Sex Differences in Athletes' Media Representations: Conspiracy or Reflection of Human Nature?

Presentation Type

Poster/Portfolio

Presenter Major(s)

Psychology

Mentor Information

Robert Deaner

Department

Psychology

Location

Henry Hall Atrium 38

Start Date

11-4-2012 9:00 AM

Keywords

Culture, Gender, Media, Social Science, U.S. Diversity

Abstract

Many studies report that media portrayals of female athletes are much less frequent than those of males and are qualitatively different, especially in their emphasis on physical attractiveness. This differential representation is usually assumed to be due to systematic social structural biases. Here we review evidence for the differential representation of male and female athletes and present a new hypothesis for it, namely that it partly reflects evolved psychological dispositions. We conclude by outlining research that might distinguish between the hypotheses.

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Apr 11th, 9:00 AM

Sex Differences in Athletes' Media Representations: Conspiracy or Reflection of Human Nature?

Henry Hall Atrium 38

Many studies report that media portrayals of female athletes are much less frequent than those of males and are qualitatively different, especially in their emphasis on physical attractiveness. This differential representation is usually assumed to be due to systematic social structural biases. Here we review evidence for the differential representation of male and female athletes and present a new hypothesis for it, namely that it partly reflects evolved psychological dispositions. We conclude by outlining research that might distinguish between the hypotheses.