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Breaking The Stereotypes: Exploring Traits Of Female Athletes, Carrie Magan Warda

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Despite the growing acceptance of women's sports and the increasing number of women and girls who are participating in sports, a number of negative stereotypes still exist concerning female athletes. Because the competitive, masculine nature of sports has been viewed as the antithesis of femininity, women who have actively participated in sports have often been stigmatized as "masculine" (Anthrop & Allison, 1983; Snyder & Kivlin, 1977). Past research has determined that female athletes do tend to possess more masculine personality traits than their non-athletic counterparts (Andre & Holland, 1995; Houseworth, Peplow, & Thirer, 1989; Marsh & Jackson, 1986; Myers & …