Gender differences in perceived environmental correlates of physical activity

BACKGROUND: Limited research has been conducted on gender differences in perceived environmental correlates of physical activity (PA). The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of gender in the link between perceived environment and PA. METHODS: Using a telephone-administered survey, data was collected on leisure time physical activity (LTPA), perceptions of the neighbourhood environment, and self-efficacy in a representative sample of 1209 adults from the province of Alberta, Canada. LTPA was regressed on ten measures of perceived neighbourhood environment and self-efficacy in a series of logistic regressions. RESULTS: Women were more likely than men to perceive their neighbourhood as unsafe to go for walks at night (χ(2 )= 67.46, p < 0.001) and to report seeing people being active in their neighbourhood (χ(2 )= 6.73, p < 0.01). Conversely, women were less likely to perceive easy access to places for PA (χ(2 )= 11.50, p < 0.01) and availability of places to buy things within easy walking distance from home (χ(2 )= 4.30, p < 0.05). Adjusting for age, education, income, and place of residence, access to places for PA (OR = 2.49) and interesting things to look at in the neighbourhood (OR = 1.94), were associated with higher levels of LTPA in men. Access to places for PA (OR = 2.63) and reporting seeing people being active (OR = 1.50) were associated with increased LTPA among women. After controlling for sociodemographic variables and self-efficacy, the presence of shops and places to buy things within easy walking distance from home (OR = 1.73), interesting things to look at in the neighbourhood (OR = 1.65), and access to places for PA (OR = 1.82) were associated with higher levels of LTPA in men. Among women, no significant relationships were observed between perceived environment and LTPA after adjusting for self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: The results provide additional support for the use of models in which gender is treated as a potential moderator of the link between the perceived environment and PA. Further, the results suggest the possibility of differential interventions to increase PA based on factors associated with gender

Expanding socio-cultural identity research in sport psycho-logy: The potential of athlete autobiographies

Within the cultural sport psychology (CSP) genre, researchers have considered multiple and intersecting athlete identity expression to enhance sport participation, inclusion and performance. The aim with the present paper was to build upon, and expand a CSP research agenda that focuses on socially constructed identities, through exploring narrative inquiry in conjunction with athlete autobiographies as data (re)sources. To accomplish this aim, we outline the central tenets of narrative inquiry and convergences with CSP, followed by an overview of autobiography. We then draw on autobiography research from cultural studies and sport psychology in relation to two central areas of concern in CSP: gender issues with a focus on women and health and well-being issues in sport. We conclude with some aspirations for future research on autobiographies grounded in narrative inquiry, to expand a CSP research agenda

Exercise is medicine: critical considerations in the qualitative research landscape

Since the American Medical Association and the American College of Sports Medicine partnered to launch Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) in 2007, the program has gained traction in 43 countries. The EIM discourse has been fruitful for framing exercise/physical activity as a form of disease prevention and/or symptom management for chronic conditions and mental health. This editorial ‘sets the stage’ for the articles within the special issue that coalesce a critical inquiry dialogue on EIM, by outlining taken for granted assumptions inherent in EIM. Assumptions include that people’s inactivity (and poor health) necessitates quick/planned intervention, exercise is positive/good for everyone and that the connection of exercise to medicine enhances credibility. Assumptions are problematized through grounding them in a neoliberal discourse of healthism, which emphasizes individual responsibility and/or experts as gatekeepers and facilitators of risk management through exercise. Three challenges to each of the assumptions are offered to explore EIM as socially, culturally and politically constructed, expanding the critical EIM dialogue. An overview of each of the articles within the special issue is then outlined to show ‘examples in use’ of critical theories and methodologies grounded broadly in interpretivist forms of inquiry and social constructionism. We conclude with noting the impetus and goal of this special issue--to spark further interest, dialogue and critical qualitative research on EIM –bringing forward the personal, socio-cultural, political iterations and potential of EIM

Gender order through social censure: an examination of social exclusion in sport coaching

In this paper, findings from an investigation into the gender imbalance in swim coaching in Australia, particularly at the higher levels of accreditation, are reported. Stories of the experience of two elite female swim coaches were analysed with reference to the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Analysis found that some male coaches and attendants to the swimming culture use literal and ideological force, including differentiation, direct control, and trivialisation to enact hegemony and to (re)create a gendered order. The findings suggest that without intervention and (re)education, this ideology will remain uncontested, will continue to inform the practice of coaches in the field, and will remain deeply entrenched in the system of values of the sport’s organising body and the federal funding organisation for sports in Australia

I am fast but I do not fit: an autoethnography of a swimmer's experiences of 'competitive performance' stigma in two sporting contexts

Given that research outside of sport and exercise has found that stigma may cause severe consequences (e.g. depression), it is important to explore the concept in regard to its connection to socio-cultural issues in the development and persistence of stigmatisation in sporting contexts. Analytic autoethnography and Goffman’s theory of stigma was used to explore one female swimmer’s experiences of ‘enacted’ and ‘felt’ competitive performance stigma occurring in elite swimming and a masters swimming context. Competitive performance stigma has not been conceptualised or explored as a stigma type in sport research, however through the presentation and analysis of two vignettes and the use of Goffman, this is achieved. The social agents that contributed to both ‘enacted’ and ‘felt’ competitive performance stigma and the consequences/effects (e.g. withdrawal from sport, feelings of shame) for this swimmer are highlighted. Our analysis further highlights the role of particular cultural insiders (e.g. coaches, team managers and other swimmers) in the reproduction of competitive performance stigma through acts of labelling, discrimination and social isolation. These acts positioned the female swimmer as an ‘outsider’ because of her competitive performance which in turn led to her withdrawal from these two sporting contexts highlighting the implications for recipients of stigmatisation

Slim to Win: An Ethnodrama of Three Elite Swimmers’ ‘Presentation of Self’ in Relation to a Dominant Cultural Ideology

Ethnodrama combined with Goffman’s ‘presentation of self’ is used to explore three elite swimmers’ ‘presentation of self’ in relation to the dominant ideology of ‘slim to win’. The ‘presentation of self’ of three swimmers is presented and analyzed according to their front stage (e.g., posting of specific images; direct media quotes) and backstage (e.g., an autoethnographic representation) performances. Goffman’s concepts of expressions ‘given’ and ‘given off’ are used to highlight how the ideology comes to be presented to others and whether the swimmer negotiates and/or contests it. As an analysis and representation, ethnodrama affords the opportunity to reveal the extent an athlete may go to to avoid a failing ‘presentation of self’ in relation to ‘slim to win,’ highlighting potential health effects (e.g., physical, emotional)

Control, consent and complicity in the coaching of elite women’s cycling in Australia: a media analysis

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of how athletes and coaches in a women’s cycling talent development and selection programme negotiate and normalise athlete abuse in the media. A thematic analysis of six online cycling magazine articles and their representations of the Australian women’s elite cycling development camp was analysed to explore athletic abuse and the (re)production of coaching practices using Bourdieusian theory. The findings revealed a link between the expression of coaching practice and the maltreatment of athletes. Analysis of these articles also revealed that athletes were complicit in the normalisation of coaching practices through the misrecognition of social power embedded in the coaching intervention. The representations by athletes within the articles contributed narratives related to the reproduction and proliferation of abusive coaching practices. This study extends understanding of how taken for granted and power laden aspects of coaching practices can be presented in the media and highlights the implications for coaches, athletes and the general public that consume online cycling media content