Alexandra G. Traşcă *, Maria Stefania Ionel */** and Laura Visu-Petra *
(*) Sport and Exercise Psychology Group, RIDDLE Lab, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
(**) Assessment and Individual Differences – AID Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Bucharest, Romania
Citation
G. Traşcă, A., Stefania Ionel, M., Visu-Petra, L. (2026). Unmasking gender roles in sports: differences in athletic identity and pain coping ability in martial arts. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 57(3), 215-238. doi:10.7352/IJSP.2026.57.215
Abstract
This research explores the interplay between athletic identity, gender stereotyping, and pain coping abilities, a nexus insufficiently investigated in diverse populations. Athletes deeply embedded in their sport identity often endorse a risk-prone culture, leading to hesitancy in addressing pain-related issues. This cross-sectional investigation was carried out on a sample of international athletes (N = 304; 107 women, 11 non-binary; 186 men; aged M = 31.35, SD = 8.64). Results revealed positive associations between athletic identity, pain coping ability, and masculinity across genders. However, gender emerged as a moderator in the relationship between athletic identity and pain coping, revealing that for women, the influence of athletic identity on their pain coping ability is considerably larger than for men. In conclusion, this study challenges gender stereotypes by investigating data on women athletes in sports traditionally perceived as masculine, whilst also offering insights for sports psychology practitioners addressing pain management in training and competition.
Keywords: Martial arts, Combat sports, Athletic identity, Gender stereotype, Pain coping ability