Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother
This paper measures discrimination in the reality TV show Big Brother, a high-stakes environment. Data on contestants’ nominations are taken from 35 series of the British version of the show, covering the years 2000-2016. Race and age discrimination are found, with contestants more likely to nominat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2020
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/ |
| _version_ | 1848799676516532224 |
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| author | Lane, Tom |
| author_facet | Lane, Tom |
| author_sort | Lane, Tom |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper measures discrimination in the reality TV show Big Brother, a high-stakes environment. Data on contestants’ nominations are taken from 35 series of the British version of the show, covering the years 2000-2016. Race and age discrimination are found, with contestants more likely to nominate those of a different race and those different in age from themselves. However, no discrimination is identified on the basis of gender, geographical region of origin, or level of education. Racial discrimination is driven by males, but females exhibit stronger age discrimination than males. Age discrimination is driven by the younger contestants discriminating against the older. Regional differences emerge, particularly between contestants from Greater London and those from the north of England; northerners have a stronger tendency to engage in racial and age discrimination, and to discriminate in favour of the opposite gender. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:39:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-59789 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:39:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-597892020-04-13T08:06:15Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/ Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother Lane, Tom This paper measures discrimination in the reality TV show Big Brother, a high-stakes environment. Data on contestants’ nominations are taken from 35 series of the British version of the show, covering the years 2000-2016. Race and age discrimination are found, with contestants more likely to nominate those of a different race and those different in age from themselves. However, no discrimination is identified on the basis of gender, geographical region of origin, or level of education. Racial discrimination is driven by males, but females exhibit stronger age discrimination than males. Age discrimination is driven by the younger contestants discriminating against the older. Regional differences emerge, particularly between contestants from Greater London and those from the north of England; northerners have a stronger tendency to engage in racial and age discrimination, and to discriminate in favour of the opposite gender. SAGE Publications 2020-02-10 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/1/Lane2020_Rationality%20and%20Society_Accepted_Manuscript.pdf Lane, Tom (2020) Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother. Rationality and Society . ISSN 1043-4631 Discrimination; Social identity; Reality television https://doi.org/10.1177/1043463120904049 doi:10.1177/1043463120904049 doi:10.1177/1043463120904049 |
| spellingShingle | Discrimination; Social identity; Reality television Lane, Tom Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title | Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title_full | Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title_fullStr | Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title_full_unstemmed | Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title_short | Along which identity lines does 21st century Britain divide? Evidence from Big Brother |
| title_sort | along which identity lines does 21st century britain divide? evidence from big brother |
| topic | Discrimination; Social identity; Reality television |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/59789/ |