An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the perceptual confirmation of racial stereotypes about Black and White athletes. In a 2 x 2 design, target race (Black vs. White) and target athleticism (perceived athletic vs. unathletic) were manipulated by providing participants with a photograph of a male basketball player. Participants then listened to a college basketball game and were asked to evaluate the target's athletic abilities, individual performance, and contribution to his team' s performance. Multivariate analyses showed only a main effect for target race on the measures of ability and team performance. Whereas the Black targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more athletic ability and having played a better game, White targets were rated as exhibiting significantly more basketball intelligence and hustle. The results suggest that participants relied on a stereotype of Black and White athletes to guide their evaluations of the target's abilities and performance.

"White men can't jump": Evidence for the perceptual confirmation of racial stereotypes following a basketball game

To stereotype suggests that we impose characteristics on people based on their perceived group membership (Oks, Haslam, & Turner, 1994). When stereotypes are based on a wealth of accumulated social and factual knowledge and are not used to make trait inferences about individual group members, they ure generally accurate and pose few problems. It is when stereotypes im based on fallacious, misleading, or limited information that they become problematic and therefore maladaptive. The purpase of this paper is to examine research that explicates the stereotyping process, review the psychological processes that operate in cognitive stereotype formation, and underscore the actual and possible detrimental consequences in the sport and physical activity domain, especially with regard to African Americans in general and African American males in particular. It is hoped that a more thorough understanding of the stereotyping process will be a deterrent to the perpetuation of maladaptive stereotypes.

Understanding the Influence of Stereotypes: Implications for the African American in Sport and Physical Activity

In physical education classes all learning that occurs does not fall under the carefully planned and structured lessons presented by teachers (Kirk, 1992). Physical education and athletics are inextricably related by teachers who often serve as coaches of athletic teams. These teacher/coaches often unconsciously transmit values from the athletic realm to physical education classes. This unplanned and unrecognized transmission of values and beliefs is known as the ‘hidden curriculum’ (Fernandez‐Balboa, 1993, p. 233). Often entrenched in this hidden curriculum are race‐based stereotypes that provide students with distorted perceptions of physical abilities based on race. This qualitative study seeks to examine this phenomenon from the European American perspective. European American former and present athletes were interviewed regarding their sports experiences and views. Results indicate that European American athletes in this study appeared to be steered away from developing lofty athletic aspirations. Th...

Perceptions of athletic superiority: a view from the other side

This paper confronts the salience of arguments that identify the racial basis of athletic ability. It is argued that these notions of racial athleticism are developed through the interaction between ideas and ways of thinking about human beings and racial groups, reflecting Gramsci's concept of ‘common sense’ that explores the complex correspondence between the presentation of fact and opinion, science and myth. The paper suggests that the mobilization of objective scientific method and subjective plural multiculturalist values within racial athleticism help reinforce its claims to logical validity and moral legitimacy. In response, it is argued that the presentation of the biological basis of race and integrity of cultural difference and particularity within a scientific, intuitive, and principled framework constitutes racial athleticism as a powerful common‐sense idea that cannot be easily dismantled by the simple counter‐presentation of alternative facts. Rather, it is suggested that a progressive resp...

Sport and common-sense racial science

The purpose of the present study was to investigate race differences in viscoelastic characteristics of triceps surae muscle group. Black and white college sprint type athletes (n=44) participated in this study. Viscoelastic properties were assessed using the free vibration technique: subjects sat with their forefeet on the edge of a force-plate (Kistler, Switzerland) and support a frame loaded with weights (0-40 kg) on the knees. Oscillations of the triceps surae and Achilles tendon system were initiated with a hand-held hammer by tapping the weight load. Oscillations occur at frequencies of 3-6 Hz and were slightly damped. The damped oscillations in conjunction with the equation of motion of a damped mass-spring model were used to calculate the viscosity of muscle (b), and the elasticity of muscle fibres (k(d)) and tendon (k(t)) in each subject. There were little significant differences in most of physical characteristic variables between black and white athletes. Black athletes have significantly greater muscle viscosity and elasticity than white athletes while tendon elasticity is equivalent. Thus, muscle stiffness is greater among black athletes. Greater muscle stiffness could contribute to greater sprint/jump performance among black athletes, compared with white athletes, through alteration of foot/ground contact and take-off phases during sprinting/jumping.

Comparison of viscoelastic characteristics in triceps surae between Black and White athletes.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: (a) to present data on racial differences in sport performance and (b) to comment briefly on theories, hypotheses and studies, whether they be biological, psychological or sociological in nature, that have attempted to explain the observed differences. Available data are mainly drawn from studies focusing on American professional sports. The results indicate that Afro-American athletes largely dominate the sport scene in a few sports and across a wide range of performance indicators. Although it is impossible at this time to conclude with satisfaction on the causes of racial differences, sociological explanations seem best to explain the observed performance differentials.

J Samson

Papers

Racial differences in sports performance.