Background/Purpose:
Gender stereotypes of female athletes are often manifested in the form of sexual orientation. Many women who participate in sports such as basketball and softball are perceived as having masculine characteristics and stigmatized as lesbians (Harrison & Secarea, 2010). This study examined the perceived sexual orientation of women in both sport and non-sport contexts. The investigators were interested in perceived sexual orientations of female athletes and not their actual sexual orientations.
Method:
Three women were randomly selected from the 2012 U.S. National basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball teams for a total of 12 women. For each woman selected, two publicly available images were used in the study. One image depicted the woman in a sport context (e.g., playing softball) and the other was a headshot with no identifying clothing (e.g., a softball uniform).
Men (n= 148) and women (n= 181) participants (M age= 28.7 years, SD= 13.04) were shown 12 images of women in either a sport or non-sport context so that participants were not as likely to deduce the purpose of the study. Images were randomized before each survey and were identified only by letter. Survey data was collected on a city street in the southern U.S. (population 85,712) and only individuals who identified themselves and 18 years of age or older were selected for participation.
An investigator asked each participant a scripted query: “As I show you each photo, tell me on a scale of one to five your gut feeling about the person’s sexual orientation.” Each participant was then shown a Likert-type, perceived sexual orientation scale (PSOS): 5- very certain the person is gay, 4- somewhat certain the person is gay, 3- not certain if the person is straight or gay, 2- somewhat certain the person is straight, 1- very certain the person in straight. Data from participants who could identity any of the women by name was eliminated.
Analysis/Results:
An ordinal logistic regression indicated there were no significant differences in perceived sexual orientation between sport context and headshot images (p= .977). However, separate ordinal logistical regressions indicated a significant difference between sport context and headshot images of basketball (p< .001) and softball players (p< .001).
Conclusions:
The results lend support to previous findings which suggest that perceived sexual orientation may be both context and sport dependent. Only women basketball and softball players were perceived as being significantly “more gay” when viewed in a sport context.