You Play a Sport, Right? A Persistent and Pernicious Intersectional Bias in Categorization of Students vs. Student-Athletes

Abstract

Black male students on college campuses report being frequently misperceived as student-athletes. Across three studies, we tested the role of perceivers’ racial and gendered biases in categorization of Black and White students and student-athletes and the subsequent evaluative consequences. Participants viewed faces of actual Black and White male and female undergraduates who were either non-athlete students or student- athletes and made binary judgments about whether the undergraduate was a student or an athlete. We found an overall bias to judge Black male undergraduates to be student-athletes, driven by Black male students being more likely to be misperceived as student-athletes than White male students. Furthermore, male targets perceived to be student-athletes were rated lower on academic ability (Studies 2 and 3). In contrast, we found an overall bias to judge female undergraduates as students. Implications for how perceiver bias plays a dual role in negatively affecting academic climates for underrepresented groups are discussed.

Black men need friends: Social support moderates the connection between gendered racism and psychological distress.

“…Gendered expressions of anti-Black racism from both interpersonal and macrolevel sources, such as outsized expectations for interpersonal violence and risky behaviors, assumptions of Black fathers as absent or uninvolved, or overidentification of Black men as athletes (Alinor & Tinkler, 2021; Cooper et al, 2021; Higginbotham et al, 2022), coupled with more than 400 years of systemic racism, contribute to a pernicious cycle in which Black men experience chronic stress (Brody et al, 2016), and suffer from increased morbidity and mortality relative to their same-age counterparts as a result (Simons et al, 2021). While scholarship has shown that gendered racism stress explains psychological distress in Black men better than either perceived racism or gender role stress alone, studies have not described factors for mitigating this relationship (Schwing et al, 2013).…”

“…Gendered expressions of anti-Black racism from both interpersonal and macrolevel sources, such as outsized expectations for interpersonal violence and risky behaviors, assumptions of Black fathers as absent or uninvolved, or overidentification of Black men as athletes (Alinor & Tinkler, 2021;Cooper et al, 2021;Higginbotham et al, 2022), coupled with more than 400 years of systemic racism, contribute to a pernicious cycle in which Black men experience This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. chronic stress (Brody et al, 2016), and suffer from increased morbidity and mortality relative to their same-age counterparts as a result (Simons et al, 2021).…”

The Construction of Racial Stereotypes and How They Serve as Racial Propaganda

“…Present day, physical ability stereotypes of Black people also persist via beliefs about athleticism-the most widely endorsed of all racial stereotypes (Ghavami & Peplau, 2013;Higginbotham et al, 2021;Skinner et al, 2020). This matters, because in the U.S., focusing on athletic abilities tends to reduce perceptions of human agency (e.g., planning, self-control, acting morally).…”

“…Another way that internalized stereotypes can serve to reinforce systemic racism is by channeling people into specific domains of society. Black boys who internalize stereotypes about their natural athletic ability, may see sports as their only means of achieving status and economic success (Ghavami & Peplau, 2013;Harrison, 1999;Harrison et al, 2013;Higginbotham et al, 2021;Noguera, 2003;Skinner et al, 2020). Indeed, Black teenagers in the U.S. are more likely to aspire to professional sports careers and tend to identify more strongly with athletics than their White peers (Anthony & Swank, 2018;Harrison, 1999;Harrison et al, 2013;Lee, 1983).…”

The construction of racial stereotypes and how they serve as racial propaganda

“…Messages around Black athleticism also have implications for how Black boys conceptualize their worth and form impressions of future career choices. When Black boys internalize athletic stereotypes, they may come to see sports as their only means of achieving status and economic success (Edwards, 1971; Ghavami & Peplau, 2013; Harrison, 1999; Harrison et al., 2013; Higginbotham et al., 2021; Noguera, 2003; Skinner et al., 2020). Indeed, Black teenagers in the U.S. are more likely to aspire to professional sports careers and tend to identify more strongly with athletics than their White peers (Anthony & Swank, 2018; Harrison, 1999; Harrison et al., 2013; Lee, 1983).…”