Tracing female gamer identity. An empirical study into gender and stereotype threat perceptions

Vermeulen, Lotte; Bauwel, Sofie Van; Looy, Jan Van

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.054

Cited by 58 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…It may be that female gamers are unable to develop this level of security or closeness (through their own choice to hide their identity and/or through lack of social support). This perceived need to hide their identity (online and offline) is similar to previous research in the area (Fox and Yeng Tang (2017); McLean and Griffiths 2013;Vermeulen et al 2017). Because it appears that male gamers develop significant social identities via gaming and is linked to positive outcomes for them, it is interesting to consider the motivation for female gamers to continue to play in these online environments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…Similar findings have been reported with impact on females' skill perception and wellbeing (Vermeulen et al 2014), and performance (Vermeulen and Looy 2016). McLean and Griffiths (2013) argued that female gamers valued their identity as gamers, but paradoxically, gamers often feel the need to hide their identity when gaming online, due to the behaviour of other male gamers (Cote 2015;Vermeulen et al 2017). Kaye and Pennington (2016) suggested that multiple social identities may protect females' gameplay performance from stereotype threat.…”

Section: Female Gaming Researchsupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Females have also reported lower gamer identity because they felt less connected and discouraged from this identity by male negative behaviour online. This suggests that female gamers often exist outside of the main game culture, resulting in a low gamer identity profile (Vermeulen et al 2017). The experience of discrimination by male players is therefore argued to discourage women to label themselves as gamers.…”

Section: Female Gaming Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study

McLean¹,

Griffiths

2018

Int J Ment Health Addiction

108

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Female gaming is a relatively under-researched area, and female gamers often report experiencing harassment whilst playing online. The present study explored female experiences of social support while playing online video games, because of the previous research suggesting that females often experience harassment and negative interactions during game play. Data were collected from an online discussion forum, and comprised posts drawn from 271 female gamers. Thematic analysis of the discussions suggested that a lack of social support and harassment frequently led to female gamers playing alone, playing anonymously, and moving groups regularly. The female gamers reported experiencing anxiety and loneliness due to this lack of social support, and for many, this was mirrored in their experiences of social support outside of gaming. The female gamers frequently accepted the incorporation into their gaming of specific coping strategies to mitigate online harassment, including actively hiding their identity and avoiding all forms of verbal communication with other players. These themes are discussed in relation to relevant research in the area, along with recommendations for future research and consideration of possible explanations for the themes observed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Female Gaming Researchsupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Female Gaming Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study

McLean¹,

Griffiths

2018

Int J Ment Health Addiction

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The initial model had seven large and significant correlation residuals, of which six involved age and gender. Because research has identified relationships between gamer identity and both age and gender (e.g., Vermeulen, Van Bauwel, & Van Looy, 2017), residuals of videogamer and wargamer identification were allowed to covary with those of age and gender.…”

Section: Boardgaming Motivations Scale Validation Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Validation of the Boardgaming Motivations Scale

Wasserman¹,

Weiss²

2020

Preprint

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Games, and boardgames specifically, are an increasingly central part of many individuals’ media diets. Boardgames also have immense potential as naturalistic laboratories for studying psychological phenomena, providing players opportunities for small-group and interpersonal interactions with social, emotional, and cognitive consequences. Although different boardgaming motivations likely modulate these processes and outcomes, no grounded, validated instrument exists to measure them. This three-study investigation explored gaming motivations of and gratifications enjoyed by boardgamers (Study 1) and drew from this exploration to develop the Boardgaming Motivations Scale (Study 2; N = 1,045). Exploratory structural equation models provided initial evidence of the scale’s validity (Study 2). The scale was further refined, confirmed, and validated with an independent sample of less involved boardgamers (Study 3; N = 652). The diverse pool of motivations for playing boardgames inductively identified in Study 1 were reduced to seven dimensions in Study 2 and finally to six in Study 3. These dimensions reflected lusory, immersion, group sociality, community, escapism, and mastery boardgaming motivations. Relationships among these motivations and preferences for boardgame mechanics and genres, individual differences, and videogaming motivations provided initial evidence of the construct, convergent, predictive, and discriminant validity of the Boardgaming Motivations Scale. Supplemental material and data: https://osf.io/cqusx/

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“…Ninety female participants (Mage = 19.39, SD = 2.88) participated in return for course credit or monetary remuneration. As the intention was to study these issues in a casual gaming context, it was not a priority to recruit those who specifically identified as "gamers", particularly given that female players tend not to identify as such [35][36][37]. Of this sample, 17.8% identified themselves as being a "gamer" (primarily "casual" or "social"), with 8.9% of this sub-sample reporting that they played for an average of 1-5 hours per week, 6.7% for less than 1 hour, and 7.8% between 6-20 hours per week.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat in the context of digital gaming.

Pennington¹,

Kaye²,

McCann³

2018

Preprint

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Females often report experiencing stigmatisation pertaining to their competency in digital gaming communities. Employing the principles of the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat, the current research examined the impact of gender-related stereotypes on females’ gaming performance and related self-perceptions. In Experiment 1, 90 females were assigned to one of three conditions in which they were primed that their performance would be either diagnostic of their personal (self-as-target) or gender group’s ability (group-as-target) or would be non-diagnostic of gaming ability (control). In Experiment 2, 90 females were primed that their performance would be judged by a group of other females (in-group source) or males (out-group source), or would be non-diagnostic of ability (control). Participants then completed a casual gaming task, as well as measures of competence beliefs, self-efficacy and self-esteem. Findings from Experiment 1 indicate that neither a self-as-target nor a group-as-target stereotype affected significantly gaming performance, or game-related self-efficacy, self-esteem and competency beliefs. Findings from Experiment 2 reveal further that females’ gaming performance and associated self-perceptions were not impacted significantly by an in-group or out-group source of stereotype threat. The discussion turns to potential explanations for these findings, proposing that females may not perceive negative gender-gaming stereotypes to be an accurate representation of their personal or social group’s gaming ability. We also discuss the implications of the experimental design and difficulty, as well as the potential for domain identification to moderate performance outcomes under stereotype threat.

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Tracing female gamer identity. An empirical study into gender and stereotype threat perceptions

Cited by 58 publications

References 42 publications

Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study

Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study

Development and Validation of the Boardgaming Motivations Scale

Applying the multi-threat framework of stereotype threat in the context of digital gaming.

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