Equalizing or Reinforcing? The Impact of Organized Sports Club Membership on Gender Role Attitudes

Bibliographic Data

ID24217377
AuthorsZizhen Wang (0000-0002-0024-4107, Department of Sociology Xiamen University Xiamen China), Peiyi Chen (0009-0009-6616-4909, Department of Sociology Xiamen University Xiamen China), Jing Gu (0000-0002-4035-9072, Department of Social Work Nanning Normal University Nanning China)
Year2026
Volume20
Issue10
Publication date2026-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-9020 • E-ISSN: 1751-9020
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/soc4.70252
OpenAlexW7214610479
LanguageEN
References cited27

Despite the egalitarian potential of voluntary sports organizations, existing evidence remains inconclusive as to whether membership in organized sports clubs reinforces or challenges traditional gender role attitudes. Drawing on data from 65,378 respondents across 50 countries in Wave 7 of the World Values Survey, this study examines the relationship between organized sports club membership and individuals' gender role attitudes. The main finding shows that organized sports club membership is associated with more traditional gender role attitudes—particularly among men—and that this association remains statistically significant across different levels of national development, gender inequality, and democratization. Cross‐level interaction analyses further indicate that the relationship is contextually contingent: higher levels of national democratization attenuate the association between sports club membership and traditional gender role attitudes. These results remain robust after using propensity score matching to correct for potential self‐selection bias arising from non‐random selection into sports club membership.

cross-level interaction effects · Democratization · Egalitarianism · Gender inequality · gender role attitudes · National development · self-selection bias · traditional gender roles · World Values Survey · Gender and Feminist Studies · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Sports, Gender, and Society

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