How do coaches in sports movies make you feel?

For teens ages 13 - 17 years

Your teen will watch an edited video clip from a popular sports movie. Then, they will complete a questionnaire about their reactions to the video. Questions will ask how much they enjoyed the video and how they felt about the characters and scenes they saw in the clip.

The scenes are from real sports movies, but the researchers are not associated with these movies or their studio production. Clips from the movies are taken from Remember the Titans, Gridiron Gang, and Hardball. All of these movies are rated either PG or PG-13. Although these movies are suitable for audiences 13 and older, parents should be aware that some of the clips in this study contain adult language and touch on situations for more mature audiences (e.g., gambling).

Some questions in our questionnaire ask about racial attitudes and perceptions. These questions may be sensitive or distressing for some, and your teen's participation is entirely voluntary.

Media shapes how we see ourselves and others, and viewers take social cues from how characters interact with each other. Audiences tend to view characters who help others positively, and positive interracial interactions on screen can carry over into real-world perceptions of racial harmony. Therefore, children who see positive interactions may extend those positive feelings to similar people in real life. We hope to find out whether teens accept or reject coaches in inspiring sports movies as role models. This is an interesting study because viewers tend to favor media with characters similar to themselves, but portrayals of interracial interactions are also important. By including teens from Black and White backgrounds, we will be able to see how identity may affect how teens relate to characters in sports films, and how these depictions extend to real-world perceptions of oneself and others.

If this study does not appeal to you or your teen, there are several other studies to choose from on the Children Helping Science platform.

25 minutes

A $5 digital Amazon.com gift card will be sent to the parents' email address within 1-2 weeks of participating in the study. To receive your gift card, your teen must be visible in the consent video, in the age range of the study, and racially identify as Black or White. Only one gift card per family.