The Psychological Differences between Men and Women in Sports

Men and women are psychologically different in many ways. Some of these differences include competitiveness, goal orientation, self-confidence, motivation, mental toughness, incentives, preferences, etc. According to Anne Bowker in Sports Participation and Self-Esteem, Men have an advantage over women in sports because they're more aggressive and have higher self-esteem (2003).

There has always been that stereotype of boys being more athletic than girls. The gender segregation of sports reflects more than just physical differences between men and women. It reflects the way men think about women and sports. When someone throws a baseball in a nonathletic way, a friend would yell, “Stop throwing like a girl!” Being reminded of this particular stereotype brings down girls’ self-esteem and hinders their athletic performance. On the other hand, as said in The Impact of Stereotype Threat on Performance in Sports, there is evidence that bringing to mind negative stereotypes about the other gender can improve or lift performance on a physical activity (2003).

An existence of a considerable gender gap in competitiveness is now widely acknowledged. It is very known that men would prefer more competition then women would. Men are usually more eager to compete, and the performance of men tends to respond more positively to an increase in competition.

Many athletes will tell you that confidence is key when playing a sport. If your confidence is low, you will not perform as well as you should. Sources of confidence are closely related to a player's task orientation, perceived task climate, and perceived ability. For this reason, coaches work harder at creating task-oriented practice environments (or climates) and strive to understand the...

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