Watching Sports Causes People see Group Relationships as Zero-sum Competitions
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Abstract:
When people believe a group they are a member of is in competition with another group, they are less likely to support policies that help the other group and more likely to support policies that hurt the other group. Where do these perceptions of group conflict come from? In this study I examine the role of entertainment media, specifically sports, in promoting perceptions of group conflict. I measure perceptions of whether international trade, racial discrimination, the distribution of wealth, and group relationships in general are zero-sum competitions. Using a nationally-representative survey I show that watching zero-sum sports predicts believing that group relationships are also zero-sum. Additionally, in a survey experiment asking people to write about winning and losing in sports made them think that group relationships were more zero-sum. When confronted with group relationships where it is unclear whether the sides are competing against each other, people appear to use sports as a cognitive shortcut by assuming those relationships are similar to sports competitions. These findings show how seemingly apolitical “entertainment” media can influence politically-relevant attitudes, by influencing beliefs about how the world works.