Diferenças quanto à participação esportiva em 50 sociedades

Cross-Cultural Research

Volume 47, Issue 3, August 2013, Pages 268-309

Sex Differences in Sports Across 50 Societies

Deaner, R.O.^a , Smith, B.A.^b  

^a  Department of Psychology, Grand Valley State University, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI 49401, United States
^b  University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, United States 

View references (110)

Abstract

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 nonpatriarchal societies. These results show that a robust sex difference in direct physical competition co-occurs with meaningful variation in its expression.