orientation, rather
than ones gender may be the crucial variable to consider. In order to get more individuals involved in
sports we must ensure that they are engaged in activities where they feel the most comfortable and
that fit with their goals for participation. For example, an individual with a more masculine gender role
orientation may feel more comfortable in a competitive sports environment, whereas an individual with
a more feminine gender role orientation may have a
less competitive orientation and feel more comfortable playing on a recreational team.
This reasoning applies not only to girls but also to
boys. All adolescents who participate on a competitive
team may not experience enhanced self-esteem or increased physical and athletic competence. Similarly,
just participating in sports (e.g., recreational level)
may not be sufficient to enhance self-esteem. It is important that a variety of activities be offered at different levels of competitiveness in order for the greatest number of people to reap the benefits of sports
participation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by a grant from
Brandon University to the first two authors. The au-

57
thors express their thanks and appreciation to the
students and staff of Neelin High School and Crocus
Plains Secondary School for their participation in this
project. The first two authors contributed equally to
this paper.

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