Males Impressions of Masculine and Feminine Female Sport Fans vs.

Non-Fans
Courtney Galyon Daniel L. Wann
Murray State University
This study was an extension of Wann, Schinner, and Keenans (2001) research on male sport fans and non-fans impressions of female fans. The current investigation examined whether the gender role orientation (masculine or feminine) of the female fan plays a role in males impressions of her. Male participants with a high or low interest in sport read a description of a target female. The described female had a high or low interest in sport, a high or low interest in the local sport team, and possessed either masculine or feminine characteristics as described by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). As hypothesized, men with a high interest in sport rated a feminine female who was highly identified with the local sport team and had a high level of sport fandom significantly more positively than all of the other female targets.

Historically, sport fandom and spectating have tended to be more common among males than females. However, recent trends indicate that women are showing a greater interest in these activities (Wann, Melnick, Russell, & Pease, 2001). Researchers Dietz-Uhler, Harrick, End, and Jacquemotte (2000) have reported that there is now roughly an equal amount of males and females who consider themselves to be sport fans (based on raw numbers of persons in their sample). However, DietzUhler and associates also found that females are not as likely as men to highly identify with being a sport fan. Therefore, females perceive themselves as sport fans but are less likely to view being a sport fan as an important part of their identity. Much of the early research explored differences between female and male fans as well as perceptions of them. For instance, males are more likely to engage in traditional fan behaviors such as watching sport on television, learning about the players and discussing sport (Dietz-Uhler et al., 2000; Gantz & Warner, 1991). Further, when asked to describe the reasons they are interested in sport, male fans (relative to female fans) are more likely to be motivated by eustress, self-esteem, and aesthetics (Dietz-Uhler et al., 2000; Wann, 1995; Wann, Schrader, & Wilson,
________________________________ Author info: Correspondence should be sent to: Dr. Daniel Wann, Department of Psychology, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071 e-mail at: dwann@murraystate.edu. North American Journal of Psychology, 2012, Vol. 14, No. 3, 585-596. NAJP

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1999). Females, on the other hand, are more likely to consider themselves to be sport fans because they enjoy watching sporting events with family (Dietz-Uhler et al., 2000). This research has helped us understand differential perceptions of fan behaviors as a function of gender. Dietz-Uhler, End, Jacquemotte, Bentley, and Hurlbut (2000) extended the research on the reasons why and how females and males view themselves as sport fans and examined how others perceive the differences between the sexes. They found that those who identified strongly with being a sport fan believed that males engage in more traditional sport fan behaviors (i.e. attending games, talking about sports to friends, learning about players, etc.) and perceived that there are greater differences between male and female sport fans. However, if the participants were not strongly identified with being a sport fan, they did not believe there to be a significant difference between male and female sport fan behavior. Taking it one step further, Wann, Schinner, and Keenan (2001) investigated how males perceive the female sport fan. They found that men with a high interest in sport tend to view a female with a similarly high interest in sport positively, while evidencing less positive feelings for females who show little or no interest in sport. This was termed the Something About Mary effect, based on the movie released in 1998. In the film, a female character (Mary) showed a high level of interest in sport. Mary played various sports, explicitly expressed interest in watching and following sport, and at one point, stated, Hey, do you want to go upstairs and watch Sportscenter? In the movie, the female was also shown as very attractive and feminine, suggesting that this may be an important factor for Mary. Does the gender role orientation of female fans influence the evaluations men have of her? This question was the focus of the current research. Being a sport fan in the past has typically been a male-dominated domain (Wann, Melnick, et al., 2001) and the media has followed suit when covering or advertising sporting events (Duncan, 1990; Duncan & Hasbrook, 1988). Advertisements on television during sporting events usually depict a male as the main focus. If there is a female portrayed, she is usually very attractive. Not only do advertisers show mainly men in commercials during sporting events, but they also portray female athletes in provocative ways, showing more posed for pictures than action shots when compared to male athletes (Duncan, 1990; Duncan & Hasbrook, 1988). Research has shown that men are more likely to pay attention to activities (e.g., recreation and entertainment) and physical characteristics of a female, rather than her personality characteristics, when initially pursuing a relationship (DAgostino & Day, 1991). End, Kretschmar,

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and Dietz-Uhler (2004) found that both males and females perceive girls who are physically attractive to be the best determinant for popularity. Roloff and Soloman (1989) found strong positive correlations between similarities in sport-viewing and relationship satisfaction suggesting that because of this similar characteristic, the male sport fan will view female sport fans more positively than female non-fans. This supports research finding that two people with similar attitudes and interests tend to be attracted to one another (Byrne, Clore, & Smeaton, 1986). However, when males are asked to take into consideration the females masculine or feminine characteristics, the males rate the feminine females significantly higher than the masculine females (Kimlicka, Wakefield, & Goad, 1982). The aforementioned research reveals that men who have an interest in sport report particularly high evaluations of women who share their sport fandom. Furthermore, when males attention is drawn toward feminine or masculine characteristics, evidence states that men rate feminine women higher. Thus, the current investigation was designed to extend the work of Wann, Schinner, et al. (2001) by examining the impact of the feminine and masculine characteristics of female fans on the impressions of male fans. As such, this investigation was designed to extend our understanding of relationships among fans. Given that male and female fandom can be important in person perception and impact relationship quality (Wann, Melnick, et al., 2001), such an investigation was warranted. Based on the literature described above, the following hypotheses were derived: Hypothesis 1: Males who have high levels of sport fandom will rate a female who is feminine, highly identified with the local sport team and has high levels of sport fandom more positively than any other female. Hypothesis 2: Males who have high levels of sport fandom will specifically rate the female who is feminine, highly identified with the local sport team and has high levels of sport fandom more positively than a female who is masculine, highly identified with the local sport team and has high levels of sport fandom. Hypothesis 3: Males will rate feminine females, regardless of their identification with the local sport team and their level of sport fandom higher than masculine females. Hypothesis 4: Males with high levels of sport fandom will rate a female who is masculine, has little or no interest in the local sport team and little or no interest in sport more negatively than any other female.

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METHOD Participants and Design In the current study, 355 male university students completed the questionnaire packet. Of those students, 90 were not included in the analysis due to incorrectly answering at least one manipulation check item (discussion of specific reasons for discarding participants can be found in the Preliminary Analyses section below). Participants who were discarded did not differ significantly on sport fandom (M = 28.92, SD = 9.80) from those who were retained (M = 30.31, SD = 9.19) F(1,354) = 1.49 p > .05. The final sample contained 265 participants (M age = 21.14 years; SD = 4.26) who correctly stated the targets level of interest in sport and local team, masculinity or femininity, and general manipulation check questions. Participants were acquired through entry level psychology, exercise science, and wellness courses (some received extra credit), fraternities, and the Murray State University Athletics Department. The design was a 2 (Participants Level of Fandom: high or low) x 2 (Targets Interest in Sport: high or low) x 2 (Targets Interest in the Local Team: high or low) x 2 (Targets Gender Role Orientation: feminine or masculine) between-subjects factorial. Participants were randomly assigned to the targets interest in sport, targets interest in the local team and targets gender role orientation conditions. Procedure and Materials Prior to testing, the research was approved by the universitys IRB. Upon entering the testing room and providing their consent, participants were given a questionnaire packet containing five sections. The first section contained demographic items assessing age and gender. Section 2 contained the Sport Fandom Questionnaire (Wann, 2002). This scale contains five Likert-scale items and has been shown to be an internally consistent, reliable, and valid method of assessing sport fandom. Response options ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 8 (strongly agree). Thus, higher numbers reflected higher levels of fandom. After completing the first two sections, participants were asked to pause until further instructed. Once they were finished with the first two sections, the participants read the third section and then paused again until further instructed. Section 3 contained a description of a fellow college student. Participants were asked to Please read the description thoroughly, paying close attention to each of the females traits. After you have carefully read the description, please use the information provided to form an impression of the female. The description of the female contained 20 traits, such as She is the oldest sibling in her family and

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Her major is accounting. There were eight different versions of the description. The first 14 descriptors were identical for each of the eight versions and describe generic traits (e.g., a sophomore). The fifteenth trait manipulated the targets interest in sport. The participant read either She has a great deal of interest in sports, knows a great deal about the rules, teams, players, and stats, and watches many sporting events on TV and in person or She has very little interest in sports, knows very few rules, teams, players, or stats, and rarely watches sporting events on TV or in person. The sixteenth trait manipulated the targets interest in the local universitys mens basketball team. Participants read either She has a great interest in Murray State Universitys Mens Basketball, wears the team colors, knows many of the players and enjoys watching them on TV or in person or She has little interest in Murray State Universitys Mens Basketball and rarely watches Murray State University Mens Basketball on TV or in person. We utilized the local mens basketball team because this team is the most successful at the participants university and has the largest number of fans. The next four traits contained either masculine descriptors (independent, assertive, risk taker and competitive) or feminine descriptors (affectionate, soft-spoken, very sensitive and loves children) selected from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). The items did not disclose any information regarding physical attractiveness. There was a reminder at the bottom of the page in bold, capital letters, reading, PLEASE DO NOT TURN THE PAGE UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO! After all participants had thoroughly read the targets description, they completed the final two sections of the packet without looking back at the description. Section 4 contained five recall items on the targets traits, two of which were filler items (e.g. What is the name of the living complex where she resides?) and three that were manipulation check items. The manipulation check items asked participants to circle their response pertaining to the targets interest in sport (great deal of or very little), interest in Murray State University Mens Basketball (great deal of or very little) and if they believed the female to be masculine or feminine using a Likert-Scale ranging from 1 (very feminine) to 8 (very masculine). The fifth section contained six items assessing impressions of the target. The scale employed by Wann, Schinner, et al. (2001) was used to assess participants impressions of the target. Specifically, participants indicated how friendly, nice, interesting, fun, attractive, and intelligent the target seemed using a Likert-scale ranging from 1 (negative impression, e.g., not at all friendly) to 8 (positive impression, e.g., very friendly). Once the final section had been completed, the researcher

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collected the packets; participants were then debriefed and excused from the testing session (approximately 20 minutes). RESULTS Preliminary Analyses The manipulation checks were reviewed and a participants questionnaire packet was discarded from the study if he provided the wrong answer regarding the targets interest in sport or interest in the local mens basketball team based on the description they read (e.g., if they stated the female had a great deal of interest in sport when she was described as having very little interest in sport, see below). Further, if a participant read the description of the feminine female and rated her with a 6 or above on masculinity his data were eliminated from the study. Alternatively, if a participant read the description of the masculine female and rated her with a 3 or lower on femininity his data were removed from the study. Conditions in which the participants were dropped are as follows: nine because they got the general fandom manipulation check item wrong, 10 because they got MSU fandom manipulation check item wrong, three answered both questions incorrectly, and 74 answered the feminine/masculine manipulation check item incorrectly. Specifically, 13 stated she had masculine characteristics when feminine characteristics were presented and 61 thought she had feminine characteristics when masculine characteristics were present. The five items on the SFQ (Wann, 2002) were combined to form a single index of fandom (Cronbachs alpha = .94). A median split was performed on the SFQ scores, resulting in two groups: participants with a low level of fandom (n = 124, SFQ range = 5 to 32) and those with a high level of fandom (n = 141, SFQ range = 33 to 40). The six impression items were combined to form a single index of overall impression of the target (Cronbachs alpha = .80). The success of the manipulation of the feminine/masculine descriptors among the retained participants was examined through an ANOVA comparing scores on the feminine/masculine Likert-scale item for persons in the feminine and masculine descriptor conditions. This analysis indicated that the manipulation was successful for the retained subjects. Specifically, persons reading the masculine description of the target rated her as more masculine (M = 4.96, SD = 0.93) than those reading the feminine description (M = 3.34, SD = 1.25), F(1, 263) = 141.89, p < .001. Tests of Hypotheses Hypothesis 1. It was hypothesized that participants with a high level of sport fandom who read about a target with a high level of sport

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fandom, a high level of interest in the local team, and who was described as being feminine would rate the target more positively than a combination of the remaining 15 cells (means and standard deviations TABLE 1 Means & Standard Deviations for the Impression Index & n for all Conditions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Participants with a high level of fandom rating a feminine target: Targets interest Targets fandom in local team M SD n Low Low 36.66 3.98 15 Low High 34.27 4.93 15 High Low 34.95 5.70 21 High High 38.19 5.56 16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Participants with a high level of fandom rating a masculine target: Targets interest Targets fandom in local team M SD n Low Low 34.29 5.54 17 Low High 38.84 4.66 19 High Low 35.65 7.41 17 High High 35.76 5.06 21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Participants with a low level of fandom rating a feminine target: Targets interest Targets fandom in local team M SD n Low Low 35.21 4.15 19 Low High 34.17 6.57 17 High Low 35.18 6.56 11 High High 36.33 4.87 21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Participants with a low level of fandom rating a masculine target: Targets interest Targets fandom in local team M SD n Low Low 32.80 3.05 15 Low High 31.00 7.39 13 High Low 34.06 7.24 16 High High 36.27 5.04 11 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

can be found in Table 1). The contrast analysis provided support for this prediction, t(1, 249) = 2.193, p < .05. As expected, the most positive impressions of the target person were reported by participants with a high

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level of interest in sport who read about the target person having a high interest in sport fandom, local sport and feminine qualities (M = 38.19, SD = 5.56). All other participants rated the remaining targets less positively (M =35.14, SD = 5.67). Hypothesis 2. It was hypothesized that males who have a high level of sport fandom would rate the female who is feminine, highly identified with the local sport team and has high levels of sport fandom more positively than a female who is masculine, highly identified with the local sport team and has high levels of sport fandom. Thus, the second contrast involved a specific comparison between participants with a high level of sport fandom who read about a target with a high level of sport fandom, a high level of interest in the local team, and who was described as being feminine (M = 38.19, SD = 5.56) and participants with a high level of sport fandom who read about a target with a high level of sport fandom, a high level of interest in the local team, and who was described as being masculine (M = 35.76, SD = 5.06). The contrast analysis did not support the prediction, t(1, 249) = 1.311, p > .15. Hypothesis 3. It was predicted that the males would rate feminine females, regardless of their interest in the local sport team and sport in general, higher than masculine females. Thus, the third contrast analysis compared all participants presented with a feminine target (M = 35.02, SD = 6.07) with all participants presented with a masculine target (M = 35.61, SD = 5.34). The contrast analysis did not provide support for the hypothesis, t(1, 249) = 1.125, p > .25. Hypothesis 4. It was predicted that males with high levels of fandom would rate a masculine female, has little interest in the local sport team and sport in general more negatively than any other female. Thus, the final contrast compared participants with a high level of sport fandom who read about a target with a low level of sport fandom, a low level of interest in the local team, and who was described as masculine (M = 34.29, SD = 5.54) with the remaining 15 cells (M = 35.39, SD = 5.72). The hypothesis was not supported, t(1, 249) = .477, p > .40. DISCUSSION In the current study, the hypothesis that males who have high levels of sport fandom would rate a female who was feminine, highly identified with the local sport team and had high levels of sport fandom more positively than any other female target was supported. Less positive evaluations were expressed by participants with either a high or low interest in sport who evaluated a masculine or feminine female who was not interested in sport. Thus, the current findings continue to support Wann, Schinner, et al. (2001), but take it one step further by adding feminine versus masculine characteristics of the female fan as variables.

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The significant finding suggests that males with a high level of sport fandom find sex role orientation and sport fandom to both be important determinants of overall likability of a female. Past research indicates that males often rate feminine females more positively than masculine females (Kimlicka et al., 1982) and that male sport fans rate a female target person higher when she is described as a sport fan (Wann, Schinner, et al., 2001). Thus, simply being described as a sport fan may not be enough for a female target to receive highly positive evaluations from male sport fans. Rather, she will receive positive evaluations if she is a fan and is described in feminine terms. Looking at how these males ranked feminine females who were highly identified with being a sport fan and a follower of the local sport team amongst the highest in positive impression, it appears that the marketers of commercials and feature movies have the right idea when portraying beautiful and nurturing women as sport fans. These persons will likely be highly attractive to male fans and will receive highly positive evaluations. Hypothesis 2 predicted that males with a high level of sport fandom would rate a feminine female sport fan higher than a masculine female sport fan. This was not supported. When looking at the means of feminine female sport fans and masculine female sport fans and taking into consideration the low numbers in each condition, it may be possible that by adding participants the predicted hypothesis might have been supported. The hypothesis that males would rate feminine females, regardless of their identification with the local sport team and their level of sport fandom higher than masculine females was also not supported. In the current study, 90 questionnaires were not included in the data due to the male either ranking the feminine female, who was highly identified in sport, as masculine and the masculine female, who was not interested in sport, as feminine. It is possible that the males ranked the female more heavily on her sport fandom than on her feminine and masculine characteristics. Therefore, it would make sense that there would not be a significant difference between the feminine female and the masculine female as there were the same scenarios of sport fandom for each. It was also hypothesized that males with high levels of sport fandom would rate a female who is masculine, has little or no interest in the local sport team and little or no interest in sport more negatively than other females. This was not supported. It could be inferred that although the feminine attributes increase attractiveness and likeability as seen in Hypothesis 1, masculine attributes do not necessarily decrease the level of attractiveness.

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Limitations and Further Research As discussed previously, 90 subjects were dropped due to answering at least one manipulation check question wrong. Sixteen were dropped due to wrong answers on the fandom questions and 74 were dropped due to answering the masculine/feminine manipulation question wrong. For example, when the female was portrayed with feminine characteristics, the male rated her as masculine thirteen times. On the contrary, when the female was portrayed with masculine characteristics, the male rated her as feminine sixty one times. Therefore, approximately 67% of the discarded questionnaires were due to the male believing she portrayed feminine characteristics. Possible explanations could be that males have difficulty conceptualizing masculine females or the masculine characteristics may not have stood out to the males. Other limitations in this study are that the participants were restricted to Murray State University students. Murray State University is a NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I School. It would be interesting to extend the study to other populations. For example, having a situation where non-college fans deal with college sports and college fans deal with non-college sport. Further, one could examine if there would be different findings on NCAA Division 2, Division 3 and NAIA (National Association of Collegiate Athletics) schools where sports are not thought to be such an important part of the college experience. Conversely, there may also be different findings in the responses if the school is a large NCAA Division I school (e.g., Southeast Conference schools). REFERENCES
Bem, S.L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 155-162. Bryne, D., Clore, G. L., & Smeaton, G. (1986). The attraction hypothesis: Do similar attitudes attract anything? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1167-1170. Dietz-Uhler, B., End, C., Jacquemotte, L., Bentley, M., & Hurlbut,V. (2000). Perceptions of male and female sport fans. International Sports Journal, 4, 88-97. Dietz-Uhler, B., Harrick, E., End, C. & Jacquemotte, L. (2000). Sex differences in sport fan behavior and reasons for being a sport fan. Journal of Sport Behavior, 23, 219-232. Duncan, M. C. (1990). Sports photographs and sexual differences: images of women and men in 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. Sociology of Sport Journal, 7, 22-43. Duncan, M. C., & Hasbrook, C. A. (1988). Denial of power in televised womens sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 5, 1-21. DAgostino, J. & Day, S. K. (1991). Gender-role and reference for an intimate partner. Psychological Record, 41, 321-328.

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End, C., Kretschmar, J., & Dietz-Uhler, B. (2004). College Students Perceptions of Sport Fandom as a Social Status Determinant. International Sports Journal, Winter, 114-123. Gantz, W., & Wenner, L.A. (1991). Men, women and sports: audiences experiences and effects. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 25, 263-275. Kimlicka, T., Wakefield, T., & Goad, N. (1982). Sex-roles of ideal opposite sexed persons for college males and females. Journal of Personality Assessment, 46(5), 519-521. Rolof, M. E., & Solomon, D. H. (1998). Sex typing, sports interest, and relational harmony. In L.A. Wenner (Ed.), Media sports and society (pp.290-311) Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Wann, D. L. (2002). Preliminary validation of a Measure for assessing identification as a sport fan: The Sport Fandom Questionnaire. International Journal of Sport Management, 3, 103-115. Wann, D. L., Melnick, M.J., Russel, G. W., & Pease, D. G. (2001). Sports fans: The psychology and social impact of spectators. New York: Routledge Press. Wann, D. L., Schinner, J., & Keenan, B. L. (2001). Males impressions of female fans and non fans: There really is Something about Mary. North American Journal of Psychology, 3, 183-192. Wann, D. L., Schrader, M. P., & Wilson, A. M. (1999). Sport fan motivation: questionnaire validation, comparisons by sport, and relationship to athletic motivation. Journal of Sport Behavior, 22, 114-139.

Note: Portions of this research were presented at the Annual Sport Psychology Forum, Bowling Green, KY (February, 2011). This research was part of a masters thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the second author.

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