The psychology of female sport performance

Ultimately, what we know and are taught about sport is gender-blind. That is to say that sport fails to take into account the different, diverse needs, and preferences of the exercising female. Gender is an individual difference that is often overlooked and most of our knowledge about elite and recreational athletes, for example, is based on studies involving males. On the occasion when gender is considered, researchers often seek to delineate how females are different from males, but the reverse question is rarely posed. This is an unwise approach as sociocultural and socio-cognitive influences determine nuanced behaviour in the sport and exercise domain, from responses to competitive anxiety, to sources of stress and approaches to coping. Furthermore, team dynamics of all-female athletes function differently from their male counterparts. An inability to understand these differences causes an unnecessary barrier to participation, engagement, and progression in the exercising female.