A recent study has questioned the presumption that gender identity is a greater influence than biological relations in how sportswomen perform within mass-participation races. Dr. John Armstrong, King’s, Dr. Alice Sullivan, University College London and George M Perry, a U.S. independent researcher, carried out a study examining data on individuals who participated in the non-binary category of 21 races from the New York Road Runners database.
The scientists employed a new method for probabilistically modeling the relations of competitors from their given names, drawing upon US Social Security Administration data. The outcome measure was race times in linear models with explanatory variables obtained from biological relations, gender identity, age and event being raced.
The authors established a relations difference in race time among non-binary identifying athletes, and that they could find no evidence that there is a narrower gap between biological males and biological females when the athletes are non-binary. The findings also reveal that non-binary athletes would have slower race times than other athletes after controlling for relations and age.
Dr John Armstrong, King’s Reader in Financial Mathematics, said: Gender identity is obviously very significant to many individuals, but nonetheless relations is important. In the absence of empirical evidence favouring gender-identity theory, one should not on a default assumption conclude that gender-identity is a stronger explanatory variable than relations. As an objectively quantifiable binary variable, relations possesses strong explanatory advantages over gender identity.
Our findings show that if we are to learn about the needs of gender non-conformists, it is important to hold biological relations constant as it is likely to be an important determinant in any analysis. Relations and gender identity should then both be treated as useful explanatory variables in measurement.
The research offers a fresh insight into the contentious issue of the contribution of relations and gender identity to sporting performance. It implies that whereas gender identity matters, biological relations also significantly contributes to sporting performance. This has something to say regarding how we come to know and address sporting performance, especially in mass-participation sports.
