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Background: Originally, the issue of doping substances was confined to elite athletes, but it has in recent years become more prevalent among recreational exercisers, particularly within strength training environments. The prevalence of permissive doping attitudes and the prevalence of use are consistently higher among men. Doping use, in turn, has been shown to have consequences for both physical and mental health. These attitudes and behaviours can be understood with support from previous research and the social norms approach. 

Aim: The purpose of the study is to examine university students’ physical activity and attitudes toward doping substances, as well as the association between these, and to describe any potential gender differences.

Method: The study was carried out with a quantitative cross-sectional design. The collection of data was carried out at a university in Central Sweden and resulted in 144 answered surveys. To answer the aim of the study and its research questions frequency tables, Spearman’s rho and Mann-Whitney U-test were used. 

Results: The result of this study show that the majority of university students practice some form of physical activity, with the most common form being strength training. Across the entire sample, their attitudes were at the lower end of the PEAS-scale. The result also showed that men had more permissive attitudes than women. Respondents who practiced strength training had more permissive attitudes, with a positive association between training volume.

Conclusion: The result of the study indicates that the attitude towards doping substances varies within the student population and is related to both gender and type of physical activity. Especially prominent was it that strength training and the male gender was associated with more allowing attitudes. This emphasises the importance of considering social and activity-related contexts when studying attitudes towards doping.