A test of the relationship between sexist television commentary and enjoyment of women’s sports: impacts on emotions, attitudes, and viewing intentions

Televised coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games featured a record number of female athletes competing. However, NBC and its commentators faced public scrutiny for their use of sexist language in discussing these athletes. A within-subjects experiment (N = 78) featuring NBC video of three different 2016 Olympic events tested the relationship between such commentary and enjoyment, anger, and intentions to view future Olympic coverage. Real-time enjoyment increased during commentary and stayed elevated following sexist commentary. Results also revealed differences between the biological sex of participants, with women being more likely to enjoy the video clips. Anger predicted decreases in both video and commentary enjoyment, but did not have a significant direct effect on attitudes or intentions.