‘Into the wolves’ den: an investigation of predictors of sexism in online games’

Online sexism against female gamers is reportedly common and pervasive, causing serious problems. To help solve these problems, the study identified various predictors of online game sexism, which is hypothesised to predict actual in-game harassment. Different from previous studies, the study approaches the problems from the perspective of perpetrators rather than victims. We proposed a theoretical model that include three groups of predictors: offline sexist beliefs (masculine norms and hostile sexism), game-related factors (perceived territoriality, advancement, and competition), and environmental factors (peer harassment and play time). The model was tested against online survey data collected from a sample of 528 male gamers in South Korea with age range of 14–64 years (M = 34.70, SD = 12.81). The results showed that all the predictors, except competition and play time, were significantly associated with online game sexism, which mediated the relationships between the predictors and online sexual harassment. Perceived territoriality and peer harassment were found to have direct and positive effects on harassment. The findings are expected to contribute to developing more effective measures for preventing the hostility and aggression against female gamers by providing a new and more thorough diagnosis of the underlying causes of the problems.

据报道，针对女性游戏玩家的网络性别歧视现象普遍且猖獗，引发了诸多严重问题。为助力解决此类问题，本研究明确了网络游戏性别歧视的各类预测因子，且该类歧视被假设可预测真实游戏内骚扰行为。与既往研究不同，本研究从施害者而非受害者的视角切入此类问题。本研究提出了包含三类预测因子的理论模型：线下性别歧视信念（含男性气质规范与敌意性性别歧视）、游戏相关因素（含感知领地性、游戏进阶与竞争）以及环境因素（含同伴骚扰与游戏时长）。本研究基于从韩国528名男性游戏玩家中收集的在线调查数据对该模型进行了检验，样本年龄范围为14至64岁（均值M=34.70，标准差SD=12.81）。结果显示，除竞争与游戏时长外，其余所有预测因子均与网络游戏性别歧视存在显著关联，且该类歧视在预测因子与网络性骚扰之间发挥中介作用。研究发现，感知领地性与同伴骚扰对骚扰行为具有直接正向影响。本研究结果有望通过对该问题的深层成因展开全新且更为全面的诊断，助力开发更有效的干预措施，以防范针对女性游戏玩家的敌意与攻击行为。