A Study On The Impact Of College Students’ Exposure To News Reports On Female Athletes On Female Stereotypes

Female stereotypes can lead to stereotype threats that undermine women’s performance in different fields.The images of female athletes in news reports often break through the traditional concept of gender.As an important factor affecting audiences’ cognition,media information also shapes and changes the stereotype of the audience.For college students who exposed to media frequently,whether exposure to news reports on female athletes can affect their female stereotypes is a question worthy of study.Based on gender role theory and cultivation theory,this study investigates the current situation of female stereotypes of college students,and constructs a research model from three aspects: media use,reporting forms,and content themes,to explore the impact of female athletes’ news reports on college students’ female stereotypes.Using the research method combining questionnaire survey and in-depth interview,this study distributes 952 online questionnaires to students in 8 colleges and universities in four regions across the country in January 2022,and 880 valid questionnaires were recovered.Among the respondents,according to the survey method of purposeful sampling,15 respondents were selected for in-depth interviews.The data obtained from questionnaires survey and the interview results were comprehensively analyzed.The results of the study show that female stereotypes are common among college students,especially female occupational stereotypes,and the degree of famale stereotypes is significantly higher among males than females.News reports on female athletes can influence college students’ female stereotypes.Specifically,in terms of media use,the higher the frequency of exposure to news reports on female athletes in traditional and new media,the weaker female stereotypes of college students.In terms of reporting forms,the stronger the preference for news reports on female athletes with strong visual effects,the weaker female stereotypes of college students.In terms of content themes,the stronger the contact preference for news reports on female athletes in sports contexts,the weaker female stereotypes of college students.However,news reports on female athletes with weak visual effects and of outside the sports context have no significant effects on female stereotypes of college students.In terms of research content,this study breaks through the previous media images research of news reports on female athletes,and in the research method of stereotype influencing factors,it no longer uses the immediate priming effect experiment,but the longterm influence of the media.The investigation has a certain degree of innovation.This research enriches domestic research on media communication effects and stereotypes,meanwhile,has important practical significance for the shaping and communication of female images in media and for enhancing college students’ awareness of gender equality.