A recent study published in the journal Sex Roles highlights a troubling reality for many women in the world of online gaming. The research shows that women gamers who identify as feminists or engage in actions promoting gender equality are often blamed more for experiencing sexist incidents while playing online. Notably, this pattern of blame was most pronounced among participants who held stronger sexist attitudes towards women gamers.
Online video games have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment worldwide, connecting millions of people in shared virtual environments. Although gaming has historically been viewed as a male-dominated activity, recent data shows that nearly half of gamers are women. Despite this, many women gamers report feeling unwelcome in online gaming spaces and regularly encounter sexist attitudes and behaviors.
The study’s authors sought to explore why women gamers are often blamed for experiencing sexism in online gaming. They were particularly interested in understanding how certain characteristics of women gamers, such as identifying as feminists or engaging in gender equality activism, might influence perceptions of blame in sexist incidents.
“I was interested in this topic because of the increasing problematic about sexism in gaming communities and the different experiences between women and men in online video games. For this reason, being a highly masculinized environment dominated by sexist attitudes, we propose to analyze the perception of the feminist positions carried out by women gamers,” said study author Mariela Bustos-Ortega, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Granada.
To investigate this, the researchers conducted two experimental studies, both of which were administered online. The participants were regular video gamers, with nearly equal representation of men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 52. They were recruited via social media platforms and gaming forums.
In the first study, the researchers presented 291 participants with a hypothetical scenario in which a female gamer, named Lucía, was ridiculed by male teammates after making a mistake while playing the game League of Legends (e.g., “I knew you couldn’t trust girls for LoL”, “yeah, and they want to be treated the same and want us to let them play hahaha”).
Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in one, Lucía was described as a feminist and a member of a feminist association that advocates for gender equality in video games; in the other, she was described simply as a regular gamer, with no mention of feminist affiliations. After reading the scenario, participants were asked to rate the extent to which they blamed Lucía for the sexist comments she received.
The second study introduced a different manipulation. This time, 400 participants were presented with a scenario in which Lucía either engaged in normative collective actions (e.g., signing petitions, organizing peaceful protests) or non-normative collective actions (e.g., hacking a website, disrupting an event) in support of gender equality in gaming. A control condition, similar to the first study, presented Lucía as a regular gamer. Participants then rated their level of victim blame towards Lucía after reading about her sexist interactions with teammates.
In both studies, participants’ levels of sexist attitudes towards women gamers were measured using the newly developed Sexism Against Women Gamers Scale (SAWGS). This tool, specifically designed to assess sexism in the gaming context, helped researchers understand how these attitudes influenced participants’ judgments of Lucía.
In the first study, the researchers found women who were described as feminists were more likely to be blamed for the sexist incident, but only by participants who held stronger sexist attitudes towards women gamers. In contrast, participants with lower levels of sexist attitudes did not differentiate between the feminist and non-feminist Lucía when assigning blame.
Similarly, in the second study, participants with higher levels of sexist attitudes blamed Lucía more if she engaged in non-normative collective actions than if she engaged in normative actions. Participants with lower levels of sexist attitudes did not show this bias.
“Both studies highlight the significance of the interaction between sexist attitudes and specific characteristics of women gamers in shaping perceptions of sexist incidents,” Bustos-Ortega told PsyPost. “These findings represent a crucial advancement in understanding these issues and can help prevent negative experiences for women in online gaming.”
“I was surprised by the existing opposition against any feminist movement or action that promotes gender equality in video games. In this regard, our article points out that individuals with higher sexist attitudes toward women gamers are more likely to view a feminist woman who engages in extreme or non-normative behaviors to promote gender equality in gaming as negative. This perception may lead them to blame her for sexist incidents and foster increased rejection of this ideology, which is often seen in the gaming community.”
But the study, like all research, has some caveats. The study only focused on a Spanish-speaking sample of gamers, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other cultural or linguistic groups. Another limitation is the reliance on hypothetical scenarios, which may not capture the full complexity of real-life gaming experiences.
“Further research is needed to generalize these findings across different ethnic groups and demographics,” Bustos-Ortega noted. “We also should consider other methods such as the behavior of players in a real-time game, or the recording and subsequent analysis of data provided by the online game itself.”
Future studies could investigate how changes in industry practices or stricter enforcement of community guidelines might reduce the prevalence of sexist harassment in gaming environments.
“Our long-term goal is to continue examining the impact of sexism in gaming and develop interventions that promote inclusivity and awareness,” Bustos-Ortega said. “Furthermore, our scale can be a very useful tool for programs focused on preventing sexism, contributing to the creation of a safer and more welcoming space for women gamers.”
The study, “Gaming with a Feminist: Sexism and Perception of Sexist Incidents in Online Video Games,” was authored by Mariela Bustos-Ortega, Mónica Romero-Sánchez, Jesús L. Megías, and Hugo Carretero-Dios.
