I Would Like to be Like Her/Him: Are Athletes Role-Models for Boys and Girls?

Abstract

The first part of this contribution deals with theoretical considerations of the meaning of role-models and idols in general and for young people in particular. Then the results of existing studies are discussed. As research shows, the huge majority of idols, especially of sport heroes, are men, and it is boys who admire sport stars. In the second part of the article a pilot study is presented in which we asked female and male pupils about their role-models. A high percentage of boys named sporting heroes or ‘action stars’ whom they admired because of their strength, aggression and their ability to get things done. In contrast, for the girls interviewed, sport stars did not have the function of role-models. They admired the stars and starlets of the movie and music scene. At the end, the potential effects of these orientations are discussed, and the question is asked what kind of answers pedagogy can offer.

Practices of Weight Regulation Among Elite Athletes in Combat Sports: A Matter of Mental Advantage?

“…For younger or lowerlevel athletes, the elite athlete often holds the position of idol and thus also functions as a role model. 26 Nevertheless, the results are not necessarily transferable to lowerlevel competitors, who might have less aggressive weight-regulation behavior. 1,41 In our opinion, this does not rule out the possibility of the results being useful for athletes who are not at the elite level.…”

“…26 Consequently, it is reasonable to assume that weight-regulation procedures practiced by the elite also influence combat-sport athletes in general, regardless of age or competitive level. To the best of our knowledge, no investigators have studied the perceived physical and mental benefits or disadvantages of short-term weight regulation among elite athletes in combat sports or the athletes' opinions regarding short-term weight regulation.…”

Sports idols of senior athletes

“…Also, these sports are not very popular and numerous among girls in Serbia and there are no important results of domestic female athletes in these sports. In a study of young people in Germany by Biskup and Pfister (1999), girls and boys very rarely identified with sports women despite the high profile of Steffi Graf in the German sporting culture. Results of this research are consistent with theirs, but it is important to say that Andrea Lekić, Jasna Šekarić and Jelena Janković are domestic athletes and still active and they are among best ever in Serbia in their sports.…”

Heroes as heritage: the commoditization of sporting achievement

“…So heroes are not sought so much out of desperation but out of necessity, and therefore can be perceived as an integral element of any culture (Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010). In many cases, as detailed earlier, the sports hero can be saddled with the nom de plume of role model for both adults and children alike (Biskup & Pfister, 1999;Lockwood & Kunda, 1997;Wann et al, 2001). This additional responsibility often pressurises both young and experienced sports people to promote morally acceptable lifestyles that can be at odds to the lives they genuinely lead.…”