Perceptual Reactance & Female Athletic Participation

Three groups of females: contact athletes (basketball players), noncontact athletes (tennis and golf players), and nonathletes, were tested to determine their perceptual reactance. It was predicted that since women contact athletes tolerate more pain than women noncontact athletes and nonathletes, they should reduce their estimations of the test block more than noncontact athletes and nonathletes. It was also predicted that since women noncontact athletes tolerate more pain than women nonathletes, they should reduce their estimations of the test block more than the nonathletes. These predictions parallel previous findings for men. The results demonstrated no significant differences between the three groups in their estimations of the test block, lending evidence to suggest that Petrie\u27s theory of perceptual reactance is not as generalizable a construct for women as it is for men