Comparison of communal sex roles of female sports students studying in different universities in Turkey

We investigated whether doing sports has any effect on the androgynous characteristics of women. In 15 universities from different regions of Turkey,  a questionnare was administered to 341 students (170 elite sportlers from nine sport categories and 171 sedantary controls) during the 2012-2013 study period. The Bem sex role inventory was used to determine whether doing sport differentiates female students' social gender roles. There was a significant difference between subjects who do sport and those who do not in terms of masculinity and social acceptability (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference in terms of femininity (p=0.116). Female athletes are more androgynous compared to the non-sportlers. There was a significant difference between exercising and non-exercising women with regard to masculine/feminine features, and feminine/androgynous features (p<0.001) but there was no significant difference in terms of masculine/androgynous features (p=0.820). As a conclusion, in addition to its advantages for health, sports is very important for women to have a more effective place in the society in terms of gender roles. Key words: Sex roles, androgynous, sport.