of males. Part of the blame is the socialization process. Using data obtained from 224 female intercollegiate athletes and women who were not involved in sports, the author tested several hypotheses regarding the influence of family members, peers, and teachers in the athlete and nonathlete samples. Extensive information on family background was gathered, including religion, education and occupation of parents, the subject's first involvement with sports, family values toward sports, and the people who most encouraged or discouraged them to participate in sports. Greendorfer's study supports Griffin's conclusion that success is important for children who engage in controlled sports: "Further examination of the data indicates childhood presence of a strong value structure toward being good in sport for the athletes . . . Such is not the case for the nonathletes" (Greendorfer 119). The study also found that of all the significant others who discouraged the nonathletes from participating in sports, mothers had the strongest influence: "the mother certainly seems to be a significant socializing agent who may partially account for differences in the sport socialization of women" (Greendorfer 120). This study recommends that parents become more aware of the impact they exert on the choices made by female children on whether or not to participate in controlled sports.
Roberts (1992) analyzes the competitive process from the point of view of children. Their participation in controlled sports has social psychological effects on personality development. The author defines the competitive process and then examines the cognitive evaluations made by children who compete. In general, the competitive process consists of individuals or teams striving to meet certain athletic standards. The process is a social one in that the child athlete is constantly being evaluated by peers and adults: "Recognizing that competition is an evaluative...