'If it contradicts my gender role, I'll stop': Introducing survival analysis to study the effects of gender typing on the time of withdrawal from sport practice: A 3-year study.

International audience ; Examined the effect of sex-role attitudes in adolescent females on quitting handball, a perceived sex-inappropriate sport. In the 3-yr study, 336 French female handballers (aged 13-15 yrs) completed a French version (P. Fontayne et al, 2000) of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (S. L. Bem, 1974) concerning femininity and masculinity. Other collected data included observation of sport seasons. Results show that feminine and undifferentiated Ss stopped the practice of handball significantly earlier than did masculine and androgynous Ss. After 173 days, 62% of feminine Ss continued playing handball; in contrast, 81% of the undifferentiated, 82% of the masculine, and 87% of the androgynous Ss continued playing handball at the end of the period. After 498 days, 80% of androgynous Ss continued playing handball, compared with 75% of masculine, 68% of undifferentiated, and 60% of feminine Ss. After 823 days, 76% of androgynous Ss continued playing handball, compared with 69% of masculine, 56% of feminine, and 50% of undifferentiated Ss. Findings suggest that the involvement and perseverance of females in sports remains problematic as long as some activities are considered as stereotypically masculine.