The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Sex differences in sports interest and motivation: An evolutionary perspective.
Abstract
Although girls and women in many societies avidly participate in sports, they have been traditionally underrepresented compared with boys and men. In this review, we address the apparent sex differences in sports interest and motivation from an evolutionary perspective. First, we demonstrate that females ’ underrepresentation generally reflects lesser interest, not merely fewer opportunities for engagement. Moreover, there is mounting evidence that male and female athletes generally differ in their motivation, specifically their competitiveness and risk taking. Second, we examine the functional explanations for sports. We argue that the courtship display hypothesis applies mainly to females; the spectator lek hypothesis applies chiefly to males; and that 2 other hypotheses—the allying with coalitions hypothesis and the development of skills hypothesis—are important for both females and males. Third, we explore the proximate causes for the sex differences in sports interest and motivation. We show that although there is compelling evidence that prenatal hormones contribute, the evidence that socialization plays a role remains equivocal. We conclude by discussing key findings and identifying areas for further research.
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Cites
Gender Differences in Preferences
Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.2.448 · Cited by 5,694
Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2004) · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226712130.001.0001 · Cited by 2,793
Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies.
Cialdini, R. B., Borden, R. J., Thorne, A., Walker, M. R., Freeman, S., & Sloan, L. R. (1976) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.34.3.366 · Cited by 2,443
Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Development
Eccles, J. S., Barber, B. L., Stone, M., & Hunt, J. (2003) · Journal of Social Issues · doi:10.1046/j.0022-4537.2003.00095.x · Cited by 1,450
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“Moreover, public health studies of physical activity generally do not attempt to distinguish sports from noncompetitive exercise (e.g., Dobbins et al., 2013; Van Tuyckom et al., 2010).”
BackgroundLarson, R. W., & Verma, S. (1999) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.701 · Cited by 1,166
Does sexual selection explain human sex differences in aggression?
Archer, J. (2009) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x09990951 · Cited by 607
Frisén, L., Nordenström, A., Falhammar, H., Filipsson, H., Holmdahl, G., Janson, P. O., Thorén, M., Hagenfeldt, K., Möller, A., & Nordenskjöld, A. (2009) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2009-0636 · Cited by 276
The sporting life: Athletic activities during early adolescence
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THE STATE STREET MILE: AGE AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COMPETITION AVERSION IN THE FIELD
GARRATT, R. J., WEINBERGER, C., & JOHNSON, N. (2013) · Economic Inquiry · doi:10.1111/j.1465-7295.2011.00370.x · Cited by 61
Cited by
Belcher, B. R., Zink, J., Azad, A., Campbell, C. E., Chakravartti, S. P., & Herting, M. M. (2021) · Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging · doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.08.005 · Cited by 281
Metadata
- Authors
- Deaner, R. O., Balish, S. M., & Lombardo, M. P.
- Venue
- Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
- Published
- 2016-04
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 73-97
- ISSN
- 2330-2925 (ISSN-L)
- 2330-2933
- OpenAlex
- W2111402247
- Cited by
- 163
- References
- 10
- FWCI
- 12.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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