A Sex Difference in the Predisposition for Physical Competition: Males Play Sports Much More than Females Even in the Contemporary U.S

Abstract

Much evidence indicates that men experienced an evolutionary history of physical competition, both one-on-one and in coalitions. We thus hypothesized that, compared to girls and women, boys and men will possess a greater motivational predisposition to be interested in sports, especially team sports. According to most scholars, advocacy groups, and the United States courts, however, this hypothesis is challenged by modest sex differences in organized school sports participation in the contemporary U.S., where females comprise 42% of high school participants and 43% of intercollegiate participants. We conducted three studies to test whether organized school sports participation data underestimate the actual sex difference in sports participation. Study 1 analyzed the American Time Use Survey, which interviewed 112,000 individuals regarding their activities during one day. Females accounted for 51% of exercise (i.e., non-competitive) participations, 24% of total sports participations, and 20% of team sports participations. These sex differences were similar for older and younger age groups. Study 2 was based on systematic observations of sports and exercise at 41 public parks in four states. Females accounted for 37% of exercise participations, 19% of individual sports participations, and 10% of team sports participations. Study 3 involved surveying colleges and universities about intramural sports, which primarily consist of undergraduate participation in team sports. Across 34 institutions, females accounted for 26% of registrations. Nine institutions provided historical data, and these did not indicate that the sex difference is diminishing. Therefore, although efforts to ensure more equitable access to sports in the U.S. (i.e., Title IX) have produced many benefits, patterns of sports participation do not challenge the hypothesis of a large sex difference in interest and participation in physical competition.

Investment in Beauty, Exercise, and Self-esteem: Are They Related to Self-perception as a Romantic Partner?

“…Considering that testosterone is associated with higher levels of violence and intensity of male competition and that men have higher levels of testosterone than women, these facts prompt an expectation of social and athletic challenges (Kruger 2014). Thus, men tend to be more engaged in exercise than women (Deaner et al 2012), which provides an additional corroboration to the prediction that men should invest more in exercise than women, although women should be motivated by achieving the "perfect look. "…”

“…Secondly, we investigated if there is a difference between sexes with respect to the investment of time and effort in exercises. In this way, men are generally more engaged in direct competition with one another than women are (Deaner et al 2012), so that our hypothesis is that men should be expected to exercise more than women. Thirdly, whether exercise is related to monetary investment in beauty: as both exercise and investment in beauty can help individuals to feel better about themselves and improve their overall physical attractiveness (Avelar and Veiga 2013), we expected that those participants who invest more in beauty products and services should also engage in more exercise.…”

Nível De Atividade Física, Por Acelerometria, Em Idosos Do Município De São Paulo: Estudo Sabe

“…Comparado a outros estudos, este mesmo resultado é observado 7 . Os resultados de estudos realizados com estimativas de AF a partir de questionários mostraram que os homens têm preferência por atividades esportivas e competitivas 18 e, mulheres, despendem mais tempo em atividades domésticas 19,20 . Este padrão pode explicar o maior nível de atividade física moderada em vigorosa do sexo masculino, uma vez que a prática esportiva requer maior gasto energético e intensidade de esforço.…”

The development of human female competition: allies and adversaries

“…Adolescent girls across diverse cultures still rarely directly interfere with another female's pursuit of her goals [32,116], even eschewing zero-sum sports games during exercise or individual athletic activities [181]. Although serious physical interference competition peaks for both sexes between 15 and 25 years, females use it 1/10 as often as males [106,116,182].…”