Females' video game playing motivation and performance: examining gender stereotypes and competence goals

Unrestricted Research on gender and video game playing has long been interested in the question of why females play fewer video games and play video games less frequently than males do. The present dissertation examines the immediate impacts of a negative gender stereotype on females' motivation for and performance in playing a racing video game. Exposure to a negative gender stereotype about video game playing was expected to decrease competence beliefs and motivation to play the game, as well as worsened performance. Mastery orientation, which emphasizes developing competence, was theorized to be more beneficial for competence beliefs and motivation towards video game playing, relative to performance orientation, which emphasizes the demonstration of competence relative to others. Measurement of achievement goals and manipulation of stereotype exposure indicated trends towards the predicted motivational outcomes. Implications for theories of video game playing and achievement motivation are discussed.