Post by Smithee on Jun 22, 2012 15:31:27 GMT 10
L.O.L.
Sex Differences in Sports Across 50 Societies
See papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2009329
“….the sex difference in sports was greater in patriarchal than in non-patriarchal societies.” Well duhh! Presumably the corollary is that sex differences in sports is less in non-patriarchal than in patriarchal societies. This learned effect is more in line with gender theory than with Evolutionary Psychology.
Who gets to document what counts as sports and what are just considered games? Is Surfing a sport? Netball? Softball? Skipping? Skate boarding? Aerobics, Bowling? Lawn bowls? Table tennis? Volley ball? Juggling? Bush walking? Billiards? Horse racing? Dressage? Motor racing? Fox hunting? Body building? Jogging? Darts? Bird watching? Train spotting? Hang gliding? Gymnastics? Beach combing? Sailing? Judo? Archery? Snorkelling?
Sex Differences in Sports Across 50 Societies
Sports have been frequently explored in cross-cultural studies, yet scant attention has been paid to female participation. Here we coded the occurrence of sports and related activities for males and females in the societies comprising the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) probability sample. We then tested several predictions derived from evolutionary theory. As predicted, in all 50 societies with documented sports, there were more male sports than female sports; hunting and combat sports were almost exclusively male activities; and the sex difference in sports was greater in patriarchal than in non-patriarchal societies. These results show that a robust sex difference in direct physical competition co-occurs with meaningful variation in its expression.
In conclusion, our study complements previous research by showing that a robust, probably universal, sex difference can co-occur with meaningful variation in its expression. We suggest that future research seeking to explain variation in sports participation and motivation, both across and within societies, may benefit from an explicitly evolutionary perspective.
See papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2009329
“….the sex difference in sports was greater in patriarchal than in non-patriarchal societies.” Well duhh! Presumably the corollary is that sex differences in sports is less in non-patriarchal than in patriarchal societies. This learned effect is more in line with gender theory than with Evolutionary Psychology.
Who gets to document what counts as sports and what are just considered games? Is Surfing a sport? Netball? Softball? Skipping? Skate boarding? Aerobics, Bowling? Lawn bowls? Table tennis? Volley ball? Juggling? Bush walking? Billiards? Horse racing? Dressage? Motor racing? Fox hunting? Body building? Jogging? Darts? Bird watching? Train spotting? Hang gliding? Gymnastics? Beach combing? Sailing? Judo? Archery? Snorkelling?