GAME CHARACTER APPEAL 1 Game character ...

GAME CHARACTER APPEAL

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Game character appeal in the eye of the beholder: The role of gendered perceptions

André Melzer1 & Elisabeth Engelberg University of Luxembourg

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André Melzer Université du Luxembourg Institute for Health and Behaviour Campus Belval / Maison des Sciences Humaines 11, Porte des sciences L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette [email protected]

Running head: GAME CHARACTER APPEAL

Melzer, A. & Engelberg, E. (2016, June). Game character appeal in the eye of the beholder: The role of gendered perceptions. Paper presented at the 66th ICA 2016, Fukuoka, Japan, June 9-13, 2016.


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Abstract There are numerous studies on the stereotyped nature of video game characters, but knowledge is sparse on the nature of their appeal to players. Based on prior work in mass media research, this study examined the inclination to play characters of both genders in a third person action game. The results of an online survey with 245 respondents strongly suggested that the actual gender of the game character per se might not necessarily be indicative of its appeal to players, but rather players’ perceptions of the character’s gendered attributes, that is, how masculine or feminine they perceive the respective character. Findings prompt further research on perceptual and cognitive determinants of characters’ appeal for potentially shedding light on the gender gap in video game usage.

Keywords: video games, character appeal, gender attributes, femininity, masculinity.


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Game character appeal: The role of gendered attributes The popularity of digital games is often attributed to their affordance for interaction and enactive participation. There is a wide range of games that the player usually controls through the intermediary of a game character, yet little is known about players’ perception of the characters available in these games. The goal of the current study was to investigate what players find appealing about such characters as to evoke the inclination to assume their role in the video game. What makes a game character appealing? In borrowing on the interpersonal research literature, the answer seems to lie in the perception of similarity. The consistent finding is that people expect similar individuals to provide rewarding interactions and exchanges (Stotland, Zander, & Natsoulas, 1961; Tan & Singh, 1995). Studies in the domains of mass media, fiction, and the arts, suggest that the stronger people perceive the similarity between themselves and a certain character, the more they tend to take a liking to it (Basil, 1996; Cohen, 2001; Hoffner & Buchanan, 2005; Oatley, 1999; Schneider, 2004), which equally seems to hold true for players of video games (Hefner, Klimmt, & Vorderer, 2007; Konijn & Hoorn, 2005; Van Looy, Courtois, De Vocht, & De Marez, 2012). The concept of similarity is also in line with recent findings that games are especially motivating and emotionally moving when players’ experiences of themselves during play were congruent with players’ conceptions of their ideal selves (Przybylski, Weinstein, Murayama, Lynch, & Ryan, 2012). To provide players with access to ideal aspects of themselves, many games include so-called character editors that let players design the outward appearance of game characters according to their preferences. Prior research further shows that the perception of similarity to another individual, or to a fictional character, tends to lead to identification with that other


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entity, sometimes with negative consequences. For example, greater levels of wishful identification with a violent game hero were associated with increased aggression in boys after playing a violent game (Konijn, Nije Bivank, & Bushman, 2007). More importantly, gender is one of the most salient similarity criteria used in this process (Appiah, 2001; Harwood, 1999; Reeves & Miller, 1978). In video games, however, male characters outnumber female characters (Downs & Smith, 2009; Williams, Martins, Consalvo, & Ivory, 2009), and this circumstance might in part account for the consistency by which men report playing video games more frequently than women (Griffiths, Davies, & Chappel, 2004; Hamlen, 2010; Hartmann, Möller, & Krause, 2014; Terlecki et al., 2011; Williams et al., 2009). In addition, there are gender differences in gaming style related to the nature of the game; for example, women report less of a preference for competitive video games, such as sports contests and armed duels (Chou & Tsai, 2007; Cruea & Park, 2012; Hartmann & Klimmt, 2006; Homer, Hayward, Frye, & Plass, 2012; Lucas & Sherry, 2004; Poels, De Cock, & Malliet, 2012). Recently, Hartmann and his colleagues (Hartmann et al., 2014) attributed the gender gap in violent game preference to men expecting feelings of greater enjoyment and lesser guilt than women when engaging in violent games, which is believed to reflect gender differences in trait empathy, aggressive tendencies, and moral justification. In addition to the nature of the game itself, another factor might play an important role, namely the attributes of the game character controlled by the player. Females might play less frequently because they struggle to identify with the characters of most games and their assigned roles therein. This conjecture seems plausible in view of the finding that identification with characters in role-playing games was crucial in explaining girls’ gaming motivations (van Reijmersdal, Jansz,


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Peters, & van Noort, 2013). Another reason for the gender gap in gaming frequency might be the abundance of gender stereotypes (e.g., Beasley & Standley, 2002; Dietz, 1998; Downs & Smith, 2009; Ivory, 2006; Stermer & Burkley, 2012), of which female adolescents show fewer acceptances than their male counterparts (Brenick, Henning, Killen, O’Connor, & Collins, 2007). Gender stereotypes that are perpetuated through video games essentially mirror those encountered in the general media landscape (Collins, 2011; Dill & Thill, 2007; Lauzen, Dozier, & Horan, 2008; Signorelli, McLeod, & Healy, 1994; Thompson & Zerbinos, 1995). The major difference is that video game portrayals of men and women are hyper-gendered. Female game characters are depicted as submissive beings and passive bystanders, whereas male characters thrive on action and their readiness to engage in combat or similar endeavors of a physical nature (Scharrer, 2004). The appearance of game characters is blatantly accentuated by letting female characters showcase the stereotypically feminine physique in sexualized clothing, whereas male characters are often molded after the masculine stereotype of physical strength. Video games present distorted portrayals of both genders to the extent of amplifying gender stereotypes (cf. Mosher & Sirkin, 1984; Murnen & Byrne, 1991). Women are vulnerable sex objects, and therefore expendable, whereas men are instrumental as powerful aggressors irrespective of being cast as rogue or hero (Dietz, 1998; Miller & Summers, 2007). In contrast to such mainstream portrayals, there is the relatively recent introduction of strong female characters such as Lara Croft (Jansz & Martis, 2007). As the heroine of the video game series Tomb Raider, she stands out with her role as the main protagonist of the game, which clearly sets her apart from the majority of female characters in the world of video games. Recently, more strong female


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characters have been introduced as co-leading characters in video games, including ‘Ellie’ (The Last of Us, ©Naughty Dog) or ‘Jodie Holmes’ (Beyond: Two Souls, ©Quantic Dream), for example. Yet, when asking college students, Ogletree and Drake (2007) found that both genders rated female video game characters as significantly more helpless and sexually provocative than male characters and as less likely to be strong and assertive. Although a fair amount of studies has delineated the stereotyped nature of video game characters, there is insufficient knowledge on how players themselves perceive them. Paucity in this regard should warrant further research, which would seem all the more pertinent in view of the risk of potentially negative consequences for gamers (Dill, Brown, & Collins, 2008; Fox & Tang, 2014; Funk & Buchman, 1996; Yao, Mahood, & Linz, 2010). For instance, the laboratory study by BehmMorawitz and Mastro (2009) showed that the sense of self-efficacy diminished for women who had played a sexualized female game character, as opposed to women having played a non-sexualized version of the same character. However, this line of research focuses on the effect of exposure to stereotyped gender content, while ignoring the fact that consumers in real life usually make a deliberate choice to expose themselves to some content over others. Attention should therefore be given to factors that may explain the appeal held by characters of a certain stereotyped nature and the reasons that people dislike other characters. Purpose of the study Given the rare presence of female protagonists in video games, the present study aimed at examining the appeal of a female counter-stereotype. By female counter-stereotype we mean a female character of a non-sexualized appearance and of equal importance to the plot as the recurring male game hero. By streamlining in this


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manner, we sought to enable a less ambiguous understanding of the effect of such a portrayal than would otherwise be the case with a blend of stereotypical and counterstereotypical gender attributes in one single character. To be precise, we investigated the effect of presenting a male game hero in the incarnation of a female. The aim was to examine how the perception of the main protagonist of a game differs when portrayed as a character of the female gender and, more importantly, whether such a character has the same appeal to men and women. This research thus underlines the importance of similarity as a basis for identifying with a character that is available as an extension of the player in the role-playing genre of video games (Konijn et al., 2007; Przybylski et al., 2012). In identification through similarity (Feilitzen & Linné, 1975), the observer perceives that he or she has salient characteristics in common with a character. In line with this, men are drawn to video games because the many male characters permit vicarious enactment of the masculine gender role (Jansz, 2005). Commensurate with this assumption, we expected men to lean towards video game characters that they perceive to embody attributes associated with the notion of masculinity. By contrast, prior research shows that girls’ appreciation of video games was largely explained by the possibility to identify with a female protagonist (Kafai, 1998; see also van Reijmersdal et al., 2013). On this basis, we expected women to lean towards any character that they perceive to embody attributes associated with femininity. Mass media research lends further support to our assumptions in that boys and girls preferred movie characters of their own gender (Knobloch & Fritzsche, 2004) and that adults reported greater wishful identification with same-gender fictional television characters (Hoffner & Buchanan, 2005).


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The question remains nonetheless whether appeal is determined by the actual gender of the game character, or by gendered attributes that players perceive the game character to have. To our knowledge, no prior research has addressed this ambiguity and hence we formulated the following hypothesis: The appeal of the game character is linked to the perception of feminine attributes in the group of female gamers and to the perception of masculine attributes in the group of male gamers, such that participants’ biological sex is a moderator for explaining the appeal of a game character. In sum, the present study aimed to investigate whether the appeal of game characters hinges on their femininity and masculinity, as perceived by players, on the assumption that men and women differ in this regard. Method A total of 245 participants (168 males, 77 females, Mage = 25.30, SD = 9.06) were solicited through websites of gamer communities and lists of online research (e.g., Hanover College, Social Psychology Network, APA Division 46 Media Psychology and Technology Facebook page). They took part in the study on a voluntary and anonymous basis. Recruited persons were directed to an online questionnaire. By the random assignment function of this website, participants were assigned to one of two conditions. Both conditions showed a one-and-a-half minute long clip from Mass Effect 3TM (Electronic Arts), a third person action role-playing game (RPG). With regard to the purpose of our study, Mass Effect 3TM was especially well suited because players may select either a male or a female character as the protagonist. Both clips showed a character of a typical game hero giving a speech to a group of warriors. However, the hero was male only in one of the conditions. From the content


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of the speech, it is clear that they are under the imminent threat of extinction due to an ongoing inter-galactic conflict, which will require all the strength and manpower to avert. In the other condition, the identical clip was shown with the female version of the main protagonist. The female utters the same monologue and performs the same sequence of movements as the male character, wearing the same amount of armor. The warriors, who are seen listening to the speech, show emotional and behavioral reactions that are identical in both versions. The two conditions were denominated (1) male hero and (2) female heroine. Prior to showing the clip, data was collected on participants’ video game usage. In order to measure gaming frequency, the participant was instructed to indicate how often he or she plays video games on a seven-point scale (1=never; 7=more than three hours per day). Game preferences were measured by asking participants to rate their enjoyment of games in the genres of shooter, strategy, action/adventure, sports, RPGs, simulation and platform games, separately on a fourpoint scale (1=not at all; 4=very much). Upon watching the clip, the participant was instructed to respond to questions that pertained to his or her perception of the game character, whose general appeal (9 items) and gendered attributes (16 items; Berger, 2010) were rated on a five-point scale (1=not at all; 5=very much). There were eight male attributes (dynamic, logical, powerful, rational, abrasive, belligerent, gruff, rough, α = .71) and eight female attributes (compassionate, romantic, sensitive, sensual, gossipy, hypersensitive, scheming, touchy, α = .74). Results Video game usage


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There was a significant gender difference in gaming frequency, t(392) = 5.97, p