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College Students’ Video Game Participation and Perceptions: Gender Differences and Implications

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Abstract

As growing numbers of youth in the United States play video games, potential effects of game playing are being considered. We focused on gender-related aspects of gaming in a study of 206 college students. Men were significantly more likely than women to play video games two or more hours a week and to indicate that video game playing interfered with sleeping and with class preparation. A greater proportion of women than men complained about the amount of time their significant other played video games. Participants rated female video game characters as significantly more helpless and sexually provocative than male characters and as less likely to be strong and aggressive. Gender differences in participation and character portrayals potentially impact the lives of youth in a variety of ways.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Shirley Matile Ogletree & Ryan Drake

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  1. Shirley Matile Ogletree
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  2. Ryan Drake
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Correspondence to Shirley Matile Ogletree.

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Ogletree, S.M., Drake, R. College Students’ Video Game Participation and Perceptions: Gender Differences and Implications. Sex Roles 56, 537–542 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9193-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9193-5

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