[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17
- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]
Gender and gaming ability
Men are NOT
better than women at video games: Gender has no role in ability, girls just
spend less time playing, says study.
*Study found gender differences do not
cause performance differences
*Stereotype fuelled by other factors,
like women spend less time playing
*Men focus more on achievements like
'levelling up' in video games
Stereotypically, most game players are
males (Shaw, 2012) and females typically exhibit higher levels of anxiety than
males with regards to playing online games (Huang, Hood, & Yoo, 2013). If
not appropriately addressed, gender differences could promote gender inequity
when games are used for education. Men have more positive attitudes about gaming
than women (Bonanno & Kommers, 2008). Notice that most of the game
characters are male, especially if only primary game characters are considered.
This indicates that many of the female characters in video games have a
secondary role. Men generally prefer to play games that are active and
competitive, while women prefer logic, puzzle, and skill training games and
enjoy social interactions provided by games. Second, men develop interest in
computer games earlier in their life, while females take up gaming later in
life and on average female players are older than male (e.g. Hainey et al.
2011). Men navigate more efficiently through virtual environments. Men had
greater spatial problem solving efficiency than women. Women needed more time
to travel from start to finish of the route. Men perform better on a variety of
tasks. Males more likely to be addicted to gaming.
A lot of the reasoning behind women's
lack of participation in video games originates from the circular and
self-defeating logic of “I don't see other women playing video games, so I will
not play video games either.” Since existing gaming culture is frequently a
deterrent for women participation (Yee 2006), developers can design games and
worlds specifically for women or incorporate more social, family-oriented and
visually appealing features into existing games. Encourage girls to involve in
games through education also.
Submitted by Ms. Divya P. Nair
No comments:
Post a Comment