Hindawi Publishing Corporation Child Development Research Volume 2011, Article ID 830345, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2011/830345 Research Article The Role of Athletics in the Self-Esteem of Tomboys May Ling Halim,1 Elizabeth Dalmut,2 Faith K. Greulich,1 Sheana Ahlqvist,3 Leah E. Lurye,1 and Diane N. Ruble1 1 Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA 2 Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Green Hall, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA 3 Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA Correspondence should be addressed to May Ling Halim,
[email protected] Received 15 June 2011; Accepted 19 October 2011 Academic Editor: Masha Gartstein Copyright © 2011 May Ling Halim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Many girls self-identify as tomboys, yet little is known about their experiences. Tomboys deviate from gender stereotypes; they also may be more highly aware of gender status differences. Because tomboys may feel different from others and more keenly feel the lower status of their gender group, they may suffer from lower levels of self-esteem. Yet many tomboys also tend to participate in athletics, an activity that often leads to higher levels of self-esteem. Two studies sought to disentangle the interactive effects of tomboy identification and athleticism on self-esteem. Study 1 sampled 144 female undergraduates and Study 2 sampled 66 girls aged from 8 to 13.