Increasing cognitive demands during a cooperation-opposition game can reduce gender disparities on participation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v78.118606Keywords:
Cognition, Executive Functions, Gender Equality, Motor Game, Physical EducationAbstract
Introduction: Physical Education contributes to the social construction of gender, particularly through activities with relational components, where participation is shaped by stereotypes and societal expectations. Gender differences in participation in traditional games and sports vary according to specific motor game characteristics, such as competitive structure, rules, and cognitive demands.
Objective: Explore how cognitive demands within motor games affect gender differences in participation patterns.
Methodology: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was employed with 123 participants across three age groups (children, adolescents and young adults). Using ‘’Capture the Flag’’ as an experimental game, the study compared two game contexts: a traditional setup and a cognitively enriched variant that introduced dynamic, unpredictable elements to increase mental engagement. Gender-specific behaviors were analyzed through systematic observation, focusing on offensive and defensive roles.
Results: In the traditional game, males more frequently adopted offensive roles while females tended to assume defensive positions, reflecting stereotypical participation patterns. However, as cognitive demands increased, these differences diminished, leading to more balanced participation. Age also moderated these effects, with older participants showing greater adaptability to cognitive challenges, consistent with the maturation of executive functions.
Discussion: The influence of social constraints may be reduced when cognitive demands to achieve game goals are increased, leading to a balance in gender participation.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that increasing cognitive demands in motor games can reduce gender-based participation disparities and incorporating cognitively engaging activities in physical education may foster more inclusive and equitable participation across genders.
References
Alcaraz-Muñoz, V., Roque, J. I. A., & Lucas, J. L. Y. (2023). How do girls and boys feel emotions? Gender differences in physical education in primary school. Physical Culture and Sport Studies and Re-search, 100(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2023-0016
Anguera, M. T., Portell, M., Chacón-Moscoso, S., & Sanduvete-Chaves, S. (2018). Indirect observation in everyday contexts: Concepts and methodological guidelines within a mixed methods frame-work. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00013
Arenas, D., Vidal-Conti, J., & Muntaner-Mas, A. (2025). Gender differences in students’ moderate to vig-orous physical activity levels during primary school physical education lessons: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 44(2), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2024-0027
Biino, V., Tinagli, V., Borioni, F., & Pesce, C. (2023). Cognitively enriched physical activity may foster motor competence and executive function as early as preschool age: A pilot trial. Physical Edu-cation and Sport Pedagogy, 28(4), 425–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2021.1990249
Bunker, D., & Thorpe, R. (1982). A model for the teaching of games in secondary schools. Bulletin of Physical Education, 18(1), 5–8.
Cowley, E. S., Watson, P. M., Foweather, L., Belton, S., Thompson, A., Thijssen, D., & Wagenmakers, A. J. M. (2021). “Girls aren’t meant to exercise”: Perceived influences on physical activity among ad-olescent girls—The HERizon Project. Children, 8(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8010031
Deng, Y. (2023). Influence of gender stereotype on participation in physical education class of high school students. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 8, 600–606. https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v8i.4315
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64(1), 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750
Enge, A., Kapoor, S., Kieslinger, A., & Skeide, M. A. (2023). A meta-analysis of mental rotation in the first years of life. Developmental Science, 26(6), e13381. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13381
Ferry, M., & Lund, S. (2016). Pupils in upper secondary school sports: Choices based on what? Sport, Education and Society, 23(3), 270–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2016.1179181
Gaillard, A., Fehring, D. J., & Rossell, S. L. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioural sex differences in executive control. European Journal of Neuroscience, 53(2), 519–542. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.14946
González Ravé, J. M., Ruiz Pérez, L. M., & Carrasco Poyatos, M. (2007). The social construction of gender in Spanish physical education students. Sport, Education and Society, 12(2), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573320701287460
Guijarro, E., MacPhail, A., Arias-Palencia, N. M., & González-Víllora, S. (2022). Exploring game perfor-mance and game involvement: Effects of a sport education season and a combined sport educa-tion—Teaching games for understanding unit. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 41(3), 411–424. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2020-0170
Guillem, M. (2022). Correlació entre rendiment executiu i expertesa motriu al final de la infància. Anàlisi del procés de formació de les seleccions catalanes de minibàsquet [Tesis doctoral, Uni-versitat de Barcelona]. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/687442
Gutierrez, D., & García-López, L. M. (2012). Gender differences in game behaviour in invasion games. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 17(3), 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/17408989.2012.690379
Harwell, K. W., Boot, W. R., & Ericsson, K. A. (2018). Looking behind the score: Skill structure explains sex differences in skilled video game performance. PLOS ONE, 13(5), e0197311. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197311
Hernández-Sampieri, R., & Mendoza, C. (2018). Metodología de la investigación: Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. McGraw Hill Education.
Hoffman, M., Gneezy, U., & List, J. A. (2011). Nurture affects gender differences in spatial abilities. Pro-ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(36), 14786–14788. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015182108
Ishihara, T., Sugasawa, S., Matsuda, Y., & Mizuno, M. (2017). Relationship of tennis play to executive function in children and adolescents. European Journal of Sport Science, 17(8), 1074–1083. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2017.1334831
Kesmodel, U. S. (2018). Cross-sectional studies – what are they good for? Acta Obstetricia et Gyneco-logica Scandinavica, 97(4), 388–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.13331
Kolovelonis, A., & Goudas, M. (2023). Acute enhancement of executive functions through cognitively challenging physical activity games in elementary physical education. European Physical Edu-cation Review, 29(2), 268–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X221135139
Lamoneda Prieto, J., Rodríguez Rodríguez , B. ., Palacio, E. S., & Matos Duarte, M. . (2023). Percepciones de los estudiantes sobre la educación física en el programa It Grows: actividad física, deporte e igualdad de género (Student perceptions of physical education in the It Grows program: physi-cal activity, sport and gender equality). Retos, 48, 598-609. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v48.96741
Lauer, J. E., Yhang, E., & Lourenco, S. F. (2019). The development of gender differences in spatial rea-soning: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 145(6), 537–565. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000191
Laureys, F., Middelbos, L., Rommers, N., De Waelle, S., Coppens, E., Mostaert, M., Deconinck, F. J. A., & Lenoir, M. (2021). The effects of age, biological maturation and sex on the development of ex-ecutive functions in adolescents. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, 703312. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.703312
Mallén-Lacambra, C., Pic, M., Lavega-Burgués, P., & Ben-Chaabâne, Z. (2024). Educar en la equidad de género a través de juegos motores cooperativos no competitivos: transformando estereotipos y dinámicas socioafectivas (Educating gender equity through non-competitive cooperative mo-tor games: Transforming stereotypes and socio-affective dynamics). Retos, 60, 498-508. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v60.107364
Metcalfe, S. (2018). Adolescent constructions of gendered identities: The role of sport and (physical) education. Sport, Education and Society, 23(7), 681–693. https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2018.1493574
Miller, A., Christensen, E., Eather, N., Gray, S., Sproule, J., Keay, J., & Lubans, D. (2015). Can physical edu-cation and physical activity outcomes be developed simultaneously using a game-centered ap-proach? European Physical Education Review, 22(1), 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336X15594548
Molina, P., Herrero-Simón, A., Fenollosa-Sánchez, F., & Martínez-Baena, A. (2024). Gender in dance: (Re)moving stereotypes in Spanish schools. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2022-0284
Moreno-Vitoria, L., Cabeza-Ruiz, R., & Pellicer-Chenoll, M. (2024). Factors that influence the physical and sports participation of adolescent girls: A systematic review. Apunts Educación Física y Deportes, 157, 19–30. https://doi.org/10.5672/apunts.2014-0983.es.(2024/3).157.03
Muñoz-Arroyave, V., Pic, M., Luchoro-Parrilla, R., Serna, J., Salas-Santandreu, C., Damian-Silva, S., Ma-chado, L., Rodríguez-Arregi, R., Prat, Q., Duran-Delgado, C., et al. (2021). Promoting interperson-al relationships through elbow tag, a traditional sporting game: A multidimensional approach. Sustainability, 13, 7887. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147887
Oliva-González, D., Gamboa-Jiménez, R., Serra, P., Luna-Villouta, P., Chihuailaf-Vera, L., Flores Ferro, E., Maureira Cid, F., Castillo-Retamal, F., & Matus-Castillo, C. (2025). Percepción de igualdad y dis-criminación de género en las clases de Educación Física. Un estudio de caso. Retos, 64, 151-162. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v64.110487
Pesce, C., Faigenbaum, A., Goudas, M., & Tomporowski, P. (2018). Coupling our plough of thoughtful moving to the star of children's right to play: From neuroscience to multisectoral promotion. In Physical activity and health promotion: Evidence-based approaches (pp. 247–274). Routledge.
Pesce, C., Stodden, D. F., & Lakes, K. D. (2021). Editorial: Physical activity “enrichment”: A joint focus on motor competence, hot and cool executive functions. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 658667. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.658667
Pic, M., Navarro-Adelantado, V., & Jonsson, G. K. (2020). Gender differences in strategic behavior in a triadic persecution motor game identified through an observational methodology. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 109. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00109
Ribeiro, E., Farias, C., & Mesquita, I. (2024). “The game changers”: How equity-driven pedagogical scaf-folding reduces participation disparities in physical education. Education Sciences, 14(10), 1077. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14101077
Rodrigues, M. C. J., Figueiredo, L. S., de Lira, C. A. B., Laporta, L., & Costa, G. D. C. T. (2022). Procesos cog-nitivos en pequeños juegos (Cognitive processes in small-sided games). Retos, 44, 897-906. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v44i0.90369
Spanou, M., Stavrou, N., Dania, A., & Venetsanou, F. (2022). Children’s involvement in different sport types differentiates their motor competence but not their executive functions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5646. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095646
Steger, M., Roth, A., Beege, M., & Reinhold, F. (2025). Game tactical learning for primary school students with a digital video analysis tool. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2024-0421
Stuhr, C., Hughes, C. M. L., & Stöckel, T. (2020). The role of executive functions for motor performance in preschool children as compared to young adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1552. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01552
Tomporowski, P. D., McCullick, B. A., & Pesce, C. (2015). Enhancing children’s cognition with physical activity games. Human Kinetics.
Yan, J., Jones, B., Smith, J. J., Morgan, P., & Eather, N. (2023). A systematic review investigating the ef-fects of implementing game-based approaches in school-based physical education among pri-mary school children. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 42(3), 573–586. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2021-0279
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Laia Garcia Dalmases, Josep Cabedo Sanromà, Joana Niubò Solé, Giordano Márcio Gatinho Bonuzzi, Albert Batalla Flores, Francesc Buscà Donet, Eric Roig Hierro
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and ensure the magazine the right to be the first publication of the work as licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of authorship of the work and the initial publication in this magazine.
- Authors can establish separate additional agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal (eg, to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Is allowed and authors are encouraged to disseminate their work electronically (eg, in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as to a subpoena more Early and more of published work (See The Effect of Open Access) (in English).
This journal provides immediate open access to its content (BOAI, http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#openaccess) on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The authors may download the papers from the journal website, or will be provided with the PDF version of the article via e-mail.
