The naturalness bias in sport

Michael M. Roy*, Dennis Redlich, Emily Lamison, Daniel Memmert

*Corresponding author for this work

Publication: Contribution to journalJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Abstract

We examined the naturalness bias - the tendency to prefer people who seem to come by their talent naturally and not through work or effort - on ratings of athletic ability. Football (soccer) coaches, athletes, fans, and non-fans (n = 430) read about an athlete described as either being a natural or a striver. After watching a video of the athlete going through drills, participants rated the athlete on likelihood of success, athletic skill, mental strength, and physiological ability. Participants of all expertise levels tended to rate the athlete described as a natural as being higher in mental toughness than did the participants rating the athlete described as being a striver. There were no significant differences in ratings for the natural and the striver for measures of skill and explosiveness. It appears that the naturalness bias was most likely to influence ratings not easily judged by viewing a single performance.
Original languageEnglish
JournalPsychology of Sport and Exercise
Pages (from-to)102537
ISSN1469-0292
Publication statusPublished - 01.2024

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