Research about video games increasing sexism

[tlink]

A research published by by frontiers media's their scientific journal "Frontiers in Psychology" concluded that games probably increase sexism towards females in young male adolescents. They claim they corrected this for other factors such as religion, television exposure and other factors.

 

their conclusion:

Spoiler

In conclusion, we showed for the first time in a large representative sample that video game exposure was related to sexism, controlling for television exposure, religiosity, and other relevant factors. Our results suggest that a traditional source of influence (religiosity) as well as new digital media may share some similar features on sexism.

 

they pointed out some weaknesses on their own study, for example that it just could be that sexist people play more video games. They also point out that the data points are very spread, which is a possible indication of an uncontrolled and uncorrected influence on the test (aka their coefficient of determination was low for the statistics under us), for example right-wing authoritarianism. Another thing they note is that there is an under representation of some types of schools that generally have a demographic that is of a higher social class(which apparently have a lower sexism rate). Another thing is that they used the statistics from a single item on the ISDR-2 (International Self-Report Delinquency Study 2) which is weakness, and measures only a certain type of sexism (motherhood or domesticity).

Spoiler

Of course, the usual critiques aimed at cross-sectional surveys fully apply here, particularly the limitations in terms of assessing causality. It may be that individuals with sexist orientations spend more time playing videogames (Fox & Tang, 2014). In order to address causality issue, future experimental studies could be based on the same protocol as Polman, de Castro, and Van Aken (2008), who showed that people were more influenced by the content of a scene where they were actively playing themselves the game compared to a condition in which they merely passively watched the screen with the same contents.

 

It also should be noted that the determination coefficient was small, which suggest that many important correlates of sexism were not measured in our survey. For exemple, it has been shown that sexism is related to gender inequality (Glick et al., 2004; Napier, Thorisdottir, & Jost, 2010), social dominance, right-wing authoritarianism (Christopher & Mull, 2006), and conservative values (Mikolajczak & Pietzak, 2014). The mere introduction of such social psychological variables may affect the predictive value of general video game exposure.

 

Another limitation is the underrepresentation of some categories of schools in our sample, with a deficit in schools with reputation for excellence or "general curriculum" and the private schools. Studies suggest that sexism may be endorsed more strongly in lower social classes (Gianettoni & Simon-Vermot, 2010), which are usually less represented in such schools. Such a sampling feature may have affected the results of the survey.

 

It should also be mentioned that the use of a single-item scale to assess sexism was less than optimal. This item was actually the only measure of sexism in the ISRD2 survey, and represents a very specific dimension of sexism (motherhood or domesticity) that hardly captures all possible forms of sexist thinking. As previously indicated, experimental studies showed that playing sexualized video games for a few minutes promoted gender stereotypes (Behm-Morawitz & Mastro, 2009; Yao, Mahood, & Linz, 2010), increased hostile sexism (Fox & Bailenson, 2009), and men’s acceptance of sexual harassment (Dill, Brown & Collin, 2008). Future survey studies should include measures of objectification and standard measures of benevolent and hostile sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996). Finally, we used a general measure of TV and video game experience rather than measuring exposure to specifically sexist portrayals.

 

the strengths of this research are that they included calculations for a lot of different influences (a multivariate analysis for the statistics under us).

Spoiler

A strength of this study is the multivariate approach, including other known predictors of sexist attitudes. Video game exposure was a significant factor even after controlling for age, sex, socioeconomic level, television exposure, and religiosity, which is considered a particularly strong determinant of sexism (Christopher & Mull, 2006; Glick et al., 2002; Maltby, Hall, Anderson, & Edwards, 2010; Morgan, 1987). The link between religion and sexism was however three times higher than the links between video games and sexism. Contrary to our expectations, the link between video games exposure and sexism was not moderated by religion in this sample. The importance of religiosity in the prediction of sexism would justify a fine-grained approach in future research based on religious orientations (Batson, Schoenrade, & Ventis, 1993). Interestingly, participants with a higher socioeconomic level endorsed less sexism. This is consistent with a behavioral study carried out in an online first shooters video game showing that low status players were more hostile toward a female teammate, while high status players were more positive toward her (Kasumovic & Kuznekoff, 2015).

 

they note that more research is needed to experiment with what the effect of video games are in respect to sexist behaviors. and that it would be another reason to push the gaming industry towards more gender equality, since there already is evidence of body dissatisfaction caused by video games in woman including eating disorders and self objectification. woman after all are 48% of the gaming scene, so this isn't something to take lightly if true.

Spoiler

The causal link between video game exposure and sexism in action deserves to be confirmed by experimental studies. This is especially the case for sexist behaviors, which have been under-studied (Stermer & Burkley, 2012). If confirmed, however, the video game industry may find it appropriate to encourage an evolution in the way women are represented, because sexism on screen can have consequences which are not limited to the virtual world. Today, 48% of video game players are female (Entertainment Software Association, 2014), and in addition to the development of sexist attitudes, the repeated exposure to biased female models on games produces body dissatisfaction among women (Holtrom, 2004), selfobjectification (Fox, Ralston, Cooper, & Jones, 2015) and eating disorders (Grab, Ward & Hyde, 2008). In conclusion, we showed for the first time in a large representative sample that video game exposure was related to sexism, controlling for television exposure,l Video games and sexism 16 religiosity, and other relevant factors. Our results suggest that a traditional source of influence (religiosity) as well as new digital media may share some similar features on sexism.

 

their sample size was 13520 French youth aged 11–19 years on schools in Grenoble and Lion. they had a participation rate of 95% (this is very high for research) and their sample demographic in terms of age, sex and school level corresponded with urban france.

Spoiler

The sample included 13520 participants aged 11–19 who were selected at school through stratified random sampling and is representative of the metropolitan areas of Grenoble and of Lyon, France. These two cities are the major municipalities of the second largest and wealthiest region of France. The sample population corresponded to urban France in terms of age, sex and school level. Students completed paper questionnaires in their classrooms. An assistant was present in the room and helped the participants upon request. The participation rate was slightly above 95%.

 

Well what where their raw results? 
 

Quote

Preliminary analyses indicated that sexism was higher among males (M = 1.71, SD = 0.98 vs M = 1.35, SD = 0.77, tcor(12922) = 23.59) and decreased as socioeconomic status increased (r = -.13, p <.001). Religiosity was related to higher sexism (r = .23; p.<.001). Television exposure (r = .08, p.<.001) and video game exposure (r = .15, p.<.001) were also both related to sexism at a bivariate level. The bivariate correlations between all the variables are presented in table 12.

In order to test our primary hypotheses, a stepwise multiple regression was performed entering age, gender, socioeconomic level, religiosity, TV exposure and video games exposure in a first step. We also introduced in a second step interactions between video games exposure and age, gender, socioeconomic level, and religiosity. As expected, video games exposure was related to sexism (beta = 2 We performed bivariate analysis among the two largest religious groups: Catholics and Muslims. The correlation between video game exposure and sexism was respectively .18 and .11 (p<.001 for each). The correlation between television exposure and sexism was .08 and . 01 (ns). This latest result is consistent with studies showing that television impact on sexism is not homogeneous among social subgroups (Adbulrahim, Al-Kandari, & Hasanen, 2009; Saito, 2007). 13 .07, t=8.10, p.<.001). This was also the case of religiosity (beta = .20, t=23.92, p.<.001). Sexism was more endorsed by males (beta = -.18, t = -.20.46, p.<.001). Moreover, higher socioeconomic level predicted lower sexism (beta = -.09, t = - .10,36, p.<.001). After controlling for all these variables, television exposure was unrelated to sexism (beta = .015, t = 1.66, p.<.10). No interaction effects were observed. The overall determination coefficient was R2 = .104, p<.001.

what do those results mean? i honestly don't know, im not that good of a statistical analyst because i only got it in high school. (muh math has no real world value muhhhh (except for when you want to actually understand scientific research instead of blindly following media reports about how good chocolate cake in the morning is to slim your belly n shit))

why is this relevant to us as a community with a lot of gamers? because how else are we, mother's basement dwelling nerds, going to find a girlfriend if it wasn't trough gaming. but what do you guys think? is this like those researches claiming that video games make you violent? or is there some merit to it? i think there definitly is some merit to it, but i do not know to what degree. woman emancipation came quite late in gaming compared to for example job participation. 

also please keep it civil, i know y'all are passionate about gaming but that shouldn't stand in the way of reasonable civil debate. I am really interested if anyone can point out statistical weaknesses and such, i can't judge their P value quite well enough because i simply don't understand this amount of numbers around it.

source: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00466/abstract
you can download the file i quoted on the right under login, no email or something needed. i'll also add the pdf here:
245338_Bègue_ProvisionalPDF.pdf

[babadoctor]

It's just a video game

[BuckGup]

The problem isn't what they are exposed to in terms of content. It is the older generations who still carry there old way of thinking

[VVoltor]

In France? What did you expect 

[Mooshi]

Another one of these "studies". When you claim sexism in everything, it loses all meaning.

[tlink]

Just now, SamStrecker said:

The problem isn't what they are exposed to in terms of content. It is the older generations who still carry there old way of thinking

well interesting enough, high ranking players where less sexist according to this than low ranking players according to something they quoted, and one would expect that older gamers are higher ranking gamers. but i do think it has some basis yea.

Quote

This is consistent with a behavioral study carried out in an online first shooters video game showing that low status players were more hostile toward a female teammate, while high status players were more positive toward her (Kasumovic & Kuznekoff, 2015)

 

[Notional]

I think Anita Sarkeesian is responsible for more sexism and hatred between the sexes than any video game ever could.

 

You have to look at the demography too. Can you really claim an 11 year old boy is a sexist or misogynist because he thinks girls have cooties? Or the ostracised nerds/autistics who have very little contact with women and might end up resenting them for it? 

[tlink]

5 minutes ago, Mooshi said:

Another one of these "studies". When you claim sexism in everything, it loses all meaning.

they don't claim sexism on everything, they actually say they use a very narrow side of sexism. if you think the study is bollocks than point out the flaws, just saying you disagree doesn't make the study wrong. 

[tlink]

1 minute ago, Notional said:

I think Anita Sarkeesian is responsible for more sexism and hatred between the sexes than any video game ever could.

 

You have to look at the demography too. Can you really claim an 11 year old boy is a sexist or misogynist because he thinks girls have cooties? Or the ostracised nerds/autistics who have very little contact with women and might end up resenting them for it? 

well they are not ostracized nerds/autists, like they said their demographic is representative of rural france. but like they said, it also can be that sexist people just tend to play video games more.

[tlink]

15 minutes ago, babadoctor said:

It's just a video game

? so? are you implying that they don't influence us?

[Mira Yurizaki]

2 minutes ago, tlink said:

it also can be that sexist people just tend to play video games more.

I hold the idea that games, especially in a competitive sector where it seems to be popular with the F2P genre, just makes people assholes in general and that's seen as sexism.

 

It also depends on if they're really like this outside of gaming or it's just a case of GIFT.

[Memories4K]

15 minutes ago, SamStrecker said:

The problem isn't what they are exposed to in terms of content. It is the older generations who still carry there old way of thinking

You'd be surprised how sexist and racist these progressives and new-thinkers are

[Warboy]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

they don't claim sexism on everything, they actually say they use a very narrow side of sexism. if you think the study is bollocks than point out the flaws, just saying you disagree doesn't make the study wrong. 

K.

 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/04/10/new-study-finds-no-link-between-gaming-and-sexist-attitudes/#3176607c1436

http://www.reaxxion.com/7324/scientific-study-shows-that-sexism-and-video-games-are-not-correlated

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pop-psych/201504/are-video-games-making-people-sexist

https://techraptor.net/content/study-finds-no-link-sexism-gaming

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/16994-Flawed-Study-Claims-a-Link-Between-Video-Games-And-Sexism

[tlink]

Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

I hold the idea that games, especially in a competitive sector where it seems to be popular with the F2P genre, just makes people assholes in general and that's seen as sexism.

could very well be. i'm still a little uncertain on what they used to define sexism so its hard for me to comment on stuff like this well, it might be that my english just isn't developed enough on a scientific level. 

[TimeOmnivore]

If you're not capable of separating fiction from reality and deriving your own conclusions/bias/opinions from real life experiences, that's on you, not the media you consume, whatever form it may be in. Some games are definitely sexist to some extent, but if you are only capable of using those games as your only source of reference for how people of a certain gender/race/religion/etc "should" act and behave, that just shows that your naivete and means you need to get out more. In any event, I firmly believe that, in the modern era, only the individual is to blame for their bias and prejudice, not the media they consume, regardless of whether that media perpetuates it or not.

[Mira Yurizaki]

Just now, tlink said:

could very well be. i'm still a little uncertain on what they used to define sexism so its hard for me to comment on stuff like this well, it might be that my english just isn't developed enough on a scientific level. 

I mean if they treat "I [vulgar word for had sex with] your mum last night" as sexism rather than a general insult... well, okay.

[Notional]

1 minute ago, tlink said:

well they are not ostracized nerds/autists, like they said their demographic is representative of rural france. but like they said, it also can be that sexist people just tend to play video games more.

 

Antisocial people, like autistic people (aspergers, etc.) tends to seek to gaming more, as it's more logical, supports their introvertness, etc. to support their personality. Such young men are certainly ostracised by women and have been for ages. Nothing new there.

 

They also ignore the concept of trash talk. In online games, trash talk serves two purposes:

1. Get out your frustration by swearing and calling the opponent bad words.
2. Psyching out the opponent by attacking them for pointless things they either aren't or cannot help. Like being a girl, being black (n word), calling guys faggots, etc).

These things don't mean the people are actually misogynists, racist and so on. It does, however, support their finding of less skilled players acting out like that. This behaviour is also more common in less mature people, especially pre/pubescent boys. It's what third wave feminists misandrists call toxic masculinity, because acting like boys is toxic (apparently).

[Memories4K]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

well they are not ostracized nerds/autists, like they said their demographic is representative of rural france. but like they said, it also can be that sexist people just tend to play video games more.

I don't see any causation or correlation between the amount of video games played and the degree of believing that the other sex is completely inferior to their own.

2 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I hold the idea that games, especially in a competitive sector where it seems to be popular with the F2P genre, just makes people assholes in general and that's seen as sexism.

That could be.
I play some competitive games and despite the fact i'm no racist, sexist, etc. who holds any beliefs about any demographic being inferior to things outside their behavior; i do, in fact, say a lot of racist, sexist, etc. shit to other players who play badly and can be quite aggressive in how i respond to others who reply the same.
Really, it's almost a part of FPS culture now to call someone a "faggot" and how "you fucked their dad/mom last night".

1 minute ago, Warboy said:

K.

 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/04/10/new-study-finds-no-link-between-gaming-and-sexist-attitudes/#3176607c1436

http://www.reaxxion.com/7324/scientific-study-shows-that-sexism-and-video-games-are-not-correlated

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pop-psych/201504/are-video-games-making-people-sexist

https://techraptor.net/content/study-finds-no-link-sexism-gaming

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/16994-Flawed-Study-Claims-a-Link-Between-Video-Games-And-Sexism

While i agree with the criticism that this study OP posted holds no real value, your sources are memey at best

[Sauron]

"Sexism was higher"

 

I'd reeeeeeally like to know what their definition for "sexism" is

[tlink]

15 minutes ago, Warboy said:

K.

 

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2015/04/10/new-study-finds-no-link-between-gaming-and-sexist-attitudes/#3176607c1436

http://www.reaxxion.com/7324/scientific-study-shows-that-sexism-and-video-games-are-not-correlated

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/pop-psych/201504/are-video-games-making-people-sexist

https://techraptor.net/content/study-finds-no-link-sexism-gaming

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/16994-Flawed-Study-Claims-a-Link-Between-Video-Games-And-Sexism

quoting flawed study's doesn't make it untrue, this is a new study. thats a fallacy fallacy. the links you posted all refer back to a single german research. 1v1 in research while my research has a larger sample size and a different approach. they are contradicting but which one is true is up for debate. they could be both true to some degree because the german research only measured gamers their increase in sexism while this research measured sexism in gamers, which is a difference (if i understood it correctly atleast)

edit: also the research includes the german research you quoted 

 

Quote

Fewer studies have been interested in long-term links between video game and sexist attitudes. In one cross-sectional study, it was shown that men who regularly played video games with sexist contents (according to their own evaluation of sexism) tended to have a higher level of benevolent sexism, that is associated with perceptions of rigid gender roles and is characterized by protective, patronizing attitudes toward women (Stermer & Burkley, 2015). However, a longitudinal study examining the influence of video game exposure on sexist beliefs and attitudes over a 3 year period found no evidence of a cultivation effect (Breuer, Kowert, Fest, & Quandt, 2015). Further cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are therefore necessary.

 

[Guest Kloaked]

This is hardly tech news. This is a statistical study on a certain ideology that is biased by only including video games. If they want to find sexism in it, they'll find it. They'll also find it in high schools, trailer parks, large corporate offices, and sometimes in my house if they misinterpret anything I say.

 

This "-isms in video games [in particular]" stuff is garbage. Go away.

[Memories4K]

7 minutes ago, TimeOmnivore said:

If you're not capable of separating fiction from reality and deriving your own conclusions/bias/opinions from real life experiences, that's on you, not the media you consume, whatever form it may be in. Some games are definitely sexist to some extent, but if you are only capable of using those games as your only source of reference for how people of a certain gender/race/religion/etc "should" act and behave, that just shows that your naivete and means you need to get out more. In any event, I firmly believe that, in the modern era, only the individual is to blame for their bias and prejudice, not the media they consume, regardless of whether that media perpetuates it or not.

That's the thing.
Trevor from GTA V isn't a role-model you should follow.
Trevor's cool, don't get me wrong, but i understand that when i'm shooting random civilians as him and burning down buildings that it is just a game (Shit's not real; like reading a violent book or watching a violent movie) and i'm not actually some psychopath with real desires to hurt real people or see real pain.
It affects me by raising my aggression and lack of empathy because i already understand that it's a bunch of 1s and 0s; not real people or real-life.

[tlink]

8 minutes ago, TimeOmnivore said:

If you're not capable of separating fiction from reality and deriving your own conclusions/bias/opinions from real life experiences, that's on you, not the media you consume, whatever form it may be in. Some games are definitely sexist to some extent, but if you are only capable of using those games as your only source of reference for how people of a certain gender/race/religion/etc "should" act and behave, that just shows that your naivete and means you need to get out more. In any event, I firmly believe that, in the modern era, only the individual is to blame for their bias and prejudice, not the media they consume, regardless of whether that media perpetuates it or not.

well if you are surrounded by people that hold a certain idea you're more likely to adopt that idea. its just human nature imo, and i wouldn't see why that is any different with other factors. surrounding yourself in things that support a certain view is going to influence you. saying you're in full control over how things influence you is flat out wrong.

[SurvivorNVL]

Modern society has taught me a valuable lesson:  Everything is sexist, racist, and or a phobia.  Everyone is Hitler(including Hitler, shockingly).  Video games create people who act like Ted's.  Ted Bundy.  Ted Kaczynski.  The Zodiac Killer, Ted Cruz.  And hair-care products are a Human Right.

[Guest Kloaked]

4 minutes ago, tlink said:

well if you are surrounded by people that hold a certain idea you're more likely to adopt that idea. its just human nature imo, and i wouldn't see why that is any different with other factors. surrounding yourself in things that support a certain view is going to influence you. saying you're in full control over how things influence you is flat out wrong.

While this remains true sometimes, that isn't what this is. Most people who play video games know they're not indicative of real life. You don't get 5 wanted stars after sneezing on a fence owned by the military, and then you're fine if you just drive really fast in one direction or hide somewhere for a minute.

 

The people who are heavily influenced by video games already hold these ideologies. Video games could be a catalyst to make that thing grow in the person, but if not video games then what then? Friends? Movies?