Student-Athlete Barriers to Bystander Intervention: Assessing Gender Role Conflict and Intentions to Respond Post-Sexual Assault

Abstract

Student-athlete barriers to bystander intervention have generally not been explored in the literature. This research examined how gender role conflict (GRC) inhibits student-athlete intentions to intervene post-sexual assault due to the masculine norms of the sport culture. Using a non-probability cross-sectional design, 300 student-athletes from five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions completed an anonymous web-based survey. Independent samples t-tests revealed that male student-athletes exhibited greater GRC than female student-athletes. Next, an ordinary least square multiple regression assessed GRC and intentions to respond post-sexual assault. Of all GRC subscales, conflicts between work and leisure-family relations was associated with intentions to respond post-sexual assault and was significantly moderated by gender. Results indicate that student-athletes are not only prone to GRC, but also exhibit barriers to bystander intentions as a result. These findings underscore the importance of engaging student-athletes in bystander intervention training to prevent campus sexual assault. Implications to field of social work will also be discussed.