Features of gender identity among athletes who specialize in speed-strength sports

Abstract

Purpose: determine the gender characteristics of athletes and athletes who engage in speed-strength sports. Material & Methods. The study involved 87 male athletes and female athletes aged from 17 to 31 years of different sports who are trained at the Kharkiv State Academy of Physical Culture and specialize in speed-strength sports. Among the examined were 34 girls and 53 boys. Such research methods were used as: analysis and generalization of literary sources and Internet resources on the investigated problem; psychological methods: S. Bam's “Masculinity / Femininity” technique and Kettell's 16-factor questionnaire; methods of mathematical statistics. Results: a group of speed-strength sports was examined from the point of view of their influence on the formation of gender identity, and gender similarities and gender differences were identified among male athletes and female athletes who specialize in weightlifting, powerlifting, speed-strength types of athletics, weight-lifting and armwrestling, bodybuilding. Among young men, the ratio of masculine and androgynous athletes is respectively 55:45%. Girls – 74:26%. There are almost 3 times more masculine girls in speed-strength types than androgynous athletes and almost 1.5 times more than masculine athletes. Weightlifting (78%) and powerlifting (80%) have the greatest influence on the process of masculinization of athletes. The similarities and differences between masculine and androgynous boys and girls are revealed, taking into account their personal qualities. Conclusions: the identity of the person is formed throughout life and sports activity is one of the factors that affects its formation. Regarding the total number of subjects (n=87), it was found that in speed-strength sports there are more athletes (55%) and female athletes (74%) of the masculine type than the androgynous type. No feminine boys and girls were identified during the study. It has been established that speed-strength sports contribute to masculinization of both boys and girls, but the masculinization of athletes who are involved in weightlifting (78%) and powerlifting (80%) is more pronounced than in boys. It was found that the high sports qualifications of athletes (67%) and athletes (79%) contribute to the formation of a masculine personality type in them. When analyzing the personal qualities of masculine and androgynous boys and masculine and androgynous girls, more similarities were found between them than differences. In athletes, differences were revealed only in one factor “subordination – dominance”, and in athletes – in two “common intelligence” and “stiffness – sensitivity”.

Keywords

• speed-strength sports
• gender
• masculinity
• androgyny
• femininity
• identity
• biological gender
• gender differences