ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1569578
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Learning through Cognitive and Social Inclusion Practices in EducationView all 8 articles
Teaching Strategies for Promoting Female College Students' Physical Activity
Provisionally accepted
- Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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Background: Although physical activity (PA) levels among female students have improved in primary and secondary education, female undergraduates consistently show lower PA levels compared to males and younger female students. Previous studies suggest that gender stereotypes and socially constructed traits significantly impact females' choices and engagement in sports. This study examines how gender roles and sports type choices influence PA levels and physical exercise involvement among female undergraduates.Cluster sampling was used to recruit 500 university studentundergraduates (256 males, 244 females) from five universities in Shanghai. Valid data from 439 undergraduatesstudents (mean age = 19.02 ± 1.04 years) were collected using the Physical Activity Rating Scale (PARS-3), Chinese College Students' Sex-Role Inventory (CSRI-50), and Physical Exercise Involvement Scale (PEIS). Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and ANOVA.Results: Female undergraduates had significantly lower PA and physical exercise involvement scores compared to male peers (PA: p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.494; involvement: p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.752). No significant gender differences were observed in sports choices (p = 0.402). Female undergraduatesstudents showed the lowest PA levels in masculine sports (p = 0.002). Among female participants, gender roles significantly affected PA and involvement, with androgynous individuals performing best, especially in masculine sports (PA: p < 0.001; involvement: p < 0.001). Feminine and undifferentiated roles were associated with lower scores in value cognition (p < 0.001) and autonomy (p < 0.001).
Keywords: gender roles, Exercise involvement, sports projects, physical activity, Female undergraduates
Received: 01 Feb 2025; Accepted: 10 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ma, Guo, Zhu, Wen, Deng and Ma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qiaoqiao Deng, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
Xiao Ma, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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