Google alert sent me a link to an undergrad’s research project on perceived gender effects among male gamers. The blog’s name is Resident Moron.
Abstract
The current study examined whether male video game players show more aggression toward a perceived male or female opponent. Undergraduate students (N = 8) volunteered to participate in a study using the popular game Counter-Strike™. Participants played two one-on-one matches against unseen opponents. The opponent’s aliases implied that one opponent was male and one was female, but both were actually the same male confederate. Participants filled out pre- and post-match questionnaires, recording mood and perceived skill levels of both themselves and their opponents. This data was combined with screen shots of game scoring (with aggression measured in number of kills), and summarized in a table. Our hypothesis predicted that perceived male-on-female matches would have lower ‘kill scores’ than perceived male-on-male matches, and this was not supported; however, a 2×2 factorial design showed a pattern that may have supported an interaction between perceived gender of opponent and gender order with a greater sample size.
Now I’ve only read the abstract because it’s Monday and this is the only time of the week I have with my independent project and to catch up with everything. To the student authors, I recommend reading some research done by Matthew Eastin. Here’s one in my blog that directly relates to your research.
Link to blog post: http://cansp.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/perceived-gender-and-its-effect-on-male-gamers/
