The purpose of the current article was to perform a systematic review of 52 studies in which the drive for muscularity (DFM) has been measured. We included all the papers we found published from 2000 until May 2012. Variables most consistently related to DFM are (1) gender, with males reporting higher levels than females; (2) anxiety and body shame; (3) perceptions that the ideal physique involves high muscularity; (4) behaviours associated with increasing muscularity, including dietary manipulation and resistance training; and (5) the internalisation of a muscular physique as the standard to which to aspire. The DFM was inconsistently correlated with self-esteem, physical characteristics and actual-ideal discrepancies. Research has focused on white male students and been cross-sectional and descriptive. Further theory-driven work is needed with a wider range of populations to enhance the conceptualisation, measurement and understanding of the DFM.

Academic literature on football fans has shifted focus, away from the study of ‘exceptional fans’, most notably hooligans, towards ‘everyday fans’ and their experiences. Especially, the rivalry-related aspect of football fandom has been given growing attention. Gradually increasing literature has demonstrated that rivalries are unique and complex, underpinned by social, historical and/or cultural factors. This suggests that each rivalry must be studied in-depth in order to understand the underlying factors that shape oppositions and social identities. Although attempts have been made to sociologically explore rivalries in such a way, two fundamental issues have not been fully addressed: paucity of in-depth empirical evidence and lack of transparency in terms of research methodologies. Therefore, this essay, after locating football rivalries within the broader genre of fandom, proposes to use ethnographic research methodologies to elicit rich, qualitative data, thus providing empirically grounded interpretations of fans’ perceptions. Also, it calls for more open and detailed methodological and theoretical discussions which would aid our understanding of the unique and complex factors underpinning football fan rivalries.

Rugby is a sport that has given Fiji international recognition. The professionalisation of rugby has led to a growing number of elite players emigrating from Fiji – often temporarily but sometimes permanently – to metropolitan countries, with an estimated 450 athletes currently involved in foreign competitions. Whilst Fijians have a long history of migration to metropolitan societies, the recent global dispersion of rugby players has added new dimensions and complexities. This article intends to shed light upon this migratory phenomenon by exploring what it means for these Fijians to ply their trade in foreign leagues. Based on semi-structured interviews, the article examines the experiences of Fijian players who are currently or have previously been contracted by metropolitan rugby clubs and what these experiences mean to them regarding their sense of collective identity and pride, especially in the context of politico-economic disparities between Fiji and the host countries. In doing so, particular attention is paid to the voices and agency of those athletes who claim rugby migration as a space for counter-hegemonic collective self-expression. The article thus seeks to contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of the relationship between sports labour migration and collective local identification and resistance in an increasingly globalised world.

Sport can be perceived as one of the contemporary key socializing agencies with which a significant number of children and youth come in to contact. The nature of this contact between the institution of sport and the individual is erratic, leading to the, often abrupt and unforeseen, termination of the individual's sporting career. In this essay, our aim is to draw wider attention to the personal adjustments young athletes undergo during and after their career has been institutionally terminated. Our analysis is embedded in theory as well as empirical, qualitative evidence gathered through semi-structured, long interviews with eight ex-varsity athletes. In shedding light on the personal consequences of structurally induced failure in sport, we seek to approach these issues from a socio-psychological angle and examine specific, personal layers of those via the lived experiences of ‘drop-out’ varsity athletes. 1 ¹ The authors would like to acknowledge the massive contribution of Alan G. Ingham to the development and initial phases of this project. Alan played a significant and defining role in our academic development and in our appreciation for both psychology and sociology in scientifically making sense of contemporary sporting practices. Much to our regret, Alan passed away in 2005, but his personal as well as academic heritage has remained with us and will live on through the work of his grateful students and colleagues. View all notes

We examined if there were both direct and indirect relationships (via the drive for muscularity) between the perceived pressure to be muscular and internalization of the mesomorphic ideal, and if autonomy moderates these relationships in physically active men. A sample of 330 men, who were undergraduate students studying sport, completed the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2, the Mesomorphic Ideal Internalization subscale of the revised male version Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire, the Perceived Sociocultural Pressure Scale-Modified, and the Drive for Muscularity Scale Attitudes subscale. Perceived pressure predicted internalization directly, and indirectly through the drive for muscularity. The direct relationship between pressure and internalization was weaker under higher levels of autonomy. The indirect path, via drive for muscularity, was stronger under higher levels of autonomy. These results provide insights into why men vary in the degree to which they internalize pressure to develop a mesomorphic ideal, supporting further examination of autonomy.

Studies on the drive for muscularity (DFM) have primarily been quantitative, focused on identifying correlates. Currently little is known about men’s experiences leading them to desire high levels of muscle and engage in behaviors to increase their masculine capital. Our purpose was to explore the stories of men with high DFM revealing the sociocultural and personal factors leading to DFM and their search for masculine capital. In-depth life-history interviews and multiple in-the-field conversations were undertaken with 20 men (Mean age = 28.45, SD = 6.96, years) scoring ≥3 on the Drive for Muscularity Scale (M = 4.30, SD = 0.70). Men’s stories focused on a set of dysfunctional childhood and adolescent sociocultural interactions, including forms of symbolic violence, between them and significant others. In these interactions men were exposed to dominant social narratives of masculinity, and through comparisons and reinforcement they identified discrepancies between themselves and these narratives. In late adolescence and early adulthood men came to believe that they lacked masculine capital. Men struggled to increase their masculine capital through engagement with other traditional masculine activities (e.g., sport) and driven by activating events, they compensated through DFM desires and behaviors. This study advances knowledge by revealing the sociocultural and personal processes participants believed led to their high DFM. Findings disclose that men’s search for masculine capital may have led them to develop and maintain high levels of DFM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)