Gender differences in the determinants of choking under pressure: Evidence from penalty kicks in soccer

Abstract

ObjectiveIn this article, we aim to determine whether there are gender differences about the importance of psychological pressure at the time of the penalty kick event in soccer. Soccer is a formidable framework because it is easier to disentangle the psychological aspects from clearly observable actions, strategies, and outcomes. We are interested in identifying whether there is choking under pressure, a phenomenon characterized by individuals performing worse than they would under the absence of factors that trigger stress.MethodsFour different pressure mechanisms are considered and tested using data from all 494 penalty kicks in the top male and female soccer tournament.ResultsOur findings show that the stress mechanisms considered affect scoring rates; however, we fail to identify statistically significant differences by gender.ConclusionTherefore, the design of programs aimed to help choking‐prone individuals should not over‐emphasize gender differences in this setting.