Defeated Athletes, Abusive Mates?

Abstract

Judgments about athletes and nonathletes who batter were systematically analyzed in a multivariate design. Participants read scenarios about athletes who batter in which the severity of the assault, the type of sport played, the racial status of the athlete, and the relationship of the victim to the athlete were systematically varied. Judgments about males who commit similar assaults but who are not professional athletes were also obtained. Results revealed that males and females differed in blame attributions, and judgments about athletic and nonathletic batterers became increasingly similar as the victim's harm increased. Findings are discussed in terms of participants' perceptions about the role of drugs, alcohol, and the race of the athlete in determining blame attributions and penalty proscriptions.