Perceptions of Female Performance Athletes in Relation to Demographic and Sporting Characteristics

Abstract

This study investigated perceptions of female performance athletes among 130 volunteer women enrolled at the School of Physical Education and Sports, Dicle University, and examined whether scale scores varied by demographic characteristics and sporting background. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey design was used. Participants completed a personal information form and the 23-item Perception Scale for Female Performance Athletes developed by Kurşun et al. [1], which examines cultural value judgments, integration through social support, and body image. Importantly, the original instrument was validated primarily as a measure of spectators’ perceptions of female athletes, rather than a measure of an athlete’s own sporting performance. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, and one-way analyses of variance were used, with statistical significance assessed at p < 0.05. The reported overall scale mean was 3.09 (SD = 0.31) on a five-point response scale. Recalculation of the independent-samples comparisons from the rounded group statistics indicated differences by sport type in the body image subscale (approximately p = 0.004) and total score (approximately p = 0.011), with higher reported means among team-sport participants. National-athlete status was also associated with a higher total score in the original analysis (reported p = 0.02). However, previously reported significant differences between amateur and professional participants were not reproduced from the available group summaries; those test statistics require confirmation using the original dataset. Comparisons by age, height, and body weight were not statistically significant in the reported analyses. These findings should be interpreted as differences in attitudes toward female performance athletes, not as direct evidence of differences in self-rated athletic performance. Because the instrument was originally validated in a different respondent population, its measurement properties in this sample and the statistical discrepancies should be addressed before definitive conclusions are drawn. The study may inform future inquiry into how sporting participation and competitive experience relate to perceptions of female athletes, provided the findings are confirmed with fully documented and appropriately validated analyses.