Sexuality, Sports-Related Mistreatment, and U.S. Adults’ Sports Involvement

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for all variables used in the analyses.

	M/%	(SD)
Dependent variable
Perceived LGBT unwelcome	1.90	(1.03)
Personal mistreatment	38%	–
Played a sport(s) regularly	59%	–
Sports spectatorship	39%	–
Frequency talked about sports	2.68	(1.43)
Sexual identity
Identified as a sexual minority	27%	–
– Lesbian or gay	9%	–
– Bisexual	14%	–
– Other sexual identity	4%	–
(Heterosexual)	73%	–
Gender identity
Female	72%	–
Nonbinary	3%	–
(Male)	25%	–
Childhood sports history
Frequency thought about sports	14.59	(18.63)
Athlete Identity	1.76	(1.45)
Never played organized sports	35%
Dropped organized sports	41%	–
(Played and never dropped out)	24%	–
Background characteristics
(Age 30 or less)	24%	–
Age 31–40	27%	–
Age 41–50	22%	–
Age 51+	27%	–
High school or less education	13%	–
Some college education	40%	–
(College)	47%	–
Black	10%	–
Latinx	9%	–
Other race/ethnicity	8%	–
(White only)	73%	–
Works in paid labor	66%	–
Household income	5.25	(4.01)
Married	38%	–
Cohabiting	16%	–
(Single)	46%	–
Number of children	0.57	(1.02)

Note: N = 3,993. Reference categories are noted in parentheses.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Table 2. Results from ordinal and binary logistic regressions of LGBT unwelcomeness and personal mistreatment in sports.

Variable	(1) Unwelcomeness OR	(2) Unwelcomeness OR	(3) Unwelcomeness OR	(4) Mistreatment OR	(5) Mistreatment OR	(6) Mistreatment OR
Sexuality^a
Identified as a sexual minority	1.69***			1.76***
– Lesbian or gay		2.52***	2.50***		1.57***	1.57***
– Bisexual		1.42***	1.36**		1.95***	1.85***
– Other sexual identity		1.62**	1.51*		2.10***	1.98***
Gender^b
Female	0.61***	0.70***	0.66***	0.75***	0.74***	0.73***
Nonbinary	1.00	1.25	1.14	1.14	1.06	1.02
Childhood sports history
Frequency thought about sports	1.00*		1.00*	1.00		1.00
Athlete identity	0.92**		0.92**	0.94*		0.95^+
Never played organized sports^c	1.02		1.02	1.00		1.02
Dropped organized sports^c	1.32**		1.35**	1.73***		1.73***
Background characteristics
Age 31–40^d	0.99	0.95	0.99	0.90	0.87	0.90
Age 41–50^d	1.08	1.02	1.08	0.85	0.83^+	0.87
Age 51+^d	1.17	1.09	1.15	0.86	0.81*	0.88
High school or less education^e	0.71**	0.71**	0.73**	0.57***	0.53***	0.56***
Some college education^e	0.78**	0.78**	0.79**	0.85*	0.82**	0.84*
Black^f	1.09	0.98	1.09	0.68**	0.62***	0.67**
Latinx^f	1.04	0.99	1.04	1.09	1.06	1.08
Other race/ethnicity^f	1.14	1.10	1.14	1.15	1.11	1.15
Works in paid labor	1.10	1.12	1.11	0.96	0.99	0.98
Household income	0.99	1.99	0.99	0.98	0.98^+	0.98^+
Married^g	1.17*	1.20*	1.19*	1.08	1.09	1.08
Cohabiting^g	0.87	0.87	0.88	1.02	1.02	1.01
Number of children	0.97	0.98	0.99	0.95	0.94	0.95

Note: N = 3,993. Logistic coefficients are presented as odds ratios (OR).Reference categories are:

^a Self-identified heterosexual.

^b Male.

^c Played and never dropped out.

^d Age 30 or less.

^e College.

^f White only.

^g Single.

+ p < .10.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Table 3. Results from logistic regressions of playing sports regularly and spectatorship, in the past 12 months.

Variable	(1) Played OR	(2) Played OR	(3) Played OR	(4) Played OR	(5) Attended OR	(6) Attended OR	(7) Attended OR	(8) Attended OR	(9) Attended OR
Sexuality^a
Identified as a sexual minority	0.85^+				0.79**
– Lesbian or gay		0.85	0.90	0.90		0.89	0.90	0.92	0.95
– Bisexual		0.77*	0.79*	0.86		0.78*	0.77*	0.80*	1.29
– Other sexual identity		0.55**	0.58**	0.66*		0.45***	0.44***	0.48**	0.49**
– Bisexual × female									0.55*
Gender^b
Female	0.70***	0.60***	0.58***	0.71***	0.96	0.86^+	0.86^+	1.02	1.09
Nonbinary	0.45**	0.40***	0.40***	0.49**	0.57*	0.57*	0.57*	0.67	0.56*
Sports-related mistreatment
LGBT unwelcomeness	0.97		0.91**	0.96	0.99		0.96	0.99	0.99
Personal mistreatment	0.98		0.93	0.98	1.20*		1.18*	1.21*	1.21*
Childhood sports history
Frequency thought about sports	1.01**			1.01***	1.01***			1.01***	1.01***
Athlete identity	1.48***			1.48***	1.17***			1.17***	1.17***
Never played organized sports^c	0.84			0.84	0.52***			0.52***	0.52***
Dropped organized sports^c	0.78*			0.79*	0.79*			0.79*	0.79**
Background characteristics
Age 31–40^d	0.90	0.95	0.95	0.90	0.93	0.95	0.95	0.93	0.94
Age 41–50^d	0.85	0.88	0.88	0.84	0.77*	0.77*	0.77*	0.76*	0.76*
Age 51+^d	0.57***	0.59***	0.59***	0.57***	0.76*	0.72**	0.73**	0.75**	0.75**
High School or less education^e	0.82^+	0.84*	0.82^+	0.83	0.51***	0.49***	0.49***	0.51***	0.51***
Some college education^e	0.82**	0.83*	0.82**	0.82*	0.78***	0.78**	0.78***	0.79**	0.79***
Black^f	1.05	1.30*	1.30*	1.05	0.80^+	0.89	0.91	0.80^+	0.80^+
Latinx^f	1.78***	1.98***	1.98***	1.79***	0.95	1.00	1.00	0.95	0.95
Other race/ethnicity^f	1.23	1.28^+	1.30*	1.25^+	1.02	1.05	1.05	1.04	1.04
Works in paid labor	1.26**	1.24**	1.25***	1.26**	1.54***	1.54***	1.55***	1.52***	1.52***
Household income	1.03*	1.03**	1.03*	1.03*	1.07***	1.07***	1.07***	1.07***	1.07***
Married^g	1.10	1.05	1.06	1.09	1.11	1.09	1.09	1.10	1.11
Cohabiting^g	1.00	1.06	1.05	0.99	0.83^+	0.87	0.87	0.83^+	0.83^+
Number of children	1.17***	1.22***	1.21***	1.18***	1.07^+	1.09*	1.10*	1.08^+	1.07^+

Note: N = 3,993. Logistic coefficients presented as odds ratios (OR). Reference categories are:

^a Self-identified heterosexual.

^b Male.

^c Played and never dropped out.

^d Age 30 or less.

^e College.

^f White only.

^g Single.

+ p < .10.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Table 4. Results from OLS regressions of frequency talking about sports with others, in the past 12 months.

	(1) Frequency talked		(2) Frequency talked		(3) Frequency talked		(4) Frequency talked		(5) Frequency talked
Variable	b	SE	b	SE	b	SE	b	SE	b	SE
Sexuality^a
Identified as a sexual minority	−0.19***	0.05
– Lesbian or gay			−0.38***	0.08	−0.33***	0.08	−0.30***	0.08	−0.47***	0.10
– Bisexual			−0.15*	0.07	−0.13^+	0.07	−0.08	0.06	−0.08	0.06
– Other sexual identity			−0.49***	0.12	−0.47***	0.12	−0.35**	0.11	−0.35**	0.11
– Lesbian or gay × female									0.37*	0.15
Gender^b
Female	−0.15**	0.05	−0.34***	0.05	−0.36***	0.05	−0.17**	0.05	−0.22***	0.05
Nonbinary	−0.23	0.14	−0.46**	0.16	−0.44**	0.16	−0.22	0.15	−0.24	0.15
Sports-related mistreatment
LGBT unwelcomeness	−0.05*	0.02			−0.10***	0.02	−0.05*	0.02	−0.06*	0.02
Personal mistreatment	−0.00	0.04			−0.01	0.05	0.01	0.05	0.01	0.05
Childhood sports history
Frequency thought about sports	0.02***	0.00					0.02***	0.00	0.02***	0.00
Athlete identity	0.16***	0.02					0.16***	0.02	0.16***	0.02
Never played organized sports^c	−0.41***	0.06					−0.41***	0.06	−0.40***	0.06
Dropped organized sports^c	−0.16**	0.06					−0.16**	0.06	−0.16**	0.06
Background characteristics
Age 31–40^d	0.25***	0.06	0.29***	0.07	0.29***	0.07	0.25***	0.06	0.25***	0.06
Age 41–50^d	0.26***	0.07	0.29***	0.07	0.29***	0.07	0.26***	0.07	0.26***	0.07
Age 51+^d	0.23***	0.06	0.22**	0.07	0.22**	0.07	0.24***	0.07	0.23***	0.07
High school or less education^e	−0.14*	0.07	−0.16*	0.07	−0.18*	0.07	−0.23**	0.07	−0.14*	0.07
Some college education^e	−0.13**	0.05	−0.12*	0.05	−0.13**	0.05	−0.16***	0.05	−0.12*	0.05
Black^f	0.10	0.07	0.25**	0.08	0.25**	0.08	0.10	0.07	0.11	0.07
Latinx^f	0.20**	0.07	0.27**	0.08	0.27***	0.08	0.20**	0.07	0.20**	0.07
Other race/ethnicity^f	−0.03	0.08	0.01	0.08	0.02	0.08	−0.02	0.08	−0.01	0.08
Works in paid labor	0.09^+	0.05	0.11*	0.05	0.11*	0.05	0.09^+	0.05	0.08^+	0.05
Household income	0.02**	0.00	0.02***	0.01	0.02**	0.01	0.02***	0.01	0.02***	0.01
Married^g	0.10^+	0.05	0.07	0.06	0.08	0.06	0.09^+	0.05	0.08^+	0.05
Cohabiting^g	0.07	0.06	0.11	0.07	0.10	0.07	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.06
Number of children	0.06**	0.02	0.09***	0.02	0.09**	0.03	0.06*	0.02	0.06*	0.02

Note: N = 3,993. Reference categories are:

^a Self-identified heterosexual.

^b Male.

^c Played and never dropped out.

^d Age 30 or less.

^e College.

^f White only.

^g Single.

+ p < .10.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

*** p < .001.

Figure 1. Interaction between sexuality and gender in adults' probability of sports spectatorship.

Figure 2. Interaction between sexuality and gender in adults' frequency of talking about sports with others.