Exploring Stereotypical Perceptions of Female Players in Digital Gaming Contexts

Abstract

Gender stereotypes are still reported to exist in digital gaming contexts, despite the fact that participation of females is relatively equal to that of males. The current research explored a number of factors and their impact upon stereotypical perceptions and attitudes toward female players. This included avatar gender, gender identity by gaming context, as well as more general gender-role beliefs. We undertook two studies, each utilizing an online questionnaire targeted toward online players. Study 1 recruited online gamers (N = 489) and compared competence perceptions of players, which varied by player gender (male, female) and avatar gender (male, female), whereby four conditions were established. Overall, player competence was perceived to be highest when male avatars were used, specifically when female players were depicted in this way. Study 2 explored the relationships between male social identity and gender-role beliefs, with sexist attitudes in gaming, and whether this varied by gaming context (massively multiplayer online [MMO] vs. first-person shooter [FPS]). Male online gamers (N = 193) were recruited, of which 112 were MMO players, and 81 were FPS players. It was found that identifying as male social identity was not related to sexist attitudes in either gaming context. However, more general gender-role beliefs were related to sexist attitudes. The findings indicate that although certain stereotypes exist (e.g., competence perceptions), these are not necessarily harvested by players' identities within communities, but may derive through more operational functions such as avatar gender.

Online gaming attracts millions of players representing relatively equal rates of participation between men and women.¹ However, gaming is often stereotypically conceptualized as “male space,”² with many games portraying female characters as hypersexualized or helpless and male characters as dominant and aggressive.^3–8 Furthermore, females are often confronted with hostility when playing online.⁹ Research on gender within gaming has typically focused on how females are represented^6,10 in their gaming preferences^11,12 and attributions associated with skill level.^13,14

However, fewer studies have explored perceptions of female players and how specific characteristics may be related to differential perceptions. Indeed, research suggests that male players hold negative biases toward females in respect of their gaming competence,¹⁴ but it is not clear what mechanism underpins this. That is, most of the aforementioned research has tended to explore females' own experiences of stigmatization,^9,10 or has undertaken content analysis of female representation in games.^4–6 Fewer studies have established male player perspectives and how various factors may be related to sexist beliefs. Therefore, the current research explored beliefs toward females, based on a number of key factors to help elucidate the origin of sexism toward females in digital gaming contexts. This included avatar gender, male players' gender identity, and gender-role beliefs.

Gender-role beliefs are conceivably related to sexism. Indeed, traditional gender roles have been found to be related to gender stereotypes and expectations^15–18 in line with the expectation states theory.¹⁹ In the case of female players in “male space,” this may explain sexist assumptions about females' (in)competence in this domain.²⁰ However, the issue with theories relating to gender beliefs is that gaming may have fewer social cues to denote gender.^21–23 Thus, players may be more reliant on cues such as game genre, voice chat, player skill, and avatar gender, from which to attribute player gender and associated expectations. ^13,24,25 However, in respect of avatar gender, there may be instances in which players are not playing as an avatar, which is consistent with their own gender (or indeed be gender-identifiable at all). This phenomenon is known as “gender-swapping,” whereby players select an avatar of the opposite gender to their own.^26–30 Although both men and women engage in this behavior, female players have been found to “gender-swap” to reduce negative attention or harassment from others.^20,31–33 However, it is not yet understood whether there are different competence perceptions of female players based on the gender of their avatar and whether gender swapping may result in higher competence attributions. This forms the basis for the first research question:

RQ1. Does gender swapping impact upon competence perceptions toward female players? (Study 1)

This can therefore begin to explain whether sexism is fostered through cues such as avatar gender. However, an additional factor, which may explain more general sexist perceptions, is that of one's social identity within gaming communities, and the extent to which this may foster out-group discrimination. That is, gaming communities can vary considerably, with some being represented more equally in player gender such as massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, compared with genres such as first-person shooters (FPSs), which are more male-dominated.^a It is likely that masculine norms may be more pronounced in FPSs compared with MMOs, leading to enhanced male in-group and thus segregation of females as the out-group.²⁰

The notion of this in-group/out-group discrimination is underpinned by Social Identity Theory (SIT^34,35). SIT posits that individuals are motivated to define themselves and others in terms of group membership, while simultaneously comparing these categorizations.³⁶ These categorizations allow group members to interpret and justify behavior. Accordingly, group members maintain their positive identity by adopting favoritism toward in-group members and discriminating against the out-group.^37–40 In digital gaming, it is conceivable that there may be variations in in-group/out-group formations, as well as the impact upon players' social identities based on these gender categorizations. Specifically, it may be expected that for male players in more masculinized gaming communities (e.g., FPSs), a greater sense of male in-group is promoted, and this may be related to a more pronounced male social identity compared with less masculinized communities (e.g., MMOs).

Although previous research has highlighted the role of social identity on females' own experiences of stereotyping within digital gaming,¹⁴ less is established on how male identity operates in this regard. This forms the basis for the current research, in which we utilize the SIT framework to explore how male social identity between different gaming contexts is related to sexist attitudes toward female players in those communities. Therefore, the second research question is;

RQ2. Is male social identity related to sexist attitudes toward female players, and does this vary by gaming context (MMO vs FPS)? (Study 2).

Study 1

Methods

Participants

Participants were online gamers (N = 489), the majority of whom was female (58.6 percent), of an average age of 25.00 (SD = 6.13). The remainders were male (32.4 percent), “other” (8.8 percent), or did not provide their gender (0.2 percent).^b Within the sample, the majority identified as being hard-core/experienced gamers (52.7 percent) and reported that they played online games for at least 1–5 hours per week (96.94 percent). The remainder of the sample identified the gamer type as “casual” (32.2 percent), “professional/serious” (1.6 percent), “social” (8.8 percent), or “other” (4.3 percent).

Materials

Competence perceptions

Participants read four vignettes of fictitious players; two male and two female, which varied in the details about the congruence to their avatar gender. This consisted both a congruent and incongruent pairing for both male and female players. That is, male player-male avatar (congruent); male player-female avatar (incongruent); female player-female avatar (congruent); and female player-male avatar (incongruent). An example of a female incongruent statement was as follows: “Alice always plays as a male avatar; rate your perception of her competence in gaming.” The other vignettes were identical with the exception of different player names and the use of the male gender pronoun for the male player conditions. Participants were asked to read each of the four vignettes and rate perceived competence on a five-point scale (1 = not at all competent, 5 = highly competent).

Procedure

Participants were recruited through relevant gaming forums. After accessing the online study link and providing informed consent, participants completed short demographic questions on gender, age, and gaming habits. To explore the impact of avatar gender on competence perceptions of (female) players, a within-participants design was used, whereby depiction of gender-swapping was manipulated by the use of four vignettes. These represented four conditions; male congruent; male incongruent; female congruent; and female incongruent. Participants' perceptions of gaming competence in respect of these four conditions were measured. Finally, participants were fully debriefed.

Results

To assess participants' competence perceptions based on player-avatar congruence, an one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted. As such, avatar condition was treated as the independent variable, with competence perceptions as the dependent variable. This revealed an overall significant effect, Wilks' Lambda = 0.979, F(3, 467) = 3.37, p < 0.05, partial eta squared = 0.02.^c Specifically, post hoc tests revealed that this difference was in respect of perceptions of female players between avatar conditions. That is, participants gave significantly higher ratings of competence when a female was depicted as playing as a male avatar (M = 3.32, SD = 0.70) compared with a female one (M = 3.24, SD = 0.73), p < 0.05. Across all conditions, the female incongruent competence perception scores were the highest overall. No significant differences emerged between the male player conditions. Specifically, male players were not deemed more or less competent when they played as a male (M = 3.27, SD = 0.68) or female avatar (M = 3.27, SD = 0.73). Further analysis revealed that none of these competence perceptions varied based on gender of participant, all p > 0.05.

Study 2

Methods

Participants

Male players (N = 193) were recruited, who were aged between 18 and 57 years old (M = 25.17, SD = 8.28). Within the MMO context (n = 112), the majority of participants reported playing online “regularly” (57.1 percent) for ∼“30+ hours” (19.6 percent) per week, while the majority of participants in the FPS context (n = 81) reported playing online “regularly” (49.4 percent) for “1–5 hours” (21.0 percent) per week.

Materials

Social identity

A modified version of the Group Identification Measure⁴¹ was used to measure the extent to which participants affiliated with their (male) social identity. The questionnaire was modified, so the reference group referred to “males,” and this consisted four items, whereby, participants were asked to respond to each of the statements on a seven-point scale (1 = not at all, 7 = extremely). Example items include, “I see myself as a male.” This scale had a good reliability (α = 0.83).

Gender-role beliefs

The Short Version of the Gender Role Beliefs Scale^42,43 was used to measure traditional gender-role beliefs. In this 10-item questionnaire, participants were asked to respond to statements on a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Example items include, “The initiative in courtship should usually come from a man.” This scale was found to have good reliability (α = 0.78).

Sexism in gaming

The Video Game Sexism Scale²⁰ was utilized to measure sexist beliefs in the respective gaming context. This questionnaire consists 16 items and asks participants to respond to statements on a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Statements include, “Most women who play video games just do so with their boyfriends.” This was found to be highly reliable (α = 0.94).

Procedure

Participants were recruited through targeted sampling on relevant gaming forums for the respective types of gaming contexts (FPS and MMO). Following informed consent, participants completed the respective version of the questionnaire.^d Participants' social identity, gender-role beliefs, and sexist beliefs were measured, and these were explored within two different gaming contexts. Finally, participants were fully debriefed.

Results

Table 1 shows the descriptive analysis for the study variables. First, to assess any differences in the study variables between gaming contexts, a series of independent t-tests were conducted. All were nonsignificant (p > 0.05) highlighting no differences between MMOs and FPSs on reports of social identity, gender-role beliefs, and sexist attitudes in gaming.^e

Table 1.

Mean and Standard Deviations of the Study Variables by Gaming Context

	Gaming context
	MMO		FPS
	M	SD	M	SD
Social identity	22.60	4.92	22.68	5.31
Gender-role beliefs	29.06	8.89	30.70	8.84
Sexism in gaming	37.60	17.98	36.48	15.92

FPS, first-person shooter; MMO, massively multiplayer online.

To assess the role of social identity and gender-role beliefs on sexist beliefs in gaming, two multiple linear regression analyses were performed for the two online gaming contexts independently. Within this, social identity and gender-role belief scores were entered as predictor variables and sexist belief scores as the outcome variable.

In the context of MMOs, a significant model was yielded that accounted for 15 percent of variance in sexist beliefs. Specifically, gender-role beliefs significantly predicted sexist beliefs (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), but social identity did not (β = 1.44, p > 0.05). For FPS context, a significant model was also yielded, which accounted for 35 percent of the variance in sexist beliefs. Similarly, gender-role belief was a significant predictor (β = 0.56, p < 0.001), but social identity was not (β = 0.09 p > 0.05). Unstandardized and standardized regression coefficients are summarized in Tables 2 and 3 for the MMO and FPS contexts, respectively.

Table 2.

Regression of Social Identity and Gender-Role Beliefs on Sexist Beliefs in the Massively Multiplayer Online Context

Predictors	B	SE B	β	p
Social identity	0.53	0.34	1.44	0.12
Gender-role beliefs	0.69	0.19	0.34	0.000^*

p < 0.001 F(2, 109) = 10.93, MSE = 274.13, p < 0.05, R² = 0.15.

MSE, mean squared error.

Table 3.

Regression of Social Identity and Gender-Role Beliefs on Sexist Beliefs in the First-Person Shooter Context

Predictors	B	SE B	β	p
Social identity	0.26	0.28	0.09	0.36
Gender roles	1.01	0.17	0.56	0.000^*

p < 0.001 F(2, 78) = 20.85, MSE = 169.46, p < 0.05, R² = 0.35.

General Discussion

The current research explored attitudes toward female players based on a number of factors; avatar gender, social identity, and gender-role beliefs. Competence perceptions were assessed (Study 1) as these have previously been highlighted as a particular concern relating to female stigmatization.¹⁴ However, more general sexist beliefs in gaming were also explored (Study 2).

Overall, it seems that gaming communities may be successful in attempts to promote superordinate forms of identity⁴⁴ rather than that pertaining to gender (as evidenced by social identity of male gender not being related to sexist beliefs in Study 2), but factors such as avatar gender may be a threat to this in prompting sexist-related perceptions (Study 1). In respect of Study 1, player competence was perceived to be highest when male avatars were used. This was found to be highest for females, compared to when she was depicted as a female avatar. Clearly a differential exists, whereby a male avatar is seen as an enhancement on females' gaming competence, which does not exist in respect of male players. This corresponds to similar findings relating to the impact of gender cues upon perceptions.²⁵ Pragmatically, this suggests that game developers may be wise to capitalize on using nongender identifiable avatars to avoid unnecessary attributions in respect of gender. This may help endeavors to further develop superordinate forms of identity beyond that of gender,⁴⁴ which may help reduce intergroup gender stigmatization within gaming communities.⁴⁵

Even though avatar gender may be a prompt toward gender-related stereotyping, it is promising to see that there may be alternative origins of sexist beliefs, which are not necessarily inherent within gaming communities, and relate more to general gender-role beliefs. Study 2 developed these insights by applying the SIT framework to establish whether gaming communities may foster identities which threaten beliefs toward female players.

However, there was little evidence that male social identity impacted upon these beliefs. From a SIT perspective, it seems that this identity may not translate into sexist beliefs so much within gaming communities, regardless of how masculinized they may be. As such, these contexts may be promoting other forms of identity,⁴⁶ and therefore, social identity relating to gender may be less salient and/or influential than assumed.

This contributes some perspectives to SIT in respect of male social identity and stereotyping within gaming contexts compared with previous research which has predominantly focused on female social identity.⁴⁷ It is important for future research to continue in this regard and establish how varying forms of identity may be operating with gaming contexts, given that this has been found to be important in intergroup attitudes and behavior.^38,40 Further research should identify how identity factors may relate to varying facets of sexist beliefs. That is, competence perceptions may be one prominent facet which holds differentials by player gender (Study 1 findings), but other aspects of stereotyped beliefs may also be worth exploring in line with social identity frameworks.

Although social identity was not related to sexist beliefs in gaming, gender-role beliefs were. This supports expectation states theory in respect of gender-related beliefs forming a basis for stereotyping,⁴⁸ which, in this case, appears to be manifested in digital gaming contexts.²⁰ These contexts may allow these beliefs to be transmitted, although may not necessarily be the root of the issue. Indeed, no variations were present to suggest that different gaming contexts were more detrimental to sexist attitudes than the other, highlighting that it is not necessarily an identity within certain communities themselves, which form a basis for stigmatization.

The lack of variation in sexist attitudes between gaming contexts may be that this becomes more pronounced when players are undertaking competitive-based tasks relative to cooperative ones^49,50 and thus may amplify in-group/out-group categorizations. The contexts of the current research can both foster cooperative and competitive forms of play concurrently, thereby it is not easy to fully establish how this may have impacted upon the variables of interest.

However, this highlights an issue for further research, particularly on how gaming tasks and gender constitution within and between teams may be influential to players' perceptions and sexist attitudes. This may be operationalized by applying the principles of intergroup contact theory,^39,51 whereby it may be expected that greater contact between male and female players, particularly within cooperative-based gaming tasks may be more likely to reduce negative stereotypes toward the opposite gender group.^52–54 This would be a useful framework to apply within various gaming-related tasks to establish the practical implications for gaming communities. This could also further elucidate the way in which social identity, as framed by SIT,^34,35 may operationalize itself within these intergroup-based interactions.

Our research was not without limitations. Study 2 was conducted using male players only to understand their sexist beliefs toward females. This was motivated by the theoretical premise of SIT that we would not expect female participants to endorse negative attitudes toward their “in-group,”^14,34,35 therefore, including female players was not deemed to be crucial. However, as noted previously, it would be insightful for future research to understand how a range of different gaming contexts may manifest different gender attributions, and specifically, understanding females' perceptions here would be equally valuable.

In summary, the current research explored factors on sexist attributions toward female players. Avatar gender was found to be a cue toward perceptions of gaming competence, whereas social identity within gaming communities was not influential. From the theoretical perspective of SIT, this may suggest that gaming contexts are not unduly negative in fostering gender-related social identity and may instead be capitalizing on other forms of identity. The findings highlight that preexisting gender-role beliefs are most fundamental to sexist attitudes and that gaming domains may simply be a mechanism through which these can be transmitted rather than being the root of these beliefs. However, gaming communities may wish to capitalize on intergroup contact strategies as one means by which to alleviate preexisting sexist beliefs.

Notes

a. FPS games are digital games which primarily involve shooting actions to undertake game achievements, through the perspective that the player is the main agent of the action (i.e., in “first person” rather than “third person” format). MMO games are games played online in an open world, which runs continuously regardless of who is playing.

b. These participants were removed from the sample, given that subsequent analyses were undertaken in respect of participant gender (male or female only).

c. Observed Power was found to be 0.76, indicating reasonably good power in the data.

d. The questionnaire was identical with the exception of the Advert and Briefing Information which made reference to FPS or MMO communities, respectively. In addition, the demographic questions garnering data on gaming habits were asked in respect of MMOs or FPS.

e. t-test reports are as follows: Social identity: t (191) = −0.11, p = 0.913; Gender-role beliefs: t (191) = −1.27, p = 0.206; Sexist attitudes: t (191) = 0.45, p = 0.656.

Footnotes

Author Disclosure Statement

No competing financial interests exist.

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