The association between educational attainment and sports participation: gender differences and the moderating role of family-of-origin social class

Background: Many studies explore how education and family-of-origin social class affect sports participation. However, whether returns to education in sports participation differ by individuals' social class of origin has received less systematic attention. Methods: Using the competing theories of resource compensation and resource reinforcement, this study examines the links among family of origin social class, education, and sports participation with data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) and ordered logit models. It asks whether the effect of education on sports participation varies by family-of-origin social class and whether the moderating role of family-of-origin social class in the education-sports participation association differs by gender. Results: The results show: (1) In the full sample, findings support resource reinforcement theory: among individuals from higher family-of-origin social class, higher educational attainment has a stronger positive effect on adult sports participation; (2) In gender-stratified analyses, findings support resource compensation theory: compared to men, women-who face a double disadvantage of gender and social class-incur higher costs in achieving educational returns in the field of sports, but the returns are more significant; (3) Parental education is positively associated with offspring's sports participation, suggesting possible intergenerational transmission, and maternal education shows stronger statistical support than paternal education. Conclusion: This study contributes to understanding health inequalities related to gender and family of origin social class and has implications for improving health equity among disadvantaged groups. It suggests policy directions for promoting sports participation by raising offspring's educational attainment.