Perceptions of Consistent and Inconsistent Gamer Sterotypes

Abstract

Current societal stereotypes indicate that when it comes between female and male gamers, males show a greater skill level and aptitude for playing. Females on the other hand, are perceived as the lesser skilled players, and the least knowledgeable. In addition to these stereotypes, current research suggests that people stereotype females to be perceived as only skilled gamers in games involving logic and strategy, therefore people perceive women to not be skilled at shooter or fighter type games such as Halo or Modern Warfare. (Eden, Maloney, Bowman, 2010.When viewing video footage of game play, people also tend to peg the more unskilled players, as females, rather than males (Eden, et al., 2010). Furthermore, other studies have shown that males tend to play video games more often than women, undoubtedly because of these stereotypes, which have lead way to a male dominated gaming community that is often seen as hostile and derogatory towards women (Terlecki,et al., 2010).This current study surveyed undergraduate students from a Southeastern university, in order to measure the extent to which these stereotypes exist and persist. Students from similar demographics were asked to view a paring of video clips, containing either a female skilled player/male skilled player, female skilled player/male unskilled player, female unskilled player/male skilled player or female unskilled player/male unskilled player and then asked to complete a post test that would involve questions regarding their views on the players and their gaming abilities. These pairings were chosen to expose individuals to both stereotypical consistent and inconsistent information pertaining to both male and female players.