A Feminist Perspective on Contemporary Sport Psychology Research

1994 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikki Krane

Martens (1987) and Dewar and Horn (1992) expressed the need for accepting diverse epistemological perspectives in sport psychology. This paper proposes feminism as an alternative approach to sport psychology research. Feminism grew out of dissatisfaction with “science-as-usual” that often overlooks the experiences of females and acknowledges that sport behavior does not occur in a value-free vacuum; male and female athletes are exposed to very different situations and experiences in sport. A reexamination of the knowledge base, with particular attention to the experiences of females, is needed. Because discontentment with logical positivism has led researchers in a variety of fields to adopt a feminist perspective, a brief critique of logical positivism is provided. A feminist paradigm and feminist methodologies are described, showing how they can enhance knowledge in sport psychology. Finally, examples of feminist inquiry in sport psychology are provided.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17
Author(s):  
Marco Estêvão Correia ◽  
António Rosado

The study of anxiety, specifically its relations with sociodemographic variables, has been fruitfull in sport psychology research. This study aimed to investigate athletes’ sport anxiety regarding differences in gender and sport played. An application of structural equation modeling was made, with 601 Portuguese athletes. From them 172 (28.6%) were female and 429 (71.4%) were male. They competed in a variety of individual (e.g., athletics, climbing, orienteering, surfing, swimming, tennis; 42.6%) and team sports (e.g., basketball, handball, rugby, soccer, volleyball; 57.4%). Participants’ age ranged from 12 to 47 years (M = 17.44 years; SD = 4.99). After testing the measurement invariance of the first and second-order models, across gender and type of sport (individual vs. team), latent mean comparisons were investigated and Cohen’s d (1988) statistic was computed to obtain the corresponding effect sizes (Kline, 2016). Significant differences were detected between male and female athletes and between individual and team sports. Female and individual sports athletes presented higher levels of general sports anxiety. The results of this research provided evidence that anxiety is appraised differently by athletes based on their gender and type of sport.


2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-444
Author(s):  
Tamar Z. Semerjian ◽  
Jennifer J. Waldron

This paper explores how feminism can be used in sport psychology research and the particular dilemmas that can present themselves when a feminist perspective is used within the framework of sport psychology. Both authors describe their personal entrées into various schools of feminism, the ways they incorporate feminist theory into their work, and the struggles they have encountered in using feminist approaches in a field that is not always open to feminist epistemology. This paper includes a description of several types of feminist thought. Both authors use feminist theory in research that concerns women at either end of the life span, specifically girls and older women, and the ways that members of these groups think about and relate to their bodies. While feminism has been an important, useful, and enlightening perspective and tool for both authors, it has also proven problematic within the context of sport psychology research. The dilemmas encountered are described as epistemological and methodological and discussed in the context of personal experiences from both authors.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott B. Martin ◽  
Allen Akers ◽  
Allen W. Jackson ◽  
Craig A. Wrisberg ◽  
Lynne Nelson ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Lindahl ◽  
Andreas Stenling ◽  
Magnus Lindwall ◽  
Cristian Colliander

Author(s):  
Niclas Svedberg ◽  
Johan Sundström ◽  
Stefan James ◽  
Ulf Hållmarker ◽  
Kristina Hambraeus ◽  
...  

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