Social Evaluations of Stereotypic Images in Video Games

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess late adolescents' evaluations of and reasoning about gender stereotypes in video games. Female (n = 46) and male (n = 41) students, predominantly European American, with a mean age 19 years, are interviewed about their knowledge of game usage, awareness and evaluation of stereotypes, beliefs about the influences of games on the players, and authority jurisdiction over three different types of games: games with negative male stereotypes, games with negative female stereotypes, and gender-neutral games. Gender differences are found for how participants evaluated these games. Males are more likely than females to find stereotypes acceptable. Results are discussed in terms of social reasoning, video game playing, and gender differences.