Gender in the Gym: Evaluation Concerns as Barriers to Women’s Weight Lifting

Four studies examined why women appear to be less likely than men to lift weights, despite the documented health benefits. An archival analysis (“ Study 1 ”) pointed to a cultural dissociation between women and strength-related exercise goals. Furthermore, a study of women in a university in the mid...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Sex roles Vol. 63; no. 7-8; pp. 556 - 567
Main Authors:	Salvatore, Jessica, Marecek, Jeanne
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Boston Springer US 01-10-2010 Springer Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Avoidance Behavioral Science and Psychology Biological and medical sciences Body Weight Depression (Psychology) Eating Disorders Exercise Females Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Gender Studies Guidelines Health Individual Differences Males Medicine/Public Health Mental Disorders Minicourses Original Article Physical Activities Physical Fitness Psychology Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychology. Psychophysiology Researchers Resistance (Psychology) Scientific Concepts Self Concept Self Evaluation (Individuals) Sex Sex roles Social Control Social psychology Social role. Sex role Sociocultural Factors Sociology Undergraduate Students Weightlifting Women Women Exercise Gender norms Evaluation concerns Weight lifting Social environment Physical exercise Human Social norm Sex role Body image Sport equipment Cultural environment Female Woman
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Four studies examined why women appear to be less likely than men to lift weights, despite the documented health benefits. An archival analysis (“ Study 1 ”) pointed to a cultural dissociation between women and strength-related exercise goals. Furthermore, a study of women in a university in the mid-Atlantic United States who envisioned lifting weights in public expressed greater evaluation concerns than those who envisioned doing aerobic exercise (“ Study 2 ”); moreover, greater evaluation concerns seemed to deter them from weight lifting. These findings helped to shed light upon gender-differentiated patterns of gym equipment use (“ Study 3a ”) and reports of psychological discomfort in gyms (“ Study 3b ”). This work begins to illuminate the sociocultural context of women’s avoidance of certain types of exercise.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0360-0025 1573-2762
DOI:	10.1007/s11199-010-9800-8