A Peer Review Analysis: A Comparative Examination of Selected African-American and Caucasian Female Athletes' Image Restoration

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the image repair strategies utilized by African-American and Caucasian female athletes to repair a damaged image. Using William Benoit's (1997) Image Restoration Theory, the study seeks to determine if there is any significance between the strategies used by African-American female athletes and those used by Caucasian athletes. Utilized in the study were six black female athletes and five white female athletes. With the assistance of 49 collegiate peer reviewers, a comparative analysis was conducted on the written depictions of the selected female athletes involved in scandal retrieved from several electronic newspaper and televised sources.;Fisher's Exact statistical test was conducted to reveal the results of the study. The study found no significant difference in the type and number image repair strategies used by African-American female athletes and those used by Caucasian female athletes, as selected by the peer reviewers. Additionally, the study found no relationship between characteristics of the peer reviewers and race of the athlete. The researcher provided topics of discussion and recommendations for further research such as studying which of Benoit's (1997) 14 image repair strategies are most effective in repairing a damaged image.