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"Girls can't play": The effects of stereotype threat on females' gaming performance

Kaye, Linda K.; Pennington, Charlotte R.

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Authors

Linda K. Kaye



Abstract

© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The current study examined the impact of stereotype threat on female online gamers' performance and further examined whether manipulating the availability of multiple social identities effectively eliminated these performance decrements. Further, participants' implicit attitudes towards female online gamers were assessed. Eighty-one participants (60 female) were assigned to one of four experimental conditions: 1), stereotype threat, 2), multiple social identities, 3), female control, and 4), male control. They completed an Implicit Association Test and a gaming task. The number of coins collected in a 5-min time period provided a measure of gameplay performance. Results indicated that stereotype threatened females underperformed on the gaming task relative to males in the control condition. The intervention of multiple social identities successfully protected females' gameplay performance from stereotype threat. Additionally, differences were found between conditions in implicit attitudes pertaining to gender-gaming competence. This research highlights the harmful effects of negative stereotypes on females' gaming performance, and suggests that these decrements may be eliminated when females identify with an alternative positive social identity.

Citation

Kaye, L. K., & Pennington, C. R. (2016). "Girls can't play": The effects of stereotype threat on females' gaming performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 59, 202-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.020

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 5, 2016
Online Publication Date Feb 15, 2016
Publication Date Jun 1, 2016
Deposit Date Sep 12, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Computers in Human Behavior
Print ISSN 0747-5632
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 59
Pages 202-209
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.020
Keywords stereotype threat, social identity theory, multiple social identities, gender, digital games, implicit attitudes
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/910524
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.020

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