Playing With Perceptions: Investigating Bias in Soccer Through Skin Tone Manipulation

Cornel Nesseler, Thadeu Gasparetto, Iuliia Naidenova and Petr Parshakov

Social Science Quarterly, 2025, vol. 106, issue 2

Abstract: Objective This study aims to investigate implicit discrimination in soccer by examining whether participants’ evaluations of fouls are influenced by players’ skin color. Methods An optimal experimental design was developed where players’ skin color in soccer videos was artificially altered. Participants were asked to choose the most appropriate penalty for a player committing a foul. The data were analyzed using ordered logit regressions to assess whether skin color influenced the penalties assigned. Results Contrary to previous research and popular belief, the results show that participants’ penalty decisions were not significantly influenced by the players’ skin color. Conclusions The findings suggest that implicit discrimination may not be present in this context, challenging previous studies that found racial biases in sports. The experimental design and results lay the groundwork for further research into implicit bias in sports contexts.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13492

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:socsci:v:106:y:2025:i:2:n:e13492

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0038-4941

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science Quarterly is currently edited by Robert L. Lineberry

More articles in Social Science Quarterly from Southwestern Social Science Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().