Effects of Mixed-Gender Competition: Choking under Pressure in a Dynamic Tournament

In sports, there has been a recent and active movement to promote mixed-gender competitions for achieving gender equality in the field. However, the current debate regarding its effects limitedly focuses on balancing the number of opportunities for females and neglects its effect on athlete performance. To address this gap, this study investigated whether and how mixed-gender competitions mitigate gender-specific disadvantages of interim leaders in dynamic tournaments from the perspective of choking under pressure. Using data from 127 international segregated-gender single and mixed-gender pair figure skating competitions organized by the International Staking Union from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2018, this study showed that female interim leaders in segregated-gender competitions are more likely to make mistakes in task executions under pressure-inducing circumstances than male interim leaders. However, in mixed-gender competitions, all of these gender-specific influences disappear. The findings contribute to the literature on mixed-gender competitions by providing new evidence on the positive impact of them, as well as expanding the literature on the impact of gender on competitive pressure.