Men vs. Women: Female Sports Psychologists Rated More Highly Than Male Ones

Would you be more willing to listen to a man or a woman if you were an athlete? It turns out that when listening to the voices of sport psychologists, both male and female athletes rated women psychologists more positively than male ones.

In order to examine the role gender plays in psychology, the researchers asked 117 participants (59 women and 58 men) between the ages of 18 and 35 who regularly took part in a sport to listen to different voices. In all, there were four voices; a high-pitched male one, a low-pitched male one, a high-pitched female one and a low-pitched female one.

The volunteers listened to all four of the voices and then were asked to rate each speaker on his or her sports knowledge, personality traits and the likelihood that the participant would seek the voice's services as a psychologist. In the end, the scientists found that the volunteers rated the two female voices far higher for all factors.

The low-pitched female voice was perceived to have more sports knowledge, to be a more effective psychologist and to be the one whose services were most likely to be sought. The high-pitched female voice was seen most positively in terms of personality.

"These findings challenge the historically prevalent view that male psychologists are more successful and show that gender equality has made progress in sport," said Rebecca Mitchell, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It may be that the participants did not want to appear prejudiced against female psychologists, but that too is an indication of the progress that has been made. It is well known that the first impression a sports psychologist makes on an athlete is important, and the psychologist's voice is certainly part of that. Psychologists need to be more aware of how they sound if they are to foster a good relationship with an athlete from the start."

The findings were presented at the British Psychological Society's annual Conference.