Female Gaming, Gaming Addiction, and the Role of Women Within Gaming Culture: A Narrative Literature Review

Abstract

Research investigating female gaming has begun to emerge despite gaming being traditionally more popular with males. Research in the 21st century has drawn attention to the role of women in culture, society, and technology, and female gaming is one of the growing phenomena not to have been researched in depth. The aim of the present paper was to review female gaming (i.e., the role of females within video game culture) and identify any associated psychopathological symptomatology. The review adapted the Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research (SPIDER) model in conducting a narrative literature review. A search of three scientific electronic databases yielded 49 papers for further evaluation. From a methodological perspective, studies had to fulfill the following criteria to be included: i) published between the years 2000 and 2018; ii) assessed female gaming or the female position within gaming culture, iii) contained quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approaches to produce empirical data or discuss theoretical implications through reviews, iv) be retrievable as a full-text peer-reviewed journal paper, and v) published in English, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or French. Four categories emerged from the papers: i) the benefits of female gaming, ii) why women might play video games less than men, iii) perceptions and realities of female characters within video games, and iv) women’s position in gaming culture. The main findings showed playing video games has benefits for women in terms of enhancing cognitive, social, and physical abilities. However, they are less encouraged to play video games due to negative expectations based on gender and/or experiences during game play. Video games are associated with stereotypical male characteristics, such as being overly aggressive, and frequently contain sexualized content. Female gamers appear to require coping strategies to handle online harassment. Females look for different things in video games, which are not often included in game designs thereby limiting their abilities. For instance, female avatar representation—which is exaggerated and hypersexualized—can prompt social comparisons and lead to feelings of decreased self-esteem, depression, and other impacts on well-being. Overall, there are still obstacles for women playing video games even though they comprise half of the gaming population.

Demographics and Health Behavior of Video Game and eSports Players in Germany: The eSports Study 2019

“…Prior research has shown that eSports' so-called "core-genres" (such as tactical shooters, fighting games, or sport games) are more strongly favored by men [37]. The eSports scene in terms of community and game design is strongly influenced by men and a male perspective, respectively [37,38]. This may tend to predominantly attract male players and, in this way, lead to a vicious circle.…”

“…This may tend to predominantly attract male players and, in this way, lead to a vicious circle. Additionally, sexism, offensive language and online harassment are reoccurring problems in some eSports titles [38][39][40][41] that might further deter female players.…”

The Relationship Between Problematic Video Gaming, Problematic Facebook Use, and Self-Control Dimensions Among Female and Male Gamers

“…Additionally, other structural characteristics may also contribute to habitual videogame usage (see Griffiths & Nuyens, 2017 ), such as the inclusion of gambling elements (e.g., loot boxes) in computer games ( Drummond & Sauer, 2018 ; Griffiths, 2018b , 2018c ). Moreover, previous research ( Hartmann & Klimmt, 2006 ; Lopez-Fernandez et al, 2019 ; McLean & Griffiths, 2019 ) also showed that female gamers prefer different game features to male gamers. Consequently, self-control may have different challenges among female and male gamer groups.…”

Problematic Facebook use and problematic video gaming as mediators of relationship between impulsivity and life satisfaction among female and male gamers

“…More specifically, male gamers play videogames in person or online with friends more frequently than female gamers [129]. Additionally, male gamers look for different things in videogames than female gamers, which are often included in game designs, thereby enhancing male gamers' abilities [130]. Additionally, female gamers face the sexual (mis)representation of female characters in the game, online harassment, and the expectation that they are less skillful players compared to male gamers [131].…”