Athlete or Sex Symbol: What Boys Think of Media Representations of Female Athletes

Athlete Portraits in News: Influence of Media Representation and Gender on Social Perception

Previous literature suggests that in masculinized domains, a stereotypical portrayal of women has a negative impact on society's perception of them. However, the influence of media representation on people's perceptions of athletes depending on their gender, as well as its possible consequences for both men and women, remains unexplored in the sports sphere. Through two experimental studies employing a scenario methodology, we aimed to address this gap in the literature: In Study 1 (N = 190), we tested the influence of the media's representation (focused on the professional field vs. extraprofessional field) and the athlete's gender (man vs. woman) on perceptions, and in Study 2 (N = 625), we examined the effect of gender for an athlete receiving media coverage focused on the extraprofessional field. Study 1's results showed that when media representation was based on the professional (vs. extraprofessional) field, participants perceived the news as more credible, believed that the media valued the athlete's capacity to a greater extent, and attributed more merit to the athlete. Moreover, Study 2, focused on an extraprofessional field, indicated that when a man athlete (vs. woman athlete) was portrayed, participants were more likely to consider the news content accurate, which, in turn, was associated with a higher attribution of competence to the athlete and a higher intention to consume sports media in the future. The study will hopefully help reduce beliefs about existing stereotypes as well as discrimination against women, whether in sports or in any other field (e.g., professionally or in education).

Effect of Physical Activity Behaviors, Team Sports, and Sitting Time on Body Image and Exercise Dependence

This study aimed to evaluate whether the type and degree of physical activity commitment (i.e., team sport athletes, highly active individuals, sedentary behavior) influence body image and exercise behavior. A total of 96 participants (46 women and 50 men; age: 22.7 ± 2.7 years; height: 170 ± 8.6 cm; weight: 67.6 ± 10.8 kg) were divided in six groups: female volleyball and male football players (student athletes classified as Tier 2), highly physically active women and men, with high sitting time completed the Body Image Dimensional Assessment and the 21-item Exercise Dependence Scale to evaluate body dissatisfaction and level of dependency on exercise. The Body Image Dimensional Assessment is a silhouette-based scale, where three direct indices are derived from the participants' responses: body dissatisfaction, sexual body dissatisfaction, and comparative body dissatisfaction. The Exercise Dependence Scale is a six-point Likert scale that evaluates seven dimensions of exercise dependence (tolerance, withdrawal, intention effects, lack of control, time, reductions in other activities, and continuance) and provides an overall score. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of different levels of physical activity, team sport participation (volleyball and football), and sedentary behavior (i.e., high sitting time) on participants' body image indices and dimensions of exercise dependence according to sex. Volleyball players showed significantly higher body dissatisfaction than football players (d = 0.99) and the physically active men group (d = 2.31), who had lower values than sedentary women group (d = 1.68). Football players had lower comparative body dissatisfaction values than volleyball players (d = 1.70) and sedentary women (d = 1.69), who had higher values than sedentary men (d = 1.04). Sedentary women had a significantly lower exercise dependence scale score than volleyball players (d = 1.71), football players (d = 1.12), and physically active men (d = 1.21). The findings highlight the impact of regular physical activity on body dissatisfaction and the variance in body image perceptions between the sexes. Moreover, the high exercise dependence values found in volleyball and football players and physically active men suggest an effect of intense training and maladaptive exercise behaviors, underlining the need for comprehensive strategies to address exercise dependence.

Competition, Gender Equality, and Doping in Sports in the Red Queen Effect Perspective

The nature of sports is characterized by a strong competitive component that generates inequalities among athletes at different levels, specifically in relation to gender, technology, and doping. These inequalities can be represented according to the Red Queen effect perspective, which has been previously hypothesized in other competitive environments (evolutionary biology and economics, for instance). The Red Queen effect considers each competitive environment to require a constant effort to maintain a position of competitive advantage in order reach the best result possible. Therefore, the aim of the current paper is to provide an innovative perspective for the understanding of competition in sports, identifying factors (i.e., physical appearance for gender equality, socioeconomic status of a sport team for technology, and antidoping rules for doping) influencing athletes’ possibilities to win a competition. Concerning gender differences, the disparity between genders reflects a lower coverage in sports news, and media are more likely to focus on female athletes’ physical appearance than their performance in sports. Therefore, women struggle more with increasing their visibility and in affirming their status as an athlete. On the other hand, the introduction of science and technological innovations in sports has generated economic interests in sport competitions, which reached superior performance levels compared to the past. Teams that cannot afford financial burdens of technological innovation risk being left out from sport competitions. Finally, doping creates a Red Queen environment since antidoping rules catch a small portion of athletes using performance enhancement drugs.

Objectifying the body positive movement: The effects of sexualizing and digitally modifying body-positive images on Instagram

The body positive movement on social media seeks to challenge narrow conceptualizations of beauty that media outlets traditionally perpetuate and reinforce. Through a 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment, we examined how the nature and authenticity of body-positive imagery on social media affects female viewers and their evaluations of body-positive content (N = 425, M_age = 35.47, SD_age = 13.52). Specifically, participants viewed and reacted to a series of 10 body-positive images of women on social media varying in their degree of sexualization (sexualized vs. non-sexualized) and evidence of digital photo modifications (modification icons vs. no modification icons). A control group that featured landscape images was also included. Results indicate body-positive images that are considered sexualized and are believed to be digitally modified can undercut the movement's intended aims: Participants who viewed body-positive images that were sexualized (vs. non-sexualized) and included photo modification icons (vs. no modification icons) reported greater endorsement of traditional beauty ideals (e.g., thinness) and thought the images were shared for self-serving reasons (e.g., to gain likes/shares/endorsements); these relationships were mediated by the extent to which viewers believed these images were sexualized and digitally modified. Further, results indicate that sexualized body-positive images can instigate sexual objectification of others and oneself. Those who viewed control images (vs. experimental body-positive images) produced significantly fewer sexually objectifying words about others and themselves. Implications for both viewers and producers (e.g., individuals, corporations) of body-positive imagery on social media are discussed in light of objectification theory.

Speaking Pictures, Silent Voices: Female Athletes and the Negotiation of Selfhood

Combining Mikhail Bakhtin’s (1990) theoretical position on Architectonics and Erving Goffman’s (1979) writings on visual content analysis, the aim of this paper is to explore how female athletes are caught in a complex matrix of power, post – feminist neoliberalism, and self – presentation. The visual images they choose to portray are, therefore, perfect for determining how this cohort of women negotiates social discourses around identity and femininity. Appropriating the Bakhtinian notion of architectonic unity, not only provides an alternative theoretical lens for enquiries concerning the body, identity, and selfhood, but also initiates some thought provoking questions around neoliberal feminism and ‘new femininity.’ This paper advances on previous research by exemplifying how Serena Williams (considered the greatest female tennis player of all time) combines both her femininity and strong physicality to self – shape a myth – like persona, setting her apart from traditional stereotypes of femininity and ‘femaleness.’

Examining positive body image, sport confidence, flow state, and subjective performance among student athletes and non-athletes

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine differences in positive body image, specifically body appreciation and functionality appreciation, between student athletes and non-athletes. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationships between positive body image and other sport-related variables. Seventy-nine National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I student athletes (M_age = 19.79, SD = 1.13) and 175 non-athletes (M_age = 19.38, SD = 1.81) completed measures of body appreciation and functionality appreciation. The athletes further completed measures of sport confidence, flow state, and subjective sport performance. Student athletes reported higher levels of both facets of positive body image. Significant relationships were also found between positive body image and the sport-related variables. The present results contribute novel findings to the positive body image literature and potential implications for coaches to encourage a culture that focuses less on body appearance and more on cultivating positive body image.

What older adolescents expect from physical activity: Implicit cognitions regarding health and appearance outcomes

OBJECTIVE

To explore older adolescents' reflective and impulsive thoughts about health- and social/appearance-related physical activity (PA) outcomes and investigate how those thoughts relate to their PA behavior.

PARTICIPANTS

One hundred and forty-four undergraduate students (109 women; 35 men) aged 17-19 years (M = 18.11, SD = 0.65) participated in this study in October 2015.

METHODS

Participants completed a Go/No-go Association Task that assessed automaticity of associations between PA words and either health outcomes or social/appearance outcomes. Questionnaires assessing PA behavior, attitudes, outcome expectations, and body image were also completed.

RESULTS

Participants demonstrated a positive automatic association between PA and social/appearance outcomes, F(1, 136) = 4.403, p < .05, η² = .031, but they showed no difference in their associations between PA and desirable or undesirable health outcomes, F(1, 136) = 2.405, p = .123, η² = .017.

CONCLUSIONS

Older adolescents implicitly attend to the social/appearance outcomes of PA more than potential health outcomes, indicating that social recognition and a desirable physique may be the key PA motivators for adolescents.

Infrahumanizing Praise

Abstract. Five studies demonstrate that athletic praise can ironically lead to infrahumanization. College athletes were seen as less agentic than college debaters (Studies 1 and 2). College athletes praised for their bodies were also seen as less agentic than college athletes praised for their minds (Study 3), and this effect was driven by bodily admiration (Study 4). These effects occurred equally for White and Black athletes (Study 1) and did not depend on dualistic beliefs about the mind and body (Study 2), failing to provide support for assumptions in the literature. Participants perceived mind and body descriptions of both athletes and debaters as equally high in praise (Study 5), demonstrating that infrahumanization may be induced even if descriptions of targets are positively valenced. Additionally, decreased perceptions of agency led to decreased support for college athletes’ rights (Study 3).

Media and Sexualization: State of Empirical Research, 1995-2015

Sexually objectifying portrayals of women are a frequent occurrence in mainstream media, raising questions about the potential impact of exposure to this content on others' impressions of women and on women's views of themselves. The goal of this review was to synthesize empirical investigations testing effects of media sexualization. The focus was on research published in peer-reviewed, English-language journals between 1995 and 2015. A total of 109 publications that contained 135 studies were reviewed. The findings provided consistent evidence that both laboratory exposure and regular, everyday exposure to this content are directly associated with a range of consequences, including higher levels of body dissatisfaction, greater self-objectification, greater support of sexist beliefs and of adversarial sexual beliefs, and greater tolerance of sexual violence toward women. Moreover, experimental exposure to this content leads both women and men to have a diminished view of women's competence, morality, and humanity. Limitations with the existing research approaches and measures are discussed, and suggestions for future research directions are provided.

The effects of advertisements that sexually objectify women on state body dissatisfaction and judgments of women: The moderating roles of gender and internalization

Experimental studies have demonstrated that exposure to idealized images of women increases state body image disturbance. However, little work has experimentally examined the effects of exposure to images that sexually objectify women, especially as it relates to women and men's state body dissatisfaction and judgments of women. In the current study, 437 women and men were randomly assigned to view advertisements that sexually objectify women and portray appearance ideals, or to view non-appearance-related advertisements. Results indicated that state body dissatisfaction increased for women and men exposed to advertisements that sexually objectified women, although this effect was larger for women. Trait internalization of appearance ideals moderated this effect, indicating that women and men with higher internalization exhibited greater state body dissatisfaction after viewing women sexually objectified in advertisements. Exposure to women sexually objectified in advertisements did not affect women's or men's attractiveness or competence ratings of women in university advertisements.

Model Versus Military Pilot

Using an experimental methodology, the present study investigated adolescents’ attitudes toward media images of women in non-appearance-focused (CEO and military pilot) and appearance-focused occupations (model and actor). One hundred adolescent girls and 76 adolescent boys provided ratings of likability, competence, and similarity to self after viewing media images of women in non-appearance-focused and appearance-focused occupations. Both boys and girls reported that women in non-appearance-focused occupations were good role models at higher rates than women in appearance-focused occupations. Girls reported greater likability and similarity to the self for women in appearance-focused occupations compared with women in non-appearance-focused occupations, whereas boys showed the opposite pattern. Boys rated women in non-appearance-focused occupations as more competent than women in appearance-focused occupations, whereas girls showed the opposite pattern. The role of internalization of media standards for appearance in teens’ attitudes was also considered. Implications for career identity are discussed.

Physical education, sports, and gender in schools

The benefits associated with engaging in regular physical activity are well documented, but a large segment of the population is not sufficiently active. School physical educa tion and sport programs are identified as important components in efforts to promote physical activity. Girls are less active than boys, and there is evidence that physical education programs are not effectively meeting their needs. The focus of this chapter is to examine gender as a construct in the domains of physical education and sport, clarifying the reasons girls tend to be less active and less involved in physical education. Following an historical overview, curricular issues and motivational aspects are considered. Implications are focused on ways that educators can provide positive experiences for all students in physical education and sport that will encourage them to adopt and maintain healthy active lifestyles and enhance their quality of life across the life span.

A systematic review of studies comparing body image concerns among female college athletes and non-athletes, 1997-2012

Research prior to 2001 indicated that athletes experienced better body image than non-athletes, with no differences among sport types. Since then, female athletes have become increasingly sexually objectified in the media, and the sociocultural beauty ideal has shifted to emphasize appearing both athletic and thin. Part I of this paper explores the literature describing these changes. Part II presents a systematic and comprehensive literature review of 10 recent studies comparing body image concerns (BIC) among collegiate female athletes and non-athletes to identify the current status of BIC in female athletes. Findings indicate that involvement in collegiate athletics provides some protection from BIC; however, this protection appears attenuated for athletes in more feminine sports (e.g., gymnastics), and higher level athletes (Division I). Researchers should examine how sociocultural pressures unrelated to competition predict female athletes' BIC using measures that focus on objectification, positive body image, body functionality, and thin- and athletic-ideal internalization.