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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Hypersexualism in Digital Games as a Determinant or Deterrent of Game Play: Do Men Want Them and Do Women Want to Be Them?

Reinhard, CarrieLynn D.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1419935147

Abstract Details

2005, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Journalism and Communication.
The digital game industry and the academy recognize that women play fewer video games than men. One theorized reason for this is the sexualized portrayal of female game characters, which may dissuade women from identifying and wanting to engage with them. This sexualized portrayal consists of over-exaggeration of a female character's buxom while the waist is overly narrow, a costume of tight-fighting and cleavage-revealing uniforms, and even engaging in overtly sexual behavior. Such hypersexualism is theorized as being designed to attract men to play the games that feature character or marketing in this fashion. In a 2x3 between-subject design of participant gender by avatar body shape, this study investigated how men and women perceive and react to female avatars that embody the hypersexualism body shape of big breasts, thin waist, and long, thin limbs. One-hundred and twenty men and women from a Midwestern university participated in the study. Participants were asked to describe a character after being presented an image of the avatar, to rate how attractive and realistic they perceived the avatar to be, and to what extent they identified with the character. After playing a computer game, to gauge their levels of engagement with the game, participants were measured for how long they played, the extent to which they felt immersed within the game, and the extent to which they would like to engage with the game. At this point, they were again asked questions about the extent to which they identified with the character whilst playing the game. Contrary to industry and academic contentions, it was found that men indicated more engagement with the game when playing as a voluptuous character while women indicated more engagement playing as the hypersexualized character. Also, identifying with the character during game play was a consistent predictor of engagement, and this was true regardless of the player's gender. Thus, men were engaging in cross-gender identification, possibly due to the conditions of playing the game. Implications for how women react to sexualized portrayals and men's preferences for digital game characters were discussed, as well as the nature of identifying with digital game characters.
Osei Appiah (Advisor)
Amy Nathanson (Committee Member)
Li Gong (Committee Member)
116 p.
Communication; Journalism

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Reinhard, C. D. (2005). Hypersexualism in Digital Games as a Determinant or Deterrent of Game Play: Do Men Want Them and Do Women Want to Be Them? [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1419935147

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Reinhard, CarrieLynn. Hypersexualism in Digital Games as a Determinant or Deterrent of Game Play: Do Men Want Them and Do Women Want to Be Them? 2005. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1419935147.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Reinhard, CarrieLynn. "Hypersexualism in Digital Games as a Determinant or Deterrent of Game Play: Do Men Want Them and Do Women Want to Be Them?" Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1419935147

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1419935147
782
© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.