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GENDER AND RACIAL STEREOTYPES IN POPULAR VIDEO GAMES
By

Yi Mou

ATHESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS
Department of Communication

2007

ABSTRACT
GENDER AND RACIAL STEREOTYPES [N POPULAR VIDEO GAMES
By
Yi Mou

This study examined the gender and racial stereotypes in video games. Top 10
games from each of the three most popular consoles (PlayStation 2, Xbox, and
Gamecube) were content analyzed. Totally 201 stereotypical behaviors were
identified. Female characters (n = 40) were under-represented in comparison to male
characters (n = 28]). No evidence in the study shows that females are stereotypically
portrayed as victims, or that males are stereotypically portrayed as heroes or helpers.
Similarly, there is no evidence showing that minority groups are stereotypically
portrayed as villains. However, females are stereotypically portrayed with sexually
revealing appearance. And except for Asian characters, minority groups are under-

represented in video games. Implication for these finding are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Ron Tamborini. Thank you,
not only for the inspiring discussions, helpful feedbacks, but also for the great passion
you brought into research. I know my thinking extended to a much deeper level
because of the very questions you asked me; and I know I will always keep the
curiosity and interest in research work because of the very example you set. It has
been a great honor.

I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. John Sherry, Dr. Wei
Peng, and Dr. Rene Weber. Thank you for your encouragement, patience and brilliant
suggestions. During the past two years, I’ve learned a lot about Communication field
and research from you. It was such a pleasant experience to work with such intelligent
minds.

And to my family and friends. Thank you all for always being there. I

couldn’t accomplish anything without your unconditional love.

To PaulQ, of course.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................ v
CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND ............................................................. 1
Stereotypes ............................................................................. 2
Stereotypes in mass media ........................................................... 2
Portrayal of women in mass media ................................................. 3
Portrayal of minority ethnic groups in mass media ............................... 6
CHAPTER 2: METHOD ...................................................................... 9
Sample .................................................................................. 9
Unit of analysis ......................................................................... 9
Coding principle ...................................................................... l4
Coder training and reliability ........................................................ 15
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS ...................................................................... 17
Overview ............................................................................... l7
Hypothesis one ........................................................................ l7
Hypothesis two ........................................................................ l7
Hypothesis three ....................................................................... 18
Hypothesis four ........................................................................ l8
Hypothesis five ......................................................................... 18
Hypothesis six ......................................................................... 19
CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION ................................................................. 20
FOOTNOTES ................................................................................... 25
APPENDIX ..................................................................................... 30
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 38

iv

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: List of Video Games Included in Analysis .................................... 26
Table 2: Distribution of race in expectation and observation .......................... 28
Table 3: Coding content in the games with stereotypical behaviors .................. 29

CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND

Video games are one of the most popular yet least studied of the new media. They
provide realistic-looking fantasy worlds in which players from all around the globe
interact in a virtual way (Williams, 2006). According to the Entertainment Software
Association (2006), sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer
and video games, and US. computer and video game software sales grew four percent in
2005 to $7 billion, more than doubling industry software sales since 1996.

Although the age of the average video game player is in the late twenties, the
prevalent usage of video games by adolescents causes growing concern. A recent NPD
Group (2006) study reveals that ninety-two percent of children aged 2-17 play video
games, and almost half of all “heavy gamers” are 6-to-l7-years-old. A body of studies has
been conducted upon the impact of video games play on aggressive attitudes and
behaviors (Sherry, 2001); the content of violence in video games (Smith, Lachlan, &
Tamborini, 2003); etc. Less concern has focused on the possible stereotyping phenomena
in video games.

A stereotype is mental “shorthand which helps to convey ideas and images quickly
and clearly” (Courtney & Whipple, 1983, p. 205), and is widely employed in traditional
mass media messages. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2002) provides a framework on
how people, especially children and adolescents, can build their attitudes and beliefs from
exposure of those stereotypes.

Research on exposure to stereotypes in traditional mass media suggests that these
media provide distorted representations of women and minorities (Thompson & Zerbino,

1995; Aubrey & Harrison, 2004; Greenberg & Baptista-Fernandez, 1980; etc.), and that

exposure to these distorted images can have a negative effect on user perceptions of
women and minorities (Omi, 1989). If the presence of such images in traditional mass
media can have this effect, it is reasonable to predict that the presence of similar images
in the portrayal of video game characters might produce comparable stereotypes. This
study is intended to explore the gender and racial stereotypes present in the popular video
games.

Stereotypes

Stereotype refers to one group’s generalized and widely accepted perception about
the personal attributes of members of another group (Ashmore & Del Boca, 1981; Dates
& Barlow, 1990). It is not just beliefs about groups, but also includes theories about how
and why certain attributes go together (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996).

Stereotypes serve multiple purposes in a variety of cognitive and motivational
processes, and they emerge “in various contexts to serve particular functions necessitated
by those contexts” (Hilton & von Hippel, 1996). They emerge as a way of simplifying the
demands on the perceiver (Bodenhausen, Kramer, & Susser, 1994; Bodenhausen,
Sheppard, & Kramer, 1994; Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen, 1994); or a way in response
to environmental factors, such as different social roles (Eagly, 1995), group conflicts
(Robinson, Keltner, Ward, & Ross, 1995), and difference in power (Fiske, 1993); or a
way of justifying the status quo (Jost & Banaji, 1994; Sidanius, 1993), or in response to a
need for social identify (Hogg & Abrams, 1988).

Stereotypes in mass media
Research on media stereotypes has a long history. In particular, study of group

representations in media content “reveals a series of unsubstantiated beliefs about what

these groups are, what they are like, and how they behave” (Omi, 1989). Gender and
racial stereotypes are two of the most studied stereotypes in the large body of research.
Portrayal of women in mass media

Research suggests that within many cultures women are generally perceived as
subordinate and passive-dependent to men, with sexual relationships as a central and all-
important role in life (Cantor, 1987). One reason given for this perception is exposure to
the prevalent stereotyped portrayal of women in media. Cantor (1987) maintains that
through different mass media, women of all different social classes, “receive the same
basic message: that men’s work and life choices are more important than women’s, and
that in order to be happy and fulfilled, women must have a love-dependent relationship
with some man”. This is supported in a body of studies on the portrayal of women in
traditional mass media. For instance, in advertising settings, women are depicted as
dependent on men, shown primarily in domestic scenarios related to happy families and
perfectionism; in contrast, men are shown in the workplace in various locations,
situations, and occupations, portrayed as knowledgeable, powerful, and driven (Koemig,
S. K. & Granitz, N., 2006). In political campaigns, female candidates are portrayed as
more competent in dealing with educational and health care system issues and better able
to maintain honesty and integrity in government, while male candidates are portrayed as
better at military issues and farm issues (Sapiro, 1981).

Gender representations in television programs have been explored since 19705.
Updated studies in the 19908 include gender roles found in animated cartoon (Thompson
& Zerbino, 1995), children’s favorite Television programs (Aubrey & Harrison, 2004),

etc.. Within these studies, gender-related personality characteristics, communication

characteristics, behaviors, even the total talk time of male and female characters have
been coded. Thompson et a1. (1995) point out that both male and female characters are
portrayed stereotypically. Their results indicated that compared to female characters,
male characters appeared more frequently, talked significantly more, and engaged in
more of almost all of the noted behaviors, such as achieving and showing leadership.

Since the mid-19903, stereotyping portrayals in video games have been explored in
several studies, mainly focusing on gender stereotypes. In one of the earliest studies,
Dietz (1998) revealed that 41% of the games with characters had no female characters.
Moreover, evidence of gender stereotyped representations was apparent in games that did
contain female characters. In games with female characters, women were portrayed as
sex objects 28% of the time, and were portrayed as victims in 21% of time. However,
considering the rapid growth of games during the past eight years, we might question
whether or not the results of Dietz’s research are outdated.

More recent research is revealing in this regard. Beasley and Standley (2002) found a
significant sex bias in the number of male versus female characters. Of the 597 characters
coded, only 82 (13.74%) were women. This research focused particularly on appearance-
related stereotypes, using clothing as an indicator of sexuality, and they found that
majority of the female characters wore clothing that exposed more skin than the male
characters. A follow-up study by Downs and Smith (2005) indicates a similar result.
Compared to male characters, females are more likely to be partially nude, featured with
an unrealistic body image and shown wearing sexually revealing clothing and
inappropriate attire. Notably, existing content analysis on gender representations in video

games has focused only on appearance-related stereotypes. It is reasonable to ask

questions about behavior-related stereotypes as well. When considering the extensive
research in traditional media content analysis relating gender to sexual and violent
behavior, it is surprising to see so little research examining gender role stereotyped
portrayals of sexual and violent behavior in video games. Therefore, these behavior-
related stereotypes were considered in the current study.

Prior research examining gender role stereotyped portrayals of sexual and violent
behavior in traditional media has demonstrated several gender related patterns. First,
male characters are more often portrayed engaging in bravery behavior than female
characters, while female characters are more often portrayed as victims than male
characters (Busby, 1975). Second, female characters are more often portrayed wearing
sexually revealing clothing or showing nudity than male characters (Riffe, Place, & Mayo,
1993). Third, male characters more often portrayed as the initiators of sexual behaviors
than female characters (Milkie, 1994). Based on the expectation that patterns of sex-role
stereotypes found in traditional mass media will be replicated in video games, the
following hypotheses are proposed.

H1. Male characters in video games are more likely to engage bravery behavior than
female characters.

H2. Female characters in video games are more likely to be victims than male
characters.

H3. Female characters in video games are more likely to be portrayed with sexually
revealing clothing and showing nudity than male characters.

H4. Male characters in video games are more likely to be the initiators of sexual

behaviors than female characters.

Portrayals of minority ethnic groups in mass media

Passive viewing is often thought to sustain uncritical acceptance of stereotypical
portrayals and to unintentionally shape the American public’s view of minorities (Bristor,
Lee, & Hunt, 1994; Wilkes & Valenica, 1989). Concern over this possibility has focused
the attention of scholars on the portrayals of ethnic groups in mass media.
Hispanic American

Baptista-Ferbabdez and Greenberg (1980) examined characters of television drama
serially from 1975-1978, and concluded that Hispanic characters were rarely seen,
especially in the programs targeting for children. They were absent from Saturday
morning TV but heavily concentrated in the early evening time slot. Latinos are portrayed
with laziness and immorality (Martinez, 1993). In Greenberg’s study, he found that
Hispanic characters were either in regulatory or anti-regulatory roles. They were often
seen either breaking the law or helping to maintain it. Latino characters were equally
likely to be portrayed as bandits, thieves, junkies, or extortionists as they were to be
shown in roles as a sheriff, inspector, or patrolman.
A fiican American

The most prevalent stereotype of African Americans, especially males, is that African
Americans are believed to be more likely to commit crime (Entman, 1992; Pefiley,
Shields, & Williams, 1996). Greenberg’s study examined the portrayals of African
Americans and found that the typical black character was substantially younger; and was
less likely to be professional. In total, 71 percent of the black roles were partly or wholly
comical characters.

Asian American

There are two main categories of stereotypes of Asian Americans. One is that they
are positioned as a “model minority” with economic influence, high education, and a
strong work ethic (Cohen, 1992; Delener& Neelankavil, 1990). In general, other
Americans view Asian-Americans as hard-working and thrifty (Delener& Neelankavil,
1990), intellectually gifted, mathematically skilled, technically competent, serious, and
well assimilated (Yim, 1989). In television advertising, the portrayals of Asian-
Americans put so much emphasis on work ethics that other aspects of life seldom appear
(Taylor & Stern, 1997). The other, under the few circumstances of portrayal of personal
life, Asian men are culturally ignorant, while Asian women are submissive (Park,
Gabbadon, & Chemin, 2006).

To the author’s knowledge, no research to date has examined racial stereotyping in
video games. Nevertheless, previous research sheds some light on the under
representation stereotyped portrayal of minority groups. For example, Lachlan, Smith,
and Tamborini (2005) indicated that most violent perpetrators were Caucasian (40.5%),
with Asian/ Pacific Islander (8%) coming in a distant second with most others being
inidentifiable. Generally speaking other ethnic groups, such as African American and
Hispanic American, were unlikely to be portrayed at all as characters in games. A similar
phenomenon in television was pointed out during the 19705. Greenberg’s (1980) study
showed that it was hard to find minority groups among television characters. Therefore, it
is reasonable to predict that a similar pattern will be observed in video games.

H5. The percent of minority groups characters represented in video games is lower
than the percent of these minority groups represented in the US. population.

Consistent with the “criminal” and “immoral people” stereotypes of African and

Hispanic Americans in other mass media, the following hypothesis was proposed:
H6. Non-white characters are more likely to engage in evil behavior more than white

characters.

CHAPTER 2: METHOD
Sample

The 6th generation of video game console occupies a major share of video game
markets, represented by Sony’s PlayStation 2, Microsoft’s X-Box, and Nintendo
GameCube. To be representative, the top 10 most popular games based on reader’s
survey on www.gamespot.com from each game system in last twelve months (dating
back from September 2006) were selected according to www.gamespot.com (listed in
Table 1). Due to the overlapping of titles across the three platforms, a total of 25 games
were identified for inclusion in the sample. One game was excluded due to its
inaccessibility], resulting in 24 games included in the sample observed.

Each video game was played for thirty minutes by one of three players with at least
three-years of gaming experience. Game play was captured on VHS tapes via a
videocassette recorder.

Unit of Analysis

Three units of analysis were used in this study. These were identified as the game
segment, the behavior, and the character. The complete coding scheme could be found in
the Appendix 1.

Game segment variables. The game segment included the first 20 minutes of the 30-
minute pre-recorded game segments. The game segment was coded for two variables:
segment type and game type.

Segment type was coded for whether or not there were characters in the game and, if
so, whether or not there were female characters in it. Segments were coded into one of

the following categories: 1) game without characters; 2) game with characters but no

human characters; 3) game with only male human character; 4) game with both male and
female human characters; and 5) game with only female human characters.

Game type categories were adapted from the Beasley and Standley (2002) study.
They included team sports game, individual sports game, storyline game, combat game,
Television or movie-based game, and other. Team sports games were those games in
which members play as a team in the sport, such as soccer game or football game.
Individual sports games were those in which the person plays as an individual in the sport,
such as racing game or boxing game. Storyline game was defined as any game that
emphasized a storyline over all other elements, and had a specific objective for the main
character to achieve, such as saving the city or rescuing someone. Role-playing games
were included in the category. Combat games were any war simulation games. Television
or movie-based games were defined as those games based on a television show or a
movie. For instance, Peter Jackson is King Kong: The oflicial game of the movie belonged
to the category; the game was produced because of the popularity of the corresponding
movie. Other was included as a category for those games that did not easily fit into any of
the other categories.

Behavior variables. According to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, behavior refers to
anything that an organism does involving action and response to stimulation. Here,
behavior is defined as an exchange that occurs between one character (or group of
characters) engaging in a particular type of action or reaction with other characters. Any
time the initiating character(s), behavior type, or target character(s) change, a new
behavior is created (Mlson, Kunkel, Linz, Potter, Donnerstein, Smith, Blumemthal, &

Gray, 1997). Based on the hypotheses, four types of stereotype behaviors were examined

10

in the study: bravery behavior, evil behavior, victimization behavior, and sexual behavior.

To be qualified as bravery behavior, the following criterion must be met: the
behavior must emphasize a character putting himself or herself in harms or at risk in
order to protect others (which would be heroic bravery) or to protect self (non-heroic
bravery) from physical harm. It included rescuing self and helping others.

Evil behavior was defined with the following criterion: the behavior must emphasize
a character engaging in acts that intentionally inflict harm (physical and verbal) on others,
or prevent others from achieving goals for the character’s own self benefit (e.g., to feel
better, to amuse the self, to release anger, or for personal gain). Sometimes evil behavior
acts as an obstacle to the goal of the game. For instance, a character tries to lure the main
character away from his responsibilities, and when successful, results in the main
character’s failure and demotion back to the beginning of the game (Dietz, 1998). It
included three categories: inflicting intentional physical harm on others for self benefit;
inflicting intentional verbal harm on others for self benefit; and intentionally preventing
others from achieving goals without hurting them.

Victimization behavior was this type of behavior which must emphasize a character
being the target of a violent attack. Violence is defined as “any overt depiction of a
credible threat of physical force or the actual use of such force intended to physically
harm an animate being or group of beings. Violence also includes certain depictions of
physically harmful consequences against an animate being/s that results from unseen
violent means” (Smith, Wilson, Kunkel, Linz, Potter, Colvin, & Donnerstein, 1998, p.30).
Examples of victimization behavior include being kidnapped, and being physically or

verbally banned. This category includes 1) being the target of violent verbal attack and 2)

ll

being the target of violent physical attack.

To be qualified as sexual behavior, the following criteria must be met: the behavior
must emphasize talk or behavior that involves sexuality, sexual suggestiveness, or sexual
activities or relationships. Sexual action and talk about sex are considered fundamentally
distinct categories. Sexual action was defined as a character’s actions which convey a
sense of potential or likely sexual intimacy (Kunkel, Cope, & Biely, 1999). For example,
a passionate kiss between two characters with a discernible romantic interest, or a woman
licking her lips provocatively while gazing intently at a man in a bar would be coded as
sexual behavior. According to Kunkel and his colleagues (1999), talk about sex “involves
a wide range of types of conversations that may involve first-hand discussion of sexual
interests and topics with potential partners, as well as second-hand exchanges with others
that convey information about one’s prior, anticipated, or even desired future sexual
activities. For purposes of measuring talk about sex, the topics of both reproductive
issues (such as contraception or abortion) and sexually-transmitted diseases (including
but not limited to AIDS) were considered as sexual” (p. 231).

Character variables. Character was defined as a human, animal, or object within a
video game that displayed human-like appearance or qualities such as speaking, using
tools, or making conscious decisions (Beasley & Standley, 2002). For each stereotyping
behavior, both the initiating character(s) and the target character(s) were coded along
seven categories.

The first category is the type of the character. It was coded as human, animal,
supematural creature, robot, anthropomorphizes animal, anthropomorphized supernatural

creature, and other. The second category is sex. Sex was coded for human characters and

12

anthropomorphized or supernatural creatures as well. Physical appearance, behavioral
patterns and voice intonation or cues were all used to make this judgment. It was coded
as male, female, other, or cannot tell. Thirdly, ethnicity was only coded for human
characters. Its categories were derived from the US. census, including White, Hispanic,
Black, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and Mixed.

The fourth category is the role of the character. As Beasley and Standley (2002)
pointed out, “in future studies, characters should be coded as to their importance in the
video games” (p. 290). Generally speaking, primary characters and secondary characters
are those receiving the most attention from video game players (Downs et al., 2005).
Therefore, it was important to look at the role of the character. Based on Downs et a1.
(2005), character roles could be divided into four categories. The first one was always-
control primary character, which was actively manipulated and controlled onscreen all
the time by the video game player. The second one was sometimes-control primary
character. It was actively manipulated and controlled onscreen part of the time; the
control switches to other characters at other time. It appeared most often in team sports
games, when the player needed to switch control among multiple team members. The
third one was secondary character. It was immediately tied to or related to the primary
character by either aiding or deterring the primary character from fulfilling their quest,
while being controlled by the game itself. All other characters belonged to the last
category: background characters. Considering the importance of the characters, only the
first three types of characters were coded.

The fifth category, attire, was coded only for human characters. It referred to any

garment that is worn in order to enhance, exaggerate, call attention to, or accentuate the

13

curves or angles of any part of the body (from the neck to above the knee) and which by
design, or the amount of exposed skin a character shows, would arouse interest of
physical intimacy from others. It was coded as unrevealing, partially revealing, nudity
(revealing), not applicable, or other (Downs et al., 2005).

The sixth category, age, was coded only for human characters. It was divided into
child (0-12 years), teenage (13-19), adult (20-64), elderly (65+), not applicable, or cannot
tell. The seventh category, number of the characters, was counted as the actual number of
characters who engaged in the behavior.

Since demographic variables were also analyzed in the study, it was interesting to see
if there were any differences for games produced at diverse countries to portray the
characters. To be specific, for example, it was reasonable that games from Asian
countries, such as Japan or Korea, contained more Asian characters. Albeit the US game
market is made up with games from multiple regions, it is still important to tell the
nuance of portrayals in the games.

Coding Principles

It is crucial to point out the necessity of the coding principles to avoid confusion in
coding. The first one was called Primary-character-priority principle; it means in a
multiple-character-involving behavior, behavior was coded from the primary character
perspective. For instance, if the primary character is hurt by a secondary character, it is
coded as being victim. The second was the Human-priority principle. This principle held
that, behavior involving both human character(s) and non-human character(s) was always
coded from human character(s) perspective. The third was the Initiator-priority principle.

This principle held that in a multiple-secondary-character-involving behavior, the

14

behavior was coded from the initiator perspective. For instance, A hurts B, A is the
initiator, so it is coded from A’s perspective as aggression, not as victimization. The
fourth principle was from National Television Violence Study (Wilson, et al., 1997), and
was called the Revelation principle. This principle held that, a character’s type, true sex,
or true ethnicity may be concealed or may change, and the truth is revealed during the
segment. When this was observed, the revealed feature is used for coding. The last
principle was the “Mandated” exemption principle. According to Tamborini, Skelski,
Lachlan, Davis, and Smith (2005), in sports (such as wrestling), the violent acts
compelled by rule should be labeled mandated. It is violence performed as a job-related
requirement, not as an act motivated by the desire to gain “power, status, popularity or
afiection.” There is no to evil intention. Therefore, those violent behaviors should not be
considered as evil or bravery behaviors. All these principles were in a hierarchical order,
i.e., the first principle was adopted prior to the second one, the second one prior to the
third one, and so on.
Coder Training and Reliability

Two coders (the researcher herself included) trained for two-hours prior to coding the
sample of content not included in the main study. The main study coded content from the
first 20 minutes of game play. In order to avoid contaminating the sample, training and
reliability testing was conducted using twelve segments recorded from the last 10 minutes
of game play (the 21St minute to 30th minute). Training persisted until coders reached a
reliability of at least .80 for every code. Afterward, the researcher herself alone completed
all coding.

Cronbach’s alpha was used to calculate the intercoder reliability. At the segment

15

level, the reliabilities for each variable were: segment type (1.000), game type (.943),
number of behaviors (.996), number of bravery behaviors (.994), number of victimization
behaviors (.997), number of evil behaviors (1.000), and number of sexual behaviors
(1.000). At the behavior level, the reliabilities were: character type (.993), number of

characters (.996), role of character (.821), sex (1.000), age (1.000), and attire (1.000).

16

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS

Overview

Among the total 24 games, 201 stereotyped behaviors were recognized. Game type
had a great influence on the distribution of those behaviors. The 201 behaviors were
concentrated in only 15 games, while no instances of the four types of behavior were
found in the other 9 games. Storyline games and combat games (73.3%, 11 out of 15) are
most likely to have stereotyped behaviors. As for ESRB rating, games for “M” (46.7%, 7
out of 15) and “T” (46.7%, 7 out of 15) are more likely to have such behaviors.
Hypothesis One

Hypothesis I predicted that male characters in video games were more likely to
engage in bravery behavior than female characters. There are 141 male characters but
only 15 female characters conducting bravery behaviors. It is important to note that there
are totally 281 male characters but only 40 female characters in the game census. A one-
way Chi-square with adjusted expected value was used. With the consideration of the
ratio of total number of male versus total number of female characters in games, Chi-
square yielded a non-significant effect for initiators’ sex, x2 (1, n = 156) = 1.158, p = .282.
The data is not consistent with Hypothesis 1. It is concluded that there are more male
characters behaving brave, only because there are more male characters in the games;
otherwise, there is no difference between these two types of sex.
Hypothesis Two

It was predicted in Hypothesis 2 that female characters in video games were more
likely to be victims than male characters. Once again, a one-way Chi-square with

adjusted expected value was used. Considering the definition of victimization behavior,

17

the initiators of such behavior were also included in the assessment. Therefore, the
combination of evil behaviors and victimization behaviors was used to test Hypothesis 2.
With the consideration of the ratio of total number of male versus total number of female
characters in games, Chi-square yielded a non-significant result: )8 (1, n = 29) = .608, p
= .436. The data is not consistent with Hypothesis 2. The female characters are not more
likely to be portrayed as victims. There is no sex difference for victims’ sex.
Hypothesis Three

Hypothesis 3 predicted that female characters in video games are more likely to be
portrayed with sexually revealing clothing and showing nudity than male characters. A
one-way Chi-square with adjusted expected value was used. With the consideration of the
ratio of total number of male versus total number of female characters in games, the
result is significant, {(1, n = 39) = 40.587, p < .0001. The data is consistent with
Hypothesis 3. Female characters are more likely to wear sexually revealing clothing than
male characters, even after adjusting for the low number of female characters in the
games.
Hypothesis Four

It was predicted that male characters in video games are more likely to initiate sexual
behaviors than female characters. Across the entire sample, only 2 instances of sexual
talk and no instances of sexual actions were observed. It is not appropriate to adopt a Chi-
square test with such a small number of cases.
Hypothesis Five

Hypothesis 5 predicted the under-presentation of minority group members in video

games. Although the Chi-square test yielded a significant result: x2 (5, n = 217) = 169.1, p

18

< .0001, the pattern of data is not completely consistent with Hypothesis 5.

With total 321 human characters, only 217 could be identified with specific race (the
other 104 were coded as “cannot tell”). Citing the data from U. S. Census Bureau
homepage (2007), the percent of the population identified. in categories including: white
persons not Hispanic, Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, Black persons, Native
persons, Asian! Pacific Islander, and Mixed were 66.9%, 14.4%, 12.8%, 1.0%, 4.5%, and
1.5% respectively in 2005. The distribution of race expected and observed in the sample
of video game characters is listed in Table 2. The pattern of findings shows that although
Hispanic/ Latino persons, Black persons, Native persons, and mixed race persons are
under-represented in the sample as expected, in contrast with hypotheses five, Asian
persons are over-represented. This unexpected finding might be explained by the origins
of some games. Since among the 24 games, 8 (33.3%) are from East Asian (Japanese or
Korean) companies, it is reasonable that there were more Asian persons in the sample. 2
Hypothesis Six

Hypothesis 6 predicted that non-white characters are more likely to engage in evil
behavior than white characters. A one-way Chi-square with adjusted the expected value
was used. With the consideration of the race distribution in the sample, the result is non-
significant, 752 (3, n = 39) = .635, p = .888. The data is not consistent with Hypothesis 6.
The evidence does not support the claim that minority group members have a greater

chance to be portrayed as evil conductors than majority group members.

19

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to examine the stereotyped representations in video
games. In view of concern over the use of stereotypes in traditional media such as
television and film, it is interesting to explore the possible presence of similar stereotypes
in a popular new media: video games.

The sample, with 40 female characters (12.4%) and 281 male characters (87.0%),
shows the tendency of under-representation of females. Within the sampled games,
37.5% (9 out of 24) have no female characters at all. The result is consistent with
previous studies. Beasley and Standley (2002) reported the percentage of female as
13.74%. Children Now (2001) study found that 73% of video game characters were male,
while 12% were female. Over the past six or seven years, the trend has not changed in the
video game industry. It is worth noting that according to the U. S. Census Bureau’s report,
women made up 50.7% of the U. S. population in 2005.

Although women are under-represented in video games, there is no obvious evidence
of stereotypical portrayals of women. The test of hypothesis 1, 2, and 4 are not consistent
with claims that female characters are more likely to be shown as victims and sexual
objects, and less likely to be shown as brave (A review of these games with stereotypical
phenomena can be found in Table 3). At this point, video games appear different from
traditional media, such as television or film, in these particular gender-related portrayals.

The tendency can be explained by the so-called “Lara phenomenon”, which refers to
the appearance of competent female video-game characters in a dominant position (Jansz
& Martis, 2007). The Jansz and Martis study did content analysis on the introductory

films contained in 12 contemporary video games, and found that female characters in

20

leading roles appeared as often as male did. Although the representativeness of the
sample they chose appears questionable, it suggests a tendency towards the “Lara
phenomenon”. One possible reason may be that video game producers create these
competent female images to attract female players.

Even so, however, female characters are usually portrayed with exaggerated female
characteristics, such as sexually revealing clothing. The result is consistent with previous
studies. Downs et a1. (2005) found that in comparison to male characters, females were
significantly more likely to be partially nude, featured with an unrealistic body image and
shown wearing sexually revealing clothing and inappropriate attire.

Debate over such “eye candy” representations holds that although these images may
function for the male players, for women, it is different. Jansz and Martis (2007) pointed
out, “women who do play video games may experience contrasting consequences”. The
female characters with exaggerated female characteristics may teach the ideals of
femininity and beauty that build unhealthy body image orientation (Botta, 1999; Labre &
Duke, 2004; Smith, 2006). On the other hand, the appearance of competent and powerful
female characters such as Lara Croft may have positive influence on the young women
players, and help build their self-identity.

Hypothesis 5 and 6 considered race-related stereotype portrayals. For minority
groups, there are diverse results. Hispanic, Black, Native, and mixed groups are
significantly under-represented, while Asian groups are significantly over-represented.
Hispanic and Native persons do not even appear in the sample.

The origin of the games is the possible reason for the unexpected over-representation

of Asian characters. About one third of the samples games are produced by East Asian

21

companies (either Japanese or Korean). It is reasonable to expect more Asian characters
in those games; and since people of other races are rare in East Asian areas (ExEAS,
2007), the omission of such characters is not surprising. In fact, across the whole sample,
majority of Asian characters come from the game Ninja Gaiden Black. It is produced by a
Japanese company Tecmo. Another reason might be the conscious avoidance of specific
race representations by the game producers. The current technology allows producers to
create characters with vague or ambiguous ethnic characteristics. In the sample, the
ethnicity of about 32.6% characters cannot be distinguished.

No evidence shows that minority group members are more likely to be villains. It is
consistent with recent findings in traditional media. In Mastro and Greenberg (2000)
study, they found that in prime television, Latino characters were on average the least
lazy or most motivated, and Afi'ican Americans were the least aggressive, particularly by
comparison with the Caucasian characters, “both of which constitute counter-
stereotypical findings” (p. 697). In fact, in some games, such as Resident Evil, the Afi'ican
American character is a good policeman, helping others all the time. It probably can be
explained also by the under-representation of minority groups. If there would be more
minority characters, they may also likely engage bad actions.

One of the limitations of the present study is that in those games where players had
the option to choose among multiple leading characters to play, only one leading
character was chosen. Players were instructed that when a dominate character was clearly
recognized, such as a policeman other than a waitress, the player was to chose the
dominate character to play. If no clear dominate character was not recognized, the

researcher gave the players the freedom to choose whichever leading characters they

22

liked. Eight out the total 24 games have such an option, and the majority of these games
were sports games, such as soccer or football games. Player preferences in these
situations may have introduced a bias into the sample.3 For instance, one player in this
study was Asian male, and may have been more likely to choose an Asian male character
to play. To avoid this problem, in future study, games need to be played with every option.

Another limitation worth noting is that the result is highly dependent on the game
playing. Previous study has found that different players with different attributes may play
video games differently (Peng, Liu, & Mou, 2007). For example, people with more
aggressive personality engage in a more aggressive style of playing. However, in the
present study, only three players played the sampled games. Their playing may not be
representative of all the game playing styles.

A final limitation deals with the length of playing time used in the present study. The
pre-recorded game segments contained only the first 20 minutes playing, excluding the
introductory section. The beginning part of video games may not include the same level
of stereotyped representations as later parts. Longer game playing should be considered
in the future study.

In sum, stereotypical phenomena in video games are not the same as those in other
traditional media. No evidence in the study shows that females are stereotypically
portrayed as victims, or that males are stereotypically portrayed as heroes or helpers.
Similarly, there is no evidence showing that minority groups are stereotypically portrayed
as villains. However, females are stereotypically portrayed with sexually revealing
appearance. And except for Asian characters, minority groups are under-represented in

video games. As one of the most popular forms of new media, video games seem to avoid

23

some of the extensively used stereotypes in traditional media, while adopting some

relatively new stereotypes.

24

F OOTNOOTS
" The missing game is Guitar Hero, which is a music video game.
2’ In fact, across the whole sample, majority of Asian characters come from the Japan
produced game Ninja Gaiden Black.
3' In those games with multiple options, other options are:
For NBA 2K6, Madden NFL 07, NCAA Football 07, FIFA 06, MLB 2K6, and World
Soccer Winning Eleven, all options are similar. Each team is made up of male players
with both majority and minorities.
For Smack Down vs Raw, there are several male characters and female characters to
choose. The player chose two male and two female characters.
For Resident Evil Outbreak, there are two male characters and two female characters to

choose. The player chose one male character.

25

Table 1 List of Video Games Included in Analysis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ratin PSZ Xbox Gamecube
E World Soccer Winning FIFA 06 4 SSX on Tour 7
Eleven 9 World Soccer Winning Madden NFL 07 8
Burnout Revenge 2 Eleven 9 ' FIFA 06 4
MLB 06: The show 3 Burnout Revenge 2 Harvest Moon:
FIFA 06 4 NCAA Football 07 Magical Melody
NBA 2K6
SSX on Tour 7
T Dragon Quest VIII: Fire emblem: path
Journey of the Cursed of radiance
King Need for speed:
Guitar Hero 5 most wanted
WWE Smack Down vs Battalion Wars
Raw 2006 Peter Jackson's
King Kong: The
official game of
the movie 10
X-Men Legends 2:
Rise of the
Apocalypse
M Resident Evil 4 Ninja Gaiden Black Prince of Persia:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Far Cry Instincts The two thrones “
Subsistence 6 Marc Ecko’s Getting up:
SOCOM 3 US Navy Content under pressure
Seals Brothers in arms: Earned
In Blood
Notes:
l'This game was on the top 10 list for two platforms and was played only on the PSZ
platform.

This game was on the top 10 list for two platforms and was played only on the Xbox
latform
g)Du Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the Xbox
platform instead.
This game was on the top 10 list for two platforms and was played only on the PSZ
platform.
6Due to the inaccessibility of this game, it was not included 1n the sample.
6'Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the Gamecube
platform instead.
Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the P82
platform instead.
Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the Xbox
platform instead.
Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the Xbox
platform instead.

26

'0' Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the PS2
p atform instead.

" Due to the inaccessibility of the game on this platform, it was played on the Xbox
platform instead.

27

Table 2 Distribution of race in expectation and observation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race Expected Value Observed Value

white persons not Hispanic 145 145

Persons of Hispanic or 31 0
Latino origin

Black persons 28 4
Native persons 2 0
Asian/ Pacific Islander 8 38
Mixed 3 0

 

 

 

Note: {(5, n = 217) = 169.1,p < .0001.

28

 

Table 3: Coding content in the games with stereotypical behaviors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Non-
Game R Brave Evil Vic Sex Role M F White white Age
ResiEvil M 10 0 1 1 0 Good 40 1 24 0 A
FarCry M l 7 0 1 0 Good 35 0 0 0 A
Ninja M 1 5 1 3 0 Good 37 0 0 37 A
X-Men T 26 0 2 0 Good 39 1 7 56 0 A
Prince M 10 2 2 0 Good 1 1 2 0 1 5 A
Harvest E 0 0 l 0 Good 1 1 0 0 T
SOCOM M 23 0 0 0 Good 3 8 0 23 15 A
Smack T 0 1 2 4 0 Good 1 6 16 32 0 A
Dragon T 2 l 0 0 Good 4 0 0 0 T-A
King
Kong T 24 0 3 0 Good 27 l 25 3 A
speed T 0 0 0 1 Good 1 1 3 0 A
Brother M 8 0 0 0 Good 1 6 0 9 0 A
Fire T 5 l 0 0 Good 9 2 0 0 A
Metal
Gear M 5 0 1 1 Good 1 3 1 0 0 A
Battalion T 8 0 1 0 Good 1 8 0 0 0 T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes: 1. This table provides the basic coding content in those games with stereotypical
behaviors. The abbreviations of the games are used; to find the complete name, please

refer to Table 1.

2. “R” refers to Rating of a game; “Brave” refers to the number of bravery
behaviors; “Evil” refers to the number of evil behaviors; “Vic” refers to the number of
victimization behaviors; “Sex” refers to the number of sexual behaviors; “Role” refers to
the role of the main character (good vs. bad); “M” refers to the number of male characters;
“F” refers to the number of female characters; “White” refers to the number of white
characters; “non-White” refers to the number of non-White characters; “Age” refers to

the general age of the character overall.

29

 

APPENDIX
Coding Scheme
1. Segment variable
1-1. Content of games
a. Games with no characters
b. Games with characters but no human characters
c. Games with human characters but no female characters at all
(1. Games with both male and female character
e. Games with only female character
1-2. Rating of games
1-3. Origin of game (Japan, US, other)
1—4. Game type (Beasley & Standley, 2002)
a. Team sports
b. Individual sports
c. Storyline
(1. Combat
e. Television and movie-based game
f. Other
2. Character variables:
Character: defined as a human, animal, or object within a video game that displayed
human-like appearance or qualities such as speaking, using tools, or making conscious
decisions. (Beasley & Standley, 2002)

2-1. Type of character:

30

Revelation: A character’s true type may be concealed or may change, and the true type is

revealed during the segment. Code the true type.

a. Human: A homosapien with no supernatural features.

b. Animal: A live action or animated mammal, reptile, bird, fish, amphibian, or shark.

c. Supernatural creature: A non-human that exceeds biological limits and/or
possesses supernatural powers.

d. Robot: An electro-mechanical or bio-mechanical device or group of devices that
can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks.

e. Anthropomorphized animal: An animal with human-like characteristics.
Eg. Mermaid and Donald Duck.

f. Anthropomorphized supernatural creature: A super creature with human-like
characteristics.

g. Other.

2-2. Sex:

Revelation: A character’s true sex may be concealed or may change, and the true sex is

revealed during the segment. Code the true sex.

In most cases, it is easy to assess sex for human characters. For anthropomorphized

characters or supernatural characters, it may be difficult to determine sex. Physical

appearance, behavioral patterns and voice intonation or cues should be all used to make

the judgment.

a.

b.

C.

Male
Female

Other

31

d. Can’t tell
2-3. Ethnicity:
Revelation: A character’s true ethnicity may be concealed or may change, and the true
ethnicity is revealed during the segment. Code the true ethnicity.
Only for human characters.
Categories derived from the US. census.

a. White

b. Hispanic

c. Black

d. Native American

e. Asian/Pacific Islander

f. Middle Eastern

g. Mixed

h. Can’t tell
2—4. Role of character (Downs, E., 2004)
a. Always-control primary character: Those that a video game player actively manipulates
and controls onscreen all the time.
b. Sometimes-control primary character: Those that a video game player actively
manipulates and controls onscreen part of the time; and the other the control switches to
other characters.
c. Secondary character: secondary characters are those that are immediately tied to or
related to the primary character by either aiding or deterring the primary character from

fulfilling their quest, while are controlled by the game itself.

32

(1. Background character: the others rather than primary and secondary characters.
Only primary and secondary characters are coded.
2-5. Attire variable (Downs, 2004)
Only for human characters.
Any garment that is worn in order to enhance, exaggerate, call attention to, or accentuate
the curves or angles of any part of the body (from the neck to above the knee) and which
by design, would arouse interest of physical intimacy fi'om others. Or the amount of
exposed skin a character shows.
a. Unrevealing
b. Partially revealing
c. Nudity (revealing)
(1. Not applicable
e. Other
2-6. Age
Only for human characters.
a. Child (0-12 years)
b. Teenage(13-19)
c. Adult (20-64)
(1. Elderly (65+)
e. Not applicable
f. Can’t tell
3. Behavior variables

Behavior refers to anything that an organism does involving action and response to

33

stimulation. Here, behavior is defined as an exchange that occurs between one character
(or characters) engaging in a particular type of action or reaction with other characters.
Any time the initiating character(s), behavior type, or target character(s) change, a new
behavior is created.
A behavior change occurs when:
1) When the initiating character(s) changes: becomes a new/different character; the
shifts from single to multiple characters; or shifts from multiple to single character.
2) When the target character changes: becomes a new/different character; shifts from
single to multiple characters; or target shifts from multiple to single character.
3) When the type of behavior changes (see behavior types 3-1 to 3-4).
3-1. Bravery behavior:
To be qualified as bravery behavior, the following criterion must be met:
The behavior must emphasize a character putting him/herself in harms way or at risk in
order to protect others (which would be heroic bravery) or self (non-heroic bravery) from
physical harm. Protection refers to any action that shields or removes the threat of
physical harm.
3-1-1. Rescuing self
3-1-2. Helping others (Heroic behavior)
3-1-3. Other
3-2. Evil behavior:
To be qualified as evil behavior, the following criterion must be met:
The behavior must emphasize a character engaging in acts that intentionally inflict harm

(physical and verbal) on others, or prevent others from achieving goals for the character’s

34

own self benefit (e.g., to feel better, to amuse the self, to release anger, or for personal
gain). Sometimes evil behavior acts as an obstacle to the goal of the game. (e.g., a
character tries to lure the main character away from his responsibilities, and when
successful, results in the main character’s failure and demotion back to the beginning of
the game.)

3-2-1. Inflicting intentional physical harm on others for self benefit

3-2-2. Inflicting intentional verbal harm on others for self benefit

3-2-3. Intentionally preventing others from achieving goals without hurting them

3-2-4. Other

3-3. Victimization behavior:

To be qualified as victimization behavior, the following criterion must be met:

The behavior must emphasize a character being the target of a violent attack. Violence is
defined as any overt depiction of a credible threat of physical force or the actual use of
such force intended to physically harm an animate being or group of beings. Violence
also includes certain depictions of physically hannful consequences against an animate
being/s that results from unseen violent means (Wilson et al., 1997). Examples of
victimization behavior include being kidnapped, and being physically or verbally harmed.
3-3-1. Being the target of violent verbal attack

3-3-2. Being the target of violent physical attack

3-3-3. Other

3-4. Sexual behavior:

To be qualified as sexual behavior, the following criteria must be met:

The behavior must emphasize talk or behavior that involves sexuality, sexual

35

suggestiveness, or sexual activities or relationships. Sexual behavior and talk about sex
are considered fundamentally distinct categories

3-4-1. Sexual actions:

A character’s actions which convey a sense of potential or likely sexual intimacy (Kunkel,
Cope, & Biely, 1999). For example, a passionate kiss between two characters with a
discemible romantic interest, or a woman licking her lips provocatively while gazing
intently at a man in a bar would be coded as sexual behavior.

3-4—2. Sexual talk:

“Talk about sex that involves a wide range of types of conversations that may involve
first-hand discussion of sexual interests and topics with potential partners, as well as
second-hand exchanges with others that convey information about one’s prior, anticipated,
or even desired future sexual activities. For purposes of measuring talk about sex, the
topics of both reproductive issues (such as contraception or abortion) and sexually-
transmitted diseases (including but not limited to AIDS) were considered as sexual”
(Kunkel et al., 1999, p. 231).

3-4-3. Other

Principle (in a hierarchical order):

A. Primary-character-priority principle: In a multiple-character-involving behavior,
code it from the primary character perspective. For instance, the primary character
is hurt by a secondary character, code it as being victim.

B. Human-priority principle: In a behavior involves both human character(s) and

non-human character(s), always code from human character(s) perspective.

36

C. Initiator-priority principle: In a multiple-secondary-character-involving behavior,
code it from the initiator perspective. For instance, A hurts B, A is initiative, so
code it from A’s perspective as an aggression, not as being-victim.

D. Revelation principle: A character’s type, true sex, true ethnicity may be concealed
or may change, and the truth is revealed during the segment. Code the true one.
(NTVS, 1997)

E. “Mandated ” exemption principle: According to Tamborini et a1. (2005), in sports
(such as wrestling), the violent acts compelled by rule should be labeled mandated.
It is due to the job-related requirement as an act motivated by the desire to gain
“power, status, popularity or affection”, not to evil intention. Therefore, those

violent behaviors should not be considered as evil or bravery behaviors.

37

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