Features of gender-role behavior of athletes as a result of practices in various kinds of sports

Recent studies often show that playing sports leads to excessive masculinization of the personality of female athletes and can provoke violations of gender-role behavior.In the course of the study, differences were revealed in the characteristics of gender-role behavior in groups of female athletes involved in various sports: athletes representing masculine sports (martial arts) were distinguished by the traditional style of gender-role behavior, highly appreciated their femininity and attractiveness, were more successful in relationships with men, and traditional ideas about marriage and motherhood prevailed among them; athletes representing feminine sports (figure skating), despite the highest self-esteem of femininity and high demand among males, were not ready to give up their sports career for the sake of family and children, and only in this group were athletes representatives of the "childfree" movement; female skiers occupied an intermediate position in terms of gender-role behavior.