Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

To examine the impact of race on attributions of a player's performance, 273 passages from the print media for six National Football League quarterbacks (three White, three Black) were subjected to content analyses. Three dimensions were examined for each passage: locus, stability, and controllability. Results indicated that performance by a Black quarterback was described by the print media as being due to internal, stable, and uncontrollable factors (natural ability). Performance by White quarterbacks was described by the print media as being due to internal, unstable, and controllable factors (hard work). Implications of resolving schemainconsistent information and the images of Black athletes portrayed by the print media are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allsopp, R.N. (1990). The Black quarterback as a product of social change. Paper presented at the 98th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston.

Brewer, M. B. , & Miller, N. (1984). Beyond the contact hypothesis: Theoretical perspectives on desegregation. In N. Miller & M. Brewer (Eds.), Groups in contact: The psychology of desegregation (pp. 315-325). New York: Academic Press.

Dovidio, J.F. , Evans, N.E. , & Tyler, R.B. (1986). Racial stereotypes: The contents of their cognitive representations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 22, 22-37.

Elig, T.W. , & Frieze, I.H. (1979). Measuring causal attributions for success and failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 621-634.

Fiske, S. T. (1980). Attention and weight in person perception: The impact of negative and extreme behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 889-906.

Frieze, I.H. , & Weiner, B. (1971). Cue utilization and attributional judgments for success and failure. Journal of Personality, 39, 591-605.

Gray, H.C. (1987). Race relations as news. American Behavioral Scientist, 30, 381-396.

Johnson, K.A. (1991). Objective news and other myths: The poisoning of young Black minds. Journal of Negro Education, 60, 328-341.

Lau, R.R. , & Russell, D. (1980). Attributions in the sport pages. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 29-38.

10.

McHugh, M. C. , Duquin, M. E. , & Frieze, I.H. (1978). Beliefs about success and failure: Attribution and the female athlete. In C. A. Oglesby (Ed.), Women and sports: From myth to reality (pp. 172-191). Philadelphia, PA: Lea & Febiger.

11.

Murrell, A.J. , & Jones, J.M. (1993). Perceived control and victim derogation: Is the world still just? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 545-554.

12.

Rainville, R. , & McCormick, E. (1977). Extent of covert racial prejudice in pro football announcers' speech. Journalism Quarterly, 54, 20-26.

13.

Ross, L. (1977). The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 10) (pp. 182-191). New York: Academic Press.

14.

Russell, D. (1982). The causal dimension scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 1137-1145.

15.

Wankel, L.M. (1972). A new source for sport psychology research: Toward a conversion from D-C (Drive Conceptualization) to A-C (Attributional Cognition). In D. M. Landers (Ed.), Psychology and sport and motor behavior (pp. 21-39). University Park: Pennsylvania State University.

16.

Weiner, B. (1985). “Spontaneous” causal thinking. Psychological Bulletin, 97(1), 74-84.

17.

Weiner, B. , Frieze, I. H. , Kukla, A. , Reed L. , Rest, S. , & Rosenbaum, R. M. (1971). Perceiving the causes of success and failure. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.

18.

Wilder, D. A. (1978). Reduction of intergroup discrimination through individuation of the outgroup. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 1361-1374.

CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS OF PERFORMANCE FOR BLACK AND WHITE QUARTERBACKS IN THE NFL: A LOOK AT THE SPORTS PAGES

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References