Getting Involved in Sport: Sex Differences

Abstract

Despite the social change of the last decade or so, everyday observation reveals that the sexes still tend to live in different social worlds: one for boys (sports, business) and another for girls (babies, typing). In the latter, serious ac tive involvement in sport — ''masculine" sports in particular — seems generally not encouraged. An extensive literature on sex-role socialization illuminates the mechanisms that explain why this is so. The other side of the coin, however, is less apparent. What social forces account for those girls and women who do become seriously involved in sport? Do they undergo socialization similar to, or significantly different than, their male counterparts?

In recent years, a few researchers have begun to pay attention to this pro cess (see Kenyon and WcPherson, 1972), and some of the more important determi nants of sport involvement have emerged-for males. Not surprisingly, there is a paucity of research on wemen, a commentary probably both on their devalued status relative to men and on the tension between the roles, "female" and ''athlete". The present paper adds to the small amount of empirical data that have begun to fill this void. It focuses on sex differences in socialization into sport; specifical ly, on the influence of socializing agents.