Gendered Biases in Sex-Conformation Testing in Athletics
Location
Ponderosa Room C
Presentation Type
Presentation
Presentation Topic
Social Psychology
Start Date
3-3-2023 2:30 PM
Event Sort Order
41
Abstract
Due to suspected gender bias practices taken by the Olympic Industry, this study measures gendered based variation across participant scores of fairness, agreement, and social perceptions. Four separate vignettes were distributed each depicting a character athlete who has qualified to compete in the upcoming Olympic games yet following sex-verification testing displays naturally high levels of testosterone, with variables of gender (male vs. female) and qualification (disqualification vs. inclusion) ruled by International Olympic Committee (IOC) were manipulated. We predicted that if the feminist theory was supported, results would yield that the character athlete’s gender/sex would predict variation within participant responses of fairness, agreement, and social acceptance. Within participant ratings of fairness an interaction between the variables of gender and qualification status emerged ( t(2) = -2.22, p-value = 0.00 ). This interaction showed significantly lower levels of fairness in stories depicting disqualified female character athletes, and were perceived as less fair ( M = 7.29 ), than those including the disqualification of male athletes ( M = 11.56 ). The patterns of variation found between scores of fairness surrounding stories of female characters within this study is supportive evidence of gender biases within the Olympic Industry.
Gendered Biases in Sex-Conformation Testing in Athletics
Ponderosa Room C
Due to suspected gender bias practices taken by the Olympic Industry, this study measures gendered based variation across participant scores of fairness, agreement, and social perceptions. Four separate vignettes were distributed each depicting a character athlete who has qualified to compete in the upcoming Olympic games yet following sex-verification testing displays naturally high levels of testosterone, with variables of gender (male vs. female) and qualification (disqualification vs. inclusion) ruled by International Olympic Committee (IOC) were manipulated. We predicted that if the feminist theory was supported, results would yield that the character athlete’s gender/sex would predict variation within participant responses of fairness, agreement, and social acceptance. Within participant ratings of fairness an interaction between the variables of gender and qualification status emerged ( t(2) = -2.22, p-value = 0.00 ). This interaction showed significantly lower levels of fairness in stories depicting disqualified female character athletes, and were perceived as less fair ( M = 7.29 ), than those including the disqualification of male athletes ( M = 11.56 ). The patterns of variation found between scores of fairness surrounding stories of female characters within this study is supportive evidence of gender biases within the Olympic Industry.
Presenter Bio
My name is Emma Ann Armbruster, I am an undergraduate at Creighton University in Omaha, NE, with a major in psychology and graduating in May 2023. Post undergrad, I am currently awaiting admission to PhD programs in social psychology. One fun fact about me is that last semester is that I had the opportunity to take an Italian language course with my grandfather.