Comparing Athletic Identity Between Female Bodybuilders and Collegiate Athletes

Although athletic identity has been previously examined in the collegiate setting, stand-alone literature on athletic identity and female bodybuilders is lacking. Given the niche nature of competitive bodybuilding and the overall lack of research on female athletes, the purpose of the current study was to compare athletic identity between female bodybuilders and female collegiate athletes. Fifty-six collegiate athletes from a private northeast National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division III institution and 32 bodybuilders filled out the seven-item, three-dimensional Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS; Brewer & Cornelius, 2001) as an online questionnaire. An independent samples t-test showed that collegiate athletes had a significantly higher total AIMS score than bodybuilders (p < .001). Significance for all analyses was set to α = 0.05. The social identity and negative affectivity subscales were significantly different between groups, with social identity being the largest determinant between total AIMS score differences. The researcher concluded that female collegiate athletes may have stronger athletic identity than female competitive bodybuilders. This may be influenced by participant age, years spent participating in sport, and bodybuilders having more time exploring life roles outside of sport.