Revisiting the Relationship Between Sports Fandom and the Black Criminal Stereotype: A Replication and Extension Study

Abstract

In news media, one stereotype that is continually over-represented is Black men as criminals, leading to what many refer to as “the Black criminal stereotype.” Although research demonstrates that distorted news portrayals of criminals can provoke stereotypical responses in viewers, limited evidence connects these effects to sport media. Anderson and Raney (2018) explored this in an experimental study (n = 234) and found evidence of the Black criminal stereotype among sports fans. However, more research was needed to further explore this phenomenon. The current study employed a similar experimental design (n = 603) in an attempt to (1) replicate their 2018 study to examine whether sports fans’ perceptions of criminal athletes have changed over the past several years, especially in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, and (2) determine whether the sport played by an alleged criminal athlete might be linked to judgments regarding race and crime in sports. Our findings indicate that sports fandom still predicts stereotypical judgments. However, individual difference variables—particularly social conservatism, African American stereotype endorsement, and gender—were more strongly related. Our findings point toward the potential power of social movements in influencing attitudes and beliefs regarding race and crime.