Communication

Theory

Communication
Theory

Bryan E. Denham Fourteen:

Four

November

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

2004
Toward an Explication of Media Pages
Enjoyment: The Synergy of Social 370–387
Norms, Viewing Situations, and
Program Content

In studying media enjoyment, communication scholars have assumed a mea-

surable, internally valid relationship between program content and viewer re-
sponse. Drawing on literature from sport and social psychology in addition to
communication, this article posits that media enjoyment reflects a coalescence
of 3 factors: (a) social norms, (b) viewing situations, and (c) program content.
The article explores this conceptualization with televised football as a content
source, social norms that reflect hegemonic masculinity, and a viewing situa-
tion in which audience members are part of a homogenous social group. Drawing
on uses and gratifications, social identity, disposition, and uncertainty reduc-
tion theories, the article suggests that social norms and viewing situations are
ultimately as central to enjoyment as content is.

How we respond to messages from the media depends precisely on the extent to
which they fit with, or possibly contradict, other messages, other viewpoints that we
have come across in other areas of our lives.
David Morley, Television, Audiences & Cultural Studies (1992), p. 77.

Media viewing takes place in a complex social setting in which many competing influ-
ences interact to shape our responses.
Gordon W. Russell, The Social Psychology of Sport (1993), p. 229.

Because men’s idea of masculinity can rarely be realized at work they have developed
a masculine style for their leisure and social activities that consist of excessive signs of
masculinity in an exaggerated and compensatory display.

John Fiske, Television Culture (1987), p. 201.

In examining media enjoyment, communication scholars have addressed

the relationships between exposure to certain types of content, such as
action or drama, and enjoyment levels expressed by viewers in response

Copyright © 2004 International Communication Association

370
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

to questionnaire items, in diaries, or as observed in controlled, experi-

mental settings.1 Although such studies have been carefully administered
and their results informative for the development of theory, the studies
have contained, by necessity, an assumption of a measurable, internally
valid relationship between mediated communication and receiver enjoy-

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

ment. Theoretical frameworks such as uses and gratifications (Katz,
Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1974; Rubin, 2002) suggest multiple social and
psychological influences on enjoyment levels, and the current article posits
that, although program content clearly plays a role in audience response,
social norms and viewing situations complicate enjoyment as a media
concept. As Hastorf and Cantril (1954) asserted more than 50 years
ago, there is no such thing as an existing event that people simply ob-
serve; rather, the event is a product of the activity of an audience mem-
ber (see also Giles, 2003; Raney & Bryant, 2002). In this article, the
“event” used in support of conceptual arguments is televised football,
and as a source of media enjoyment, it is considered in the context of a
homogenous social group experiencing the game given social norms re-
flective of hegemonic masculinity.2 Research addressing the impact of
social conditions on enjoyment has yielded inconsistent results (Bryant
& Miron, 2002), and this article seeks to inform future scholarship on
media consumption by synthesizing and building upon uses and gratifi-
cations, social identity, disposition, and uncertainty reduction theories.
The article begins with an overview of how certain dimensions of those
theories inform media enjoyment.

Theoretical Overview
A fundamental assumption in uses and gratifications research is that
multiple social and psychological factors influence media enjoyment (Katz
et al., 1974; Rubin, 2002). Given this assumption, the current article
suggests, first, that enjoyment reflects the extent to which media content
reifies existing social norms for its audience members, such that men
who subscribe to traditional conceptions of masculinity, for instance,
will enjoy a sporting contest in which physicality and toughness are cen-
tral to successful performance.3 Secondly, drawing on social identity
theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), the article posits that enjoyment stands
to be intensified when members of a homogenous social group, or in-
group, experience a mediated event, such that group members may (a)
identify with media actors, (b) accentuate intragroup similarities in re-
sponse to both tacit and overt content messages, or both. Extending that
premise, if enjoyment is intensified by an opportunity to make a moral
judgment (Bryant & Miron, 2002), and as Zillmann suggested in ad-
vancing disposition theory, by an opportunity to see those who “de-

371
 Communication
Theory

serve” to suffer do just that (e.g., Zillmann & Bryant, 1994), then mem-
bers of a homogenous social group stand to reinforce in one another
existing social norms and any moral judgments they might render indi-
vidually. This reinforcement occurs, in part, because group members
can predict with great accuracy the attitudes of others in the group, and

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

as Berger and Calabrese (1975) suggested in their work on uncertainty
reduction theory, social comfort, and relatedly, enjoyment, tend to in-
crease as uncertainty decreases. When the attitudes of others are not
known, members of a group often remain quiet when a salient, but po-
tentially volatile subject arises, and as a consequence of this perceived
need to self-regulate expression, group members might experience lower
levels of enjoyment. Thus, in general terms, this article posits that media
enjoyment is contingent upon more than mere content, or a certain con-
tent genre, and in fact reflects existing social norms and the viewing
situations in which those norms are observed.

Reading the Social Text of Televised

Football
Much like political scientist Robert Putnam explored the concept of so-
cial capital in his frequently cited text, Bowling Alone (2001), the cur-
rent article explores the concept of media enjoyment through a popular
leisure activity. Televised football is a useful content source toward the
explication of media enjoyment for several reasons. First, individuals
frequently view football contests in the presence of others, and when
individuals experience sporting events in group situations, they gener-
ally are more expressive than they are when viewing alone (Wenner &
Gantz, 1998). Vocalization, potentially an important part of enjoyment,
is expected among group participants, whereas expressing an opinion
during a movie or television program might cause others to miss impor-
tant information. In homogenous groups who assemble for sporting
events, individuals do not face the kinds of repercussions they do else-
where when it comes to blurting out harsh or at least off-the-cuff state-
ments, and consequently, men who feel somewhat disaffected or reticent
in their daily lives (e.g., Connell, 2003; Fiske, 1987; Messner, 1992;
New, 2001; Whannel, 2002) may find watching televised football in a
familiar group milieu a reliable source of enjoyment. Football is an in-
tense, combative sport, and research has shown that men in particular
tend to enjoy such action-filled sports programming (Bryant, Comisky,
& Zillmann, 1981; Dunning, 1986, 1994; Gantz & Wenner, 1991;
McDaniel, 2003; Sargent, Zillmann, & Weaver, 1998; Sullivan, 1991),
perhaps because an athletic contest, unlike many of the responsibilities
common to daily life, has closure (Whannel, 1990). As Wenner and Gantz

372
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

(1998) observed, “Different from other forms of television, televised

sport is a live and unscripted drama, but one that guarantees resolu-
tion” (p. 235).
Televised football reifies hegemonic masculinity (Creedon, 1994), and
especially heterosexuality (Jacobson, 2003), through visual imagery of

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

violence and physical strength contrasted with images of traditional femi-
ninity (Messner, 1992). During a televised football match, cameras pan
in on players with bruises and lacerations, grass stains, and scraped hel-
mets, with scantily clad cheerleaders waving pompoms and attractive
sideline reporters providing brief comments on injuries and strategies
(Messner, Dunbar, & Hunt, 2000). Slow-motion replays of wide receiv-
ers being slammed on crossing routes appear, as do plays of muscular
running backs overpowering those who would tackle them (Trujillo,
2001). Indeed, football is a game of strategy and brutal hits from which
players frequently incur serious injuries (Sabo, 1994), even paralysis, yet
seasoned fans know the difference between a hard, clean hit and an
illegal hit such as a helmet-to-helmet tackle, as their celebratory and
angry verbalizations following each indicate (Bryant et al., 1981). When
the final whistle sounds in a football contest, one team emerges victorious,
having conquered another through brute force and the sheer will to win.
Yet, televised football is an instructive content source not because
heterosexual, White males are the only ones who meet socially to expe-
rience and enjoy the contests, but because members of other groups,
including women, minorities, and those who live alternative lifestyles,
do the same. A key point, however, is that their enjoyment may stem
from separate readings of the sports text (Cashmore, 2000; Lalvani,
1994), such as the opportunity it may provide to poke fun at rigid, hege-
monic ideals (Duncan & Brummett, 1993), or the opportunity it pro-
vides to simply gaze at those who compete (Trujillo, 2001).4 As an ex-
ample of an alternative reading, one might anticipate that if, though
social processes, African Americans view professional sports as a realis-
tic professional pursuit—or at least as more realistic than many Whites
are willing to allow—then African Americans might read the sports text
differently, yet still derive pleasure from viewing it (Shropshire, 2002;
see also, Entine, 2000). Additionally, Trujillo (2001), in a study of how
Monday Night Football portrays the male body through television tech-
nology, discussed how gay men sometimes construct the sports text as a
form of mild eroticism (see also, Miller, 2002).
Earlier, Duncan and Brummett (1989) drew from cinema theory in
discussing three types of viewing pleasure: voyeurism, fetishism, and
narcissism.5 The first two terms refer to viewers deriving pleasure from
the object(s) being viewed, whereas the third term refers to viewers de-
riving pleasure from envisioning themselves in the mediated image—

373
 Communication
Theory

from identifying with the media actors. All three are relevant here be-
cause they assume different readings of the text by different audience
members, perhaps under differing social conditions. The three types of
spectating pleasure, Duncan and Brummett observed, are facilitated by
three sources of pleasure: discursive, technological, and social. Viewers

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

tend to derive pleasure through commentator discourse (see also,
Comisky, Bryant, & Zillmann, 1977), technological innovations such as
slow motion replays, and the opportunity to interact with others during
a televised sporting event. “For fans,” the authors opined, “much of the
excitement and appeal of televised sports viewing derives from its essen-
tially socially and interactive nature” (p. 201). Additionally, as Wann,
Melnick, Russell, & Pease (2001) observed, “Sport fandom and sport
spectating can help fulfill the human need for social interaction by pro-
viding a sense of belongingness” (p. 32).
Through mediated sport, then, the current article suggests that enjoy-
ment reflects a coalescence of (a) program content (Wenner, 1998); (b)
how individuals read the content, or sports text, given their socializa-
tion and the norms that stand to govern behavior (Greendorfer, 2001;
Harris, 1998; Messner, Dunbar, & Hunt, 2000; Morley, 1992; Sabo,
1994); and (c) the situations in which individuals are exposed to pro-
gram content, that is, whether they are in a homogenous or heteroge-
neous social situation, the dynamics of which may change substantially
with the introduction of just one new, or “unknown,” member (Giles,
2003; Morley, 1992; Tuckman, 1965; Wenner & Gantz, 1998; Whannel,
1998). The article now addresses how early socialization processes help
to shape identity and how identity and social norms inform enjoyment
of media texts.

Peer Groups, the Shaping of Identity,

and Mediated Sport Texts
In 1998, Judith Rich Harris published a provocative book, The Nurture
Assumption, in which she asserted that contrary to the popular belief
that parents have the greatest impact on how children develop, peer
groups actually have the strongest influence. Several points Harris raised
in the text relate to theoretical assertions raised in this article, especially
her discussion of group contrast effects, which refer to the tendency of
people, both younger and older, to see categories as more different than
they really are. Children, who become more segregated by sex as the
years of childhood progress, tend to reduce in-group tensions, Harris
suggested, by recognizing an exaggerated “common enemy.” As an ex-
ample, boys seeking to impress and gain the acceptance of other boys
generally identify girls as such an “enemy.” Guided by what she termed

374
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

group socialization theory, Harris argued that children in groups assimi-

late, or become more alike, over time. As Greendorfer (2001) added,
“Through socialization individuals learn to behave in accordance with
the expectations of others in the social order” (p. 4). For purposes of the
current article, from an early age, children, who have an inherent need

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

for attachment, come to rely on relationships with their peers—not their
parents—to gain approval and social acceptance. In their peer groups,
boys are socialized and ultimately rewarded for being tough, strong,
brave and competitive. They are chastised for being emotional, not ex-
celling in sports, and participating in activities considered feminine by
their peers, often being called a “woman” or a “queer” in the process.
As Sage (1998) observed, “Males who are uninterested in sport, or who
are unwilling to be forced into sport to fulfill dominant gender definitions
of masculinity, often face harassment from both males and females” (p.
76).
A study by Messner, Dunbar, and Hunt (2000) revealed how televi-
sion sports help to instill in young men established, or hegemonic, gen-
der roles. In a content analysis of televised sporting events, the authors
arrived at a 10-point ideological narrative, which they termed the Tele-
vised Sports Manhood Formula. Their content analyses revealed 10 domi-
nant themes: (a) White males are the voices of authority, (b) sports is a
man’s world, (c) men are foregrounded in commercials, (d) women are
sexy props or prizes for men’s successful sport performances or con-
sumption choices, (e) Whites are foregrounded in commercials, (f) ag-
gressive players get the prize while nice guys finish last, (g) boys will be
(violent) boys, (h) you should give up your body for the team, (i) sports
is war, and (j) you should show some guts! Of note here is that many
boys, who watch seemingly countless hours of televised sports, frequently
with their peers, often carry these dominant themes with them into adult-
hood.6 Messner, Dunbar, and Hunt observed the irony: “At a historical
moment when hegemonic masculinity has been destabilized by socio-
economic change, and by women’s and gay liberation movements, the
Televised Sports Manhood Formula provides a remarkably stable and
concrete view of masculinity as grounded in bravery, risk taking, vio-
lence, bodily strength and heterosexuality” (p. 392). Throughout the
years of childhood and adolescence, then, peer groups and mediated
sport perpetuate traditionally conceived notions of masculinity, as young
men are told over and over, both tacitly and overtly, to “be a man.” By
the time they “arrive” at young adulthood, males will have been social-
ized in such a manner as to be dominant and detached (Whitson, 1994),
in accordance with traditional conceptions of masculinity (Messner,
Duncan, & Jensen, 1993; Sabo, 2000; Sabo & Jansen, 1992; Trujillo,
1991).

375
 Communication
Theory

Yet, as Shropshire (2002) observed, this process stands to be

problematized further as a cultural consideration, in that African Ameri-
can athletes appear to carry a greater responsibility than White athletes
do when it comes to serving as role models for younger generations.
Mass media have helped to construct a societal expectation, Shropshire

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

suggested, in which African American athletes must serve as “a credit to
your race” (p. 136). Thus, whereas White children may be fascinated by
the ability of Michael Jordan to dunk a basketball in seemingly impos-
sible ways, Black children may be fascinated by Jordan more generally,
taking pride in his accomplishments as an African American person, as
opposed to a one-dimensional athlete (Andrews, 2001).7 The enjoyment
Black children experience thus may be qualitatively different from the
enjoyment experienced by White children, and such differences stand to
continue into adulthood. Indeed, communication theorists must be aware
that, whereas hegemonic masculinity (hopefully) proves instructive to-
ward the conceptualization of media enjoyment, there are, in fact, dif-
fering masculinities (e.g., Ross, 1998), and they underscore the impor-
tance of considering social norms and viewing situations in studying
audience responses to content. The article explores such differences af-
ter addressing how men who subscribe to traditional conceptions of
masculinity might experience a mediated sporting event.

Traditional Gender Identity and

Enjoyment of Mediated Sport
In many respects, when a group of men with similar interests and back-
grounds get together for a televised football contest, they are essentially
extending their youth, reinforcing in one another the masculine ideals
instilled in them through childhood socialization. Social identity theory
(Tajfel & Turner, 1986), which suggests that members of in-groups tend
to accentuate intragroup similarities, is central to the current article, for,
as Brewer (1993) noted, these emphases become especially pronounced
when group distinctiveness becomes critical. Brewer intimated that group
members tend to feel greater solidarity when politically or socially charged
issues emerge that might threaten group identity (see also Mastro, 2003;
Mullen & Hu, 1989; Tajfel, 1978), such as when a group of men in
contemporary society feel as though their ideals are being challenged by
members of out-groups. Although some of these ideals may warrant
challenge, to be sure, the important point, for purposes here, is that in-
group membership becomes critical when identity is threatened. In the
company of men who have been socialized in a manner reflecting hege-
monic ideals, but who also feel somewhat disaffected by what they per-
ceive as mixed societal messages (New, 2001), individuals may be more

376
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

expressive with thoughts they otherwise might keep to themselves, com-

municating common frustrations in a language consistent with a
hypermasculine football environment. Bryant and Miron (2002), in fact,
described a phenomenon termed “affective contagion,” observing, “In
many instances, the expression of particular emotions may well affect

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

similar emotions in those amidst an expressive audience” (p. 575). En-
joyment, one might argue, stems not from media content so much as
from the milieu that individuals with a shared group identity create and
a media text reinforces.
“Sport and the media continue to serve society as conservators of
convention,” Cohen (2001) suggested. “Together, they function to rein-
force traditional values rather than challenge or lead the transformation
to more enlightened thinking” (p. 233). Moreover, Messner (1994) has
noted, “The choices, the filtering, the entire mediation of the sporting
event, is based upon invisible, taken-for-granted assumptions and val-
ues of dominant social groups, and as such the presentation of the event
tends to support corporate, white, and male-dominant ideologies” (p.
73). Additionally, Duncan, Messner, Williams, and Jensen (1994) con-
tended, “The sports media reflect the social conventions of gender-bi-
ased language. In so doing, they reinforce the biased meanings built into
language, and thus contribute to the re-construction of social inequi-
ties” (p. 267).
In conducting research for his text, Power at Play: Sports and the
Problem of Masculinity, Messner (1992) observed the impact that promi-
nent athletes and televised sports can have on gender identity, as mani-
fest in the comments of one research participant: “‘A woman can do the
same job as I can do—maybe even be my boss,’” the individual said.
“‘But I’ll be damned if she can go out on the [football] field and take a
hit from Ronnie Lott’” (p. 168).8 Messner observed:
At the most obvious level, we can read this man’s statement as an indication that he
is identifying with Ronnie Lott as a man, and the basis of the identification is the violent
male body. Football, based as it is on the fullest potential of the male body (muscular
bulk, explosive power) is clearly a world apart from women, who are relegated to the
roles of sex objects on the sidelines, rooting their men on. In contrast to the bare and
vulnerable bodies of the cheerleaders, the armored male bodies of the football players
are elevated to mythical status and thus give testimony to the undeniable “fact” that
here is at least one place where men are clearly superior to women. Yet it is also signifi-
cant that this man was quite aware that he (and perhaps 99 percent of the rest of the
male population of the United States) was probably equally incapable of taking a “hit”
from the likes of Ronnie Lott and living to tell of it. I would speculate that by recogniz-
ing the simultaneous construction of identification and difference among men, we may
begin to understand the major role that televised sport plays in the current gender
order. (p. 168)

377
 Communication
Theory

Indeed, as Fiske (1987) observed, “For many men, if not most, the
conditions of work are such that it subjects them and works to construct
them as dependent and powerless. Yet it is upon the man’s position as
the breadwinner that his masculinity and power in the family depends”
(pp. 205–206). With respect to athletic heroes, Wann et al. (2001) noted

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

their compensatory function, suggesting heroes represent the traits and
values of a bygone era. Thus, for many men, sports likely serve as a
“reminder” that a hegemonic order does exist in certain places, and
that, although they may not observe it on a daily basis, those who “fight
the good fight” will end up “victorious.” Star football players serve as
heroes for men who cannot, in their daily lives, go around stiff-arming
people when they perceive injustices, acts of greed, or general disregard
for the well-being of others. As Archetti (2001) noted, mediated heroes
stand alone in a world of dangerous villains with bad intentions, finding
a way to emerge victorious. Thus, consistent with disposition theory,
when opposing players whom fans love to hate take a particularly
rough hit, the momentary satisfaction that people experience may
serve as a reminder that justice does exist, after all, and that he, the
opponent, got what he deserved. The viewer, in short, is no longer
the vulnerable one.
Additionally, in the context of popular culture, Lawrence and Jewett
(2002) have explained that mythic and traditionally masculine heroes
such as Dirty Harry or Buford Pusser of the Walking Tall films represent
the triumph of good over evil through an unwillingness to submit to
pervasive corruption and by adhering to the ideals of hegemonic mascu-
linity, such as honesty, courage, and physical strength. If violence is called
for, then it can be used, without realistic consequences. In sport, Wenner
(2002) has described how media normalize violence, while Young (2002)
has discussed how sports-related violence is almost entirely immune from
criminal sanctions. Justice, as it were, is free to be dispensed. Lawrence
and Jewett (2002) contended:

The yearning for larger-than-life figures mirrors the eternal need for leaders who will
stand forth and assume lonely and unpopular tasks. . . . The anti-elitist bias, expressed
through the hint that anyone can be a superhero, embodies a respect for widely distrib-
uted human potential, a worthy democratic theme. (p. 358)

Complicating Identities, Social Norms,

and Mediated Sport
To this point, the article has focused primarily on the experiences of
heterosexual, White males interacting with one another during a tele-
vised sporting event, but to fully appreciate the importance of social

378
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

norms and viewing situations, one needs to consider how members of

other groups might experience the contest. Discussing how televised foot-
ball symbolizes dominant gender assumptions, for instance, Creedon
(1994) observed:

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

At a minimum, because professional football remains a male-only preserve, we learn
that being male in our culture confers a degree of privilege. By denying women access to
the game as players, we are taught that women are less qualified, powerful or physical
than men. By limiting women to largely stereotypical roles (e.g., cheerleader, spectator,
perhaps hostess for a Super Bowl party), we also learn that women should be subservi-
ent. (p. 5)

In a study addressing male and female responses to televised football,

Duncan and Brummett (1993) demonstrated how some women respond
to stereotypical, subservient roles, as manifest in media content geared
to male audiences. Importantly, female participants in the study sought
to empower themselves through the sports text, using irony and sarcasm
and displaying limited interest in the game to refute dominant (patriar-
chal) readings of the text. Extending that collective response to an infor-
mal group situation, one can imagine a social setting in which sarcastic
remarks about the players, teams, and so forth might detract from en-
joyment, as the remarks, depending on their content, stand to be a source
of social discomfort and a distraction from the game itself. Sarcasm,
after all, can be quite hostile, and although certain remarks might be a
source of empowerment, they surely are not to be confused with enjoy-
ment; for purposes here, they illustrate different readings of the sports
text, and how such differences might impact a given milieu.
In general terms, how females read a football text—and how they
contribute to it—can be considered in light of how such readings and
contributions threaten hegemonic masculinity. Since the passage of Title
IX more than 30 years ago, female sports participation has increased
dramatically, to the point that sport, in general, is no longer a male
preserve. Consequently, some men may count on televised football, in
particular, as a source of unbridled (hegemonic) masculinity, which per-
haps explains why, in a football setting, one may hear “explanations” of
how, say, the National Basketball Association (NBA) generously “subsi-
dizes” the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), lest the
latter cease to exist, and why women’s professional soccer never really
stood to make a go of it. Indeed, mediated sport speaks volumes about
gender assumptions and social norms, or more specifically, perceived
social norms, and complicating this discussion one step further is race,
which Hunt (1997) termed the “central axis of social relations” in the
United States.

379
 Communication
Theory

In studying how White, Black, and Hispanic audiences reacted to the

1992 civil unrest that occurred in Los Angeles following the acquittal of
four LAPD officers charged in the beating of motorist Rodney King,
Hunt (1997) observed a series of “raced ways of seeing.” As an ex-
ample, while White and Hispanic audiences who viewed taped news

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

footage of the unrest tended to characterize it as crime, Black viewers
considered the disturbance less a series of “riots” than a “rebellion”
against a system stacked against Black-raced individuals. In his analysis,
Hunt offered an assertion central to the present article, suggesting that
television experiences reflect a struggle for meaning among texts, view-
ers, and their intertextual memories; that is, viewers tend to situate me-
diated events in the context of their previous experiences. In analyzing
the Los Angeles unrest, Hunt observed that Blacks were portrayed largely
as “event insiders,” while Whites, including many journalists on the scene,
were characterized as “event outsiders.” In sum, different viewers ascribed
different readings to the text, given social norms and how those norms
coalesced with media content; an “absolute” meaning did not exist.
In sport, broadcasters have tended to describe African American ath-
letes as “naturally gifted” and “blessed” with quickness and agility (Rada,
1996), while portraying White athletes as intelligent team players whose
extraordinary work ethic and leadership skills have allowed them to
overcome the odds and reach the elite ranks. Such constructions work
against African American athletes by trivializing the considerable amount
of practice they, like everyone else, had to complete to even approach
the elite ranks. Moreover, such constructions characterize African Ameri-
can athletes as dependent on physical skills to offset the purported intel-
ligence and poise of White athletes. “Related to the stereotype about
intelligence,” Davis and Harris (1998) explained, “is the notion that
African Americans do not make good team leaders, coaches or adminis-
trators because they lack requisite knowledge possessed by European-
Americans” (p. 159). African American athletes also have been portrayed
as deviant, oversexed, and self-centered individuals (Davis & Harris,
1998), and as a result of all of these stereotypes, Black athletes who
achieve the greatest success tend to be those who pose the least threat to
White America. Throughout his career, for instance, media companies
portrayed Michael Jordan as a happily married family man who had
realized the American Dream (Andrews, 2001). In contrast, media out-
lets have portrayed boxer Mike Tyson as beastlike, almost cannibalistic,
given the biting incident with Evander Holyfield (Lule, 1995), and when
Earvin “Magic” Johnson announced that he had tested positive for HIV,
some media outlets characterized Johnson as a tragic figure whose un-
controllable sexual appetite had led to his athletic, if not personal, de-
mise (Cole & Denny, 1994).

380
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

These media constructions inform the present article in several ways.

In a homogenous social group consisting of, say, five White males, en-
joyment of a televised football contest, per se, will stem largely from
what happens on the field—especially on what happens to the team the
audience members favor. When (a) the team is successful (media con-

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

tent), (b) the audience members share common ideals and experiences
(hegemonic masculinity), and (c) are in a setting where they can express
their views without reservation (homogenous social group), enjoyment
will likely reach its highest point. In a homogenous social group consist-
ing of five African American males, enjoyment may stem not only from
what happens on the field, but from what happens in terms of how
African American athletes are portrayed as African Americans and
whether these portrayals do justice to the success these athletes have
earned, not happened upon. Davis and Harris (1998), for instance, men-
tion how media often “accommodate” likeable African American ath-
letes, such as Jordan, and in so doing, construct African American ath-
letes as somewhat childlike, calling them by their first names and dimin-
ishing their status as adults competing in professional sports. Clearly,
such constructions stand to be interpreted in different ways by different
audience members in diverse situations; while White sports audiences
may be oblivious to such constructions, Black audience members might
find them condescending and offensive.
Different readings of the text often become apparent in heterogeneous
audiences, especially when a conflict arises. As an example, with race
considered the “central axis of social relations” (Hunt, 1997), and draw-
ing on social identity theory, if an African American athlete and a White
athlete are involved in a shoving incident and the African American ath-
lete is ejected from the contest, African American viewers might take
issue with the fact that the White athlete was allowed to continue play-
ing, while White viewers may conclude that the African American ath-
lete was simply “causing trouble” and acted out based on a (stereotypi-
cal) proclivity for deviance (Davis & Harris, 1998). In a heterogeneous
viewing milieu, after all of this has played out on a large-screen televi-
sion, no one in the room may speak a word about it, but a certain ten-
sion may enter and remain there. Subsequent laughter becomes nervous
laughter, and enjoyment becomes feigned enjoyment, all based on differ-
ent readings of the text. Using boxer Mike Tyson as an example, Whannel
(1998) shed light on why these situations occur:

A boxing match featuring Mike Tyson cannot be isolated from all the other media im-
ages of Tyson which we may have consumed. The meanings that may be embodied in
Tyson are a product of this, and also a product of the history of representation of box-
ers, the heavyweight championship, black versus white and so on. Jack Johnson, Martin

381
 Communication
Theory

Luther King, Malcolm X and Michael Jackson are all part of the culturally available
imagery within which we might make sense of Tyson. (pp. 231–232)

Televised content thus does not exist in a vacuum and is, in fact, just
one dimension of, or contributor to, media enjoyment. Consistent with

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

uses and gratifications theory, multiple social and psychological factors
stand to affect the audience experience, and these considerations are
summarized below, with implications for future entertainment research.

Summary and Implications

Drawing on literature from sport and social psychology in addition to
communication, this article has suggested that media enjoyment is a func-
tion of more than certain types of content and that enjoyment stands to
be affected by the milieu in which a mediated event is experienced; con-
tent is one contributor to such a milieu. In the case of televised football,
men who have come of age in line with dominant, or hegemonic, con-
structions of masculinity tend to identify with the players as men, often
because the players display the kinds of physicality that, as boys, the
audience members learned to admire. That socialization, of course, is
severely, and to some extent, necessarily constrained in the everyday
lives of these audience members, and the game of football offers a cer-
tain opportunity to vent emotion and bond with other men in a socially
acceptable manner.
Televised football milieus, like virtually all others, stand to be compli-
cated by gender, race, and sexuality, reflecting differing social norms
and resulting constructions of meaning. African Americans may be keenly
aware of covert forms of racism in sports broadcasting, and consequently,
they may not enjoy a particular moment as much as a White individual
does, as the latter has never had to be concerned with such matters.
Because White, heterosexual males tend to produce sports broadcasts,
the mediated events often tend to be enjoyed the most by White, hetero-
sexual males; in terms of social identity theory, the content reifies hege-
monic masculinity and intragroup similarities. This may explain, in part,
why members of other groups read the text in such a way as to criticize
hegemonic ideals and refute dominant meanings. Although one cannot
simply categorize group members, there do tend to be separate readings
of a text based on differing social norms and, as Hunt (1997) described,
differing intertextual memories.
Looking beyond the world of sport, the importance of considering
the milieu in which individuals experience a mediated event is perhaps
more important now than it has been in the past, in part because media
companies appear bent on pushing content as far as they can in order to

382
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

stimulate interest and entertain audiences. As an example, among other

factors, films such as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and True Romance
have used dialogue replete with both racial epithets and graphic vio-
lence to capture audience attention. Directors such as Quentin Tarantino
have treated moviegoers to a kind of mediated mayhem in such films,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

and the manufactured hysteria has paid big dividends at the box office.
How, though, might scholars use such films to increase the knowledge
base in communication theory and research?
Based on arguments advanced in the current article, researchers seek-
ing to measure audience reaction to film content would want to con-
sider the dynamics of a viewing, or research, milieu in addition to con-
tent itself. For instance, although an investigator may randomly assign
research participants to treatment and control groups, he or she never-
theless should recognize that media enjoyment will be a function of both
content and of group members slowly gaining a feel for the sensibilities
of one another. In heterogeneous viewing situations, content that con-
tains excessively racist language will almost certainly create social ten-
sion, in part because audience members cannot predict how others will
react. Consequently, audience members may remain perfectly quiet or
negotiate the situation superficially with socially predictable responses.
In either case, social concerns complicate enjoyment (or lack thereof),
and content becomes just one factor in the audience experience. From
the standpoint of internal validity, mentioned at the beginning of this
paper, scholars thus might recall that, in certain circumstances, (spe-
cious) relationships can be reliably (mis)measured, and it is therefore
essential to continue explicating and bringing data to bear on concepts
such as media enjoyment in audience research.

Bryan E. Denham (PhD, University of Tennessee) is Charles Campbell associate professor of sports Author
communication in the Department of Communication Studies at Clemson University. He would
like to thank colleagues Peggy J. Bowers and Stephanie Houston Grey for their insightful comments
and suggestions toward the development of this article. Correspondence should be sent to the
author at 412 Strode Tower, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634; bdenham@clemson.edu.

1
Communication studies addressing media enjoyment have focused largely on reactions to fright- Notes
ening images (Hoffner & Cantor, 1991; Oliver, 1993a; Sparks, 1991); the seemingly paradoxical
relationship between enjoyment and sad films (Oliver, 1993b; Oliver, Weaver, & Sergent, 2000);
crime and reality programming (Oliver & Armstrong, 1995; Raney, 2002; Raney & Bryant, 2002);
and the contribution of commercial humor to program enjoyment (Perry, 2001).
2
Formally, hegemony refers to one state exercising political and social power over another, but as
Whisenant, Pedersen, and Obenour (2002) explained, hegemony also includes cultural factors such
as subordinate groups simply accepting their position as a part of the societal status quo: “As a
social theory, hegemony is the condition in which certain social groups within a society wield
authority—through imposition, manipulation and consent—over other groups. It is not the main-
tenance of power by force” (pp. 485–486). MacNeill (1994) observed further:

383
 Communication
Theory

Hegemonic power so saturates the common-sense reality of humans that people rarely act or think
in ways alternative to those that are legitimated. In other words, in their lives, people operate
within a relatively narrow range of practices and beliefs. Alternatives to this range are either never
considered or dismissed as inappropriate, that is, they are marginalized. (p. 274)

Hegemonic masculinity, Whisenant, Pederson, and Obenour explained, is what a society considers
“real” manhood. In Western society, the term refers to male dominance over women and other

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

males, physical strength, strict heterosexuality, emotional detachment, and competitiveness (see
also Gruneau, 1999; Sage, 1998; Whitson, 1994). “Hegemonic masculinity is the acceptance of
masculinity as the defining characteristic of Western society that places women in a lower social
position,” Whisenant, Pedersen, and Obenour noted (see also Riger, 1992). “In a society of hege-
monic masculinity, women are considered off limits in certain areas, sport being one of the most
obvious” (p. 486).
3
Scholars from several disciplines have written on hegemonic masculinity in sport (e.g., Bryson,
1994; Burstyn, 1999; Dunning, 1994; McKay, Messner, & Sabo, 2000; Messner, Duncan, & Jensen,
1993; Sabo & Jansen, 1992; Sage, 1998; Talbot, 2002; Trujillo, 1991), and a select group of au-
thors have addressed enjoyment of televised sport (e.g., Bryant et al., 1982; Bryant, 1989; Bryant,
Zillmann, & Raney, 1998; Gantz, 1981; Gantz & Wenner, 1991, 1995; Wenner & Gantz, 1989,
1998). Few, however, have considered enjoyment beyond self-reported motivations for viewing and
individual responses to specific types of content. Scholars such as Zillmann and Bryant (1994),
Whannel (1998), Bryant and Raney (2000), and McDaniel (2003) have noted the dearth of schol-
arship addressing audience experiences in sport, and in seeking empirical literature addressing au-
dience experiences in certain group contexts, one must travel back more than 25 years, to the work
of Sapolsky and Zillmann (1978).
4
The 2001 publication date reflects the edited volume Contemporary Issues in Sociology of
Sport, in which Trujillo’s (1995) Sociology of Sport Journal article appeared.
5
As Duncan and Brummett (1989) noted, these terms have their roots in the work of French
psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Film scholars have applied his ideas to the cinema in addressing the
“mirror stage.”
6
It should be noted here that viewership of televised sports among children and adolescents has
recently tapered off. Yet, if one considers the advent of highly advanced video games featuring the
likenesses of professional athletes, in addition to ubiquitous advertising and marketing campaigns,
it appears reasonable to assume that the Televised Sports Manhood Formula is as applicable today
as it was in the past.
7
Jordan, of course, is now retired, but the point remains. A volume edited by Andrews (2001)
offered a detailed discussion of Jordan’s appeal to mass audiences.
8
Ronnie Lott is a retired NFL Hall-of-Fame defensive back known for his brutal, but perfectly
clean, tackles and hits on the football field.

References Andrews, D. L. (2001). Michael Jordan, Inc.: Corporate sport, media culture, and late modern
America. New York: State University of New York Press.
Archetti, E. P. (2001). The spectacle of a heroic life: The case of Diego Maradona. In D. L. Andrews
& S. J. Jackson (Eds.), Sport stars: The cultural politics of sporting celebrity (pp. 151–163).
London: Routledge.
Berger, C. R., & Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond:
Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Re-
search, 1, 99–112.
Brewer, M. B. (1993). Social-identity, distinctiveness, and in-group homogeneity. Social Cognition,
11, 150–164.
Bryant, J. (1989). Viewers enjoyment of televised sports violence. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), Media,
sports and society (pp. 270–289). London: Sage.
Bryant, J., Brown, D., Comisky, P. W., & Zillmann, D. (1982). Sports and spectators: Commentary
and appreciation. Journal of Communication, 32(1), 109–119.
Bryant, J., Comisky, P., & Zillmann, D. (1981). The appeal of rough-and-tumble play in televised
professional football. Communication Quarterly, 29(4), 256–262.
Bryant, J., & Miron, D. (2002). Entertainment as media effect. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann, (Eds.),
Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 549–582). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Bryant, J., & Raney, A. A. (2000). Sports on the screen. In D. Zillmann & P. Vorderer, (Eds.),
Media entertainment: The psychology of its appeal (pp. 153–174). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

384
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

Bryant, J., Zillmann, D., & Raney, A. A. (1998). Violence and the enjoyment of media sports. In L.
A. Wenner (Ed.), MediaSport (pp. 252–265). London: Routledge.
Bryson, L. (1994). Sport and the maintenance of masculine hegemony. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole
(Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 47–64). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Burstyn, V. (1999). The rites of men: Manhood, politics and the culture of sport. Toronto, Canada:
University of Toronto Press.
Cashmore, E. (2000). Making sense of sports. London: Routledge.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

Cohen, G. L. (2001). The media industry: Representations, images, and issues. In G. L. Cohen
(Ed.), Women in sport: Issues and controversies (pp. 231–254). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Cole, C. L., & Denny, H. (1994). Visualizing deviance in post-Reagan America: Magic Johnson,
AIDS, and the promiscuous world of professional sport. Critical Sociology, 20(3), 123–147.
Comisky, P., Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (1977). Commentary as a substitute for action. Journal of
Communication, 27(3), 150–153.
Connell, R. W. (2003). Masculinities, change, and conflict in global society: Thinking about the
future of men’s studies. Journal of Men’s Studies, 11, 249–266.
Creedon, P. J. (1994). Women, media and sport: Creating and reflecting gender values. In P. J.
Creedon (Ed.), Women, media and sport: Challenging gender values (pp. 3–27). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Davis, L. R., & Harris, O. (1998). Race and ethnicity in U.S. sports media. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.),
MediaSport (pp. 154–169). London: Routledge.
Duncan, M. C., & Brummett, B. (1989). Types and sources of spectating pleasure in televised
sports. Sociology of Sport Journal, 6, 195–211.
Duncan, M. C., & Brummett, B. (1993). Liberal and radical sources of female empowerment in
sports media. Sociology of Sport Journal, 10, 57–72.
Duncan, M. C., Messner, M. A., Williams, L., & Jensen, K. (1994). Gender stereotyping in televised
sports. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 249–272). Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics.
Dunning, E. (1986). Social bonding and violence in sport. In N. Elias & E. Dunning (Eds.), Quest
for excitement: Sport and leisure in the civilizing process (pp. 224–244). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Dunning, E. (1994). Sport as a male preserve: Notes on the social sources of masculine identity and
its transformations. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 163–179).
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Entine, J. (2000). Taboo: Why black athletes dominate sports and why we’re afraid to talk about it.
New York: Public Affairs.
Fiske, J. (1987). Television culture. London: Methuen.
Gantz, W. (1981). An exploration of viewing motives associated with television sports. Journal of
Broadcasting, 25, 263–275.
Gantz, W., & Wenner, L. A. (1991). Men, women, and sports: Audience experiences and effects.
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 35, 233–243.
Gantz, W., & Wenner, L. A. (1995). Fanship and the television sports viewing experience. Sociology
of Sport Journal, 12, 56–74.
Giles, D. (2003). Media psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Greendorfer, S. L. (2001). Gender role stereotypes and early child socialization. In G. L. Cohen
(Ed.), Women in sport: Issues and controversies (2nd ed., pp. 3–14). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Gruneau, R. (1999). Class, sports, and social development. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Harris, J. R. (1998). The nurture assumption. New York: Free Press.
Hastorf, A. H., & Cantril, H. (1954). They saw a game: A case study. Journal of Abnormal and
Social Psychology, 2, 129–134.
Hoffner, C., & Cantor, J. (1991). Factors affecting children’s enjoyment of a frightening film se-
quence. Communication Monographs, 58, 41–62.
Hunt, D. M. (1997). Screening the Los Angeles “riots”: Race, seeing, and resisting. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Jacobson, J. (2003). The loneliest athletes: Facing derision in a macho culture, many gay athletes in
team sports hide their sexuality. Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(10), A36.
Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the indi-
vidual. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspec-
tives on gratifications research (pp. 19–32). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Lalvani, S. (1994). Carrying the ideological ball: Text, discourse, and pleasure. Sociology of Sport
Journal, 11(2), 155–174.
Lawrence, J. S., & Jewett, R. (2002). The myth of the American superhero. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

385
 Communication
Theory

Lule, J. (1995). The rape of Mike Tyson: Race, the press and symbolic stereotypes. Critical Studies
in Mass Communication, 12, 176–195.
MacNeill, M. (1994). Active women, media representations, and ideology. In S. Birrell & C. L.
Cole (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 273–287). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
McDaniel, S. R. (2003). Reconsidering the relationship between sensation seeking and audience
preferences for viewing televised sports. Journal of Sport Management, 17, 13–36.
McKay, J., Messner, M. A., & Sabo, D. (2000). Masculinities, gender relations, and sport: Research

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

on men and masculinities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mastro, D. E. (2003). A social identity approach to understanding the impact of television mes-
sages. Communication Monographs, 70, 98–113.
Messner, M. A. (1992). Power at play: Sports and the problem of masculinity. Boston: Beacon
Press.
Messner, M. A. (1994). Sports and male domination: The female athlete as contested ideological
terrain. In S. Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 65–80). Champaign,
IL: Human Kinetics.
Messner, M. A., Dunbar, M., & Hunt, D. (2000). The televised sports manhood formula. Journal
of Sport and Social Issues, 24, 380–394.
Messner, M. A., Duncan, M. C., & Jensen, K. (1993). Separating the men from the girls: The
gendered language of televised sports. Gender and Society, 7, 121–137.
Miller, T. (2002). Sportsex. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Morley, D. (1992). Television, audiences & cultural studies. London: Routledge.
Mullen, B., & Hu, L. (1989). Perceptions of in-group and out-group variability: A meta-analytic
integration. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 10, 233–252.
New, C. (2001). Oppressed and oppressors? The systematic mistreatment of men. Sociology, 35,
729–748.
Oliver, M. B. (1993a). Adolescents’ enjoyment of graphic horror: Effects of viewers’ attitudes and
portrayals of victim. Communication Research, 20, 30–50.
Oliver, M. B. (1993b). Exploring the paradox of the enjoyment of sad films. Human Communica-
tion Research, 19, 315–342.
Oliver, M. B., & Armstrong, G. B. (1995). Predictors of viewing and enjoyment of reality-based
and fictional crime shows. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72, 559–570.
Oliver, M. B., Weaver, J. B., & Sargent, S. L. (2000). An examination of factors related to sex
differences in enjoyment of sad films. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44,
282–300.
Perry, S. D. (2001). Commercial humor enhancement of program enjoyment: Gender and program
appeal as mitigating factors. Mass Communication & Society, 4, 103–116.
Putnam, R. D. (2001). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New
York: Simon & Schuster.
Rada, J. A. (1996). Color blind-sided: Racial bias in network television’s coverage of professional
football games. Howard Journal of Communications, 7, 231–239.
Raney, A. A. (2002). Moral judgment as a predictor of enjoyment of crime drama. Media Psychol-
ogy, 4, 305–322.
Raney, A. A., & Bryant, J. (2002). Moral judgment and crime drama: An integrated theory of
enjoyment. Journal of Communication, 52, 402–415.
Riger, S. (1992). Epistemological debates, feminist voices: Science, social values, and the study of
women. American Psychologist, 47, 730–740.
Ross, M. B. (1998). In search of black men’s masculinities. Feminist Studies, 24, 599–626.
Rubin, A. M. (2002). The uses-and-gratifications perspective of media effects. In J. Bryant & D.
Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 525–548). Hillsdale,
NJ: Erlbaum.
Russell, G. W. (1993). The social psychology of sport. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Sabo, D. (1994). Pigskin, patriarchy, and pain. In M. A. Messner & D. F. Sabo (Eds.), Sex, violence
& power in sports: Rethinking masculinity (pp. 82–88). Freedom, CA: Crossing Press.
Sabo, D. (2000). Men’s health studies: Origins and trends. Journal of American College Health, 49,
133–142.
Sabo, D., & Jansen, S. C. (1992). Images of men in sport media: The social reproduction of gender
order. In S. Craig (Ed.), Men, masculinity, and the media (pp. 169–184). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Sage, G. H. (1998). Power and ideology in American sport (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics.

386
 Toward an Explication of Media Enjoyment

Sapolsky, B. S., & Zillmann, D. (1978). Enjoyment of a televised sporting contest under different
conditions of viewing. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 46, 29–30.
Sargent, S. L., Zillmann, D., & Weaver, J. B. (1998). The gender gap in the enjoyment of televised
sports. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 22, 46–64.
Shropshire, K. L. (2002). Race, youth, athletes, and role models. In M. Gatz, M. A. Messner, & S.
J. Ball-Rokeach (Eds.), Paradoxes of youth and sport (pp. 135–140). New York: State Univer-
sity of New York Press.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ct/article/14/4/370/4110463 by SOUTH ASIAN UNIVERSITY user on 12 March 2021

Sparks, G. G. (1991). The relationship between distress and delight in males’ and females’ reactions
to frightening films. Human Communication Research, 17, 625–637.
Sullivan, D. B. (1991). Commentary and viewer perception of player hostility: Adding punch to
televised sports. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 35, 487–504.
Tajfel, H. (1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies on the social psychology of inter-
group relations. London: Academic Press.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel
& W. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
Talbot, M. (2002). Playing with patriarchy: The gendered dynamics of sports organizations. In S.
Scraton & A. Flintoff (Eds.), Gender and sport: A reader (pp. 277–291). London: Routledge.
Trujillo, N. (1991). Hegemonic masculinity on the mound: Media representations of Nolan Ryan
and American sports culture. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 8, 290–308.
Trujillo, N. (2001). Machines, missiles and men: Images of the male body on ABC’s Monday Night
Football. In A. Yiannakis & M. J. Melnick (Eds.), Contemporary issues in sociology of sport
(pp. 223–236). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Tuckman, B. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384–
399.
Wann, D. L., Melnick, M. J., Russell, G. W., & Pease, D. G. (2001). Sport fans: The psychology and
social impact of spectators. New York: Routledge.
Wenner, L. A. (1998). Playing the MediaSport game. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), MediaSport (pp. 3–13).
London: Routledge.
Wenner, L. A. (2002). Blowing whistles: The sports violence profile. In M. Gatz, M. A. Messner, &
S. L. Ball-Rokeach (Eds.), Paradoxes of youth and sport (pp. 119–121). New York: State Uni-
versity of New York Press.
Wenner, L. A., & Gantz, W. (1989). The audience experience with sports on television. In L. A.
Wenner (Ed.), Media, sports and society. London: Sage.
Wenner, L. A., & Gantz, W. (1998). Watching sports on television: Audience experience, gender,
fanship, and marriage. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), MediaSport (pp. 233–251). London: Routledge.
Whannel, G. (1990). Winner takes all: Competition. In A. Goodwin & G. Whannel (Eds.), Under-
standing television (pp. 103–114). London: Routledge.
Whannel, G. (1998). Reading the sports media audience. In L. A. Wenner (Ed.), MediaSport (pp.
221–232). London: Routledge.
Whannel, G. (2002). Media sport stars: Masculinities and moralities. London: Routledge.
Whisenant, W. A., Pedersen, P. M., & Obenour, B. L. (2002). Success and gender: Determining the
rate of advancement for intercollegiate athletic directors. Sex Roles, 47, 485–491.
Whitson, D. (1994). The embodiment of gender: Discipline, domination and empowerment. In S.
Birrell & C. L. Cole (Eds.), Women, sport, and culture (pp. 353–372). Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics.
Young, K. (2002). From “sports violence” to “sports crime”: Aspects of violence, law, and gender
in the sports process. In M. Gatz, M. A. Messner, & S. L. Ball-Rokeach (Eds.), Paradoxes of
youth and sport (pp. 207–224). New York: State University of New York Press.
Zillmann, D., & Bryant, J. (1994). Entertainment as media effect. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann
(Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

387