Making the choice: An examination of sport and gender preference through channel changing

This study examines viewers' preferences and choices for, as well as cognitive and physiological responses to, sports that vary by the sex of the athlete, the gender of the sport, and the number of athletes competing. Although participation by female athletes and viewership by female audiences have increased since the institution of Title IX in 1972, sports are still primarily thought of as an arena for male participation and viewing. Portrayals and descriptions of male and female athletes on television can both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes. Thus it is important to understand how viewers process broadcasts about male and female athletes.;This study replicates a finding from previous research that sports featuring female athletes elicited greater cognitive effort and were better encoded by both male and female viewers. This is attributed to a novelty effect given the lack of televised sports broadcasts featuring female athletes. Similar results were also found with feminine and individual sports eliciting more cognitive effort and being better encoded than masculine and team sports, but sex of the athlete accounted for most of the novelty effect here.;Male viewers spent more time watching and reported preferring sports featuring male athletes, particularly masculine and team sports, which tend to reinforce stereotypes. Female sports viewers spent more time watching and preferred sports featuring female athletes. Interestingly, these preferences were primarily for feminine and individual sports, which are less challenging to female gender stereotypes.;Previous research also showed a possible response bias in viewers' emotional responses. Viewers self-reported being more aroused by sports featuring male athletes, yet physiological arousal showed there were no significant differences in arousal during any sports broadcast. Similar effects were found here with valence. Male participants preferred sports with male athletes while female participants preferred sports with female athletes. Yet, there were no significant differences in corrugator response for the sports broadcast. However, differences in arousal did support viewer preferences, as male viewers experienced more arousal while viewing male athletes and female viewers experienced more arousal while watching female athletes.