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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between identification with the athlete role and the endorsement of masculine and feminine gender role orientations. Four hundred and nine students at a small, Midwestern university completed the Athletic Identify Measurement Scale (AIMS) and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). Participants were classified as either high or low athlete identifiers based on their AIMS scores. High and low athlete identifiers and athlete and nonathletes reported similar endorsement patterns of masculinity and femininity. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient indicated that athletic identity was positively correlated with masculinity and negatively correlated with femininity. Women and nonathletes reported higher correlations between athletic identity and masculinity than did males and athletes. One-way ANOVA revealed that masculine persons reported higher levels of athletic identity than did undifferentiated or feminine persons.
Competitive sports convey strong messages about masculinity and femininity and have traditionally been viewed as a domain where men are encouraged to pursue a masculine gender role identity (Czima, Wittig, & Schuff, 1988; Miller & Levy, 1996; Nixon & Frey, 1996). Males who choose not to participate in sports are often seen as deviant and are labeled in negative terms such as "wimp" or "sissy" and even as homosexual (Messner & Sabo, 1994). In contrast, female competitive sport participation has largely been viewed as inappropriate and women who participate in competitive sports are often characterized as masculine. Labels such as "dyke", "husky", and "lesbian" are commonly used to describe female athletes and refer to the masculinizing effects of participation in competitive sports (Brady, Trafimow, Eisler, & Southard, 1996; Colley, Roberts, & Chipps, 1985; Harris, 1973; Murphy, 1988). Consequently, women who engage in competitive sport and men who do not engage in competitive sport are often perceived as acting outside of their prescribed gender roles (Messner & Sabo, 1994).
Gender-role Orientation
Gender-role orientation is the degree to which people view themselves as being masculine or feminine. The early 1970's view of gender role orientation held that masculinity and femininity were at opposite ends of the same continuum (Constantinople, 1973). Bem (1974) challenged this concept by suggesting that masculinity and femininity were actually separate continuums allowing individuals to simultaneously endorse both characteristics. Her Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bem, 1974) thus classified individuals...