title: Sport fans' impressions of gay male athletes.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine sport fans' impressions of gay male athletes. Participants formed impressions of a fictional athlete from their favorite team after reading a short scenario about the player. The scenarios described the athlete as being gay or straight, and either becoming a distraction or not causing a distraction to the team. While males' ratings of the athlete did not significantly differ, female fans formed significantly more positive impressions of the gay male player than the straight athlete. These results are discussed in terms of the ingroup bias and the shifting culture of homophobia in sport.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania 17257, USA. jacamp@ship.edu
authors.forename: Jamonn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cothren
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: Lindsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kistler
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osowski
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Greenauer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: End
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012933:Social Identification; D014481:United States