Currently, our society has begun a process of digitalization that undoubtedly deserves analysis. Virtual environments such as video games are changing the way we relate to each other, although, unfortunately, they reproduce stereotypes rooted in real life. In fact, numerous investigations highlight how sexism has an alarming presence in online video games, highlighting the need to make visible and deeply analyze this discrimination usually directed towards women.
To address this problem, Mariela Bustos-Ortega, Hugo Carretero-Dios, Jesús L. Megías and Mónica Romero-Sánchez, members of the Sexism, Myths and Gender Violence Laboratory, within the Psychology of Social Problems group (HUM-289) at the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (University of Granada), have developed a scale aimed at assessing sexism against women who regularly play video games (Sexism Against Women Gamers Scale, SAWGS). This scale fills a gap in the scientific literature, providing a specific measure of the sexist attitudes that women suffer because they play video games.
The team responsible for this research developed the Spanish and English versions of the instrument through five studies, in which a total of 2437 male and female gamers from Spain and the United States participated. Regarding its psychometric properties, the scores of both versions showed high reliability, while exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated an excellent fit of the theoretical model that supported the creation of the scale. Furthermore, different tests confirmed that the SAWGS measures essentially the same in men and women, and that, cross-culturally, although with certain nuances, the scale is also equivalent when comparing Spanish and American samples.
The results also showed how greater sexism against female gamers leads to greater advocacy of beliefs that justify or minimize intimate partner violence, or sexism in general, as well as being related to lower adherence to feminism. In addition, men who were more sexist against female gamers showed a greater tendency to minimize a sexist incident suffered by a female gamer when playing online, also supporting a less severe punishment for players involved in such discrimination.
In short, the existence of this scale marks a promising line of research in the understanding of sexism in the field of online video games, allowing the development of education and intervention programs and would also reduce the negative consequences for female gamers.
Contact:
Mariela Bustos Ortega (@email)
Mónica Romero-Sánchez (@email)
Sexism, Myths and Gender Violence Laboratory:
Reference:
Bustos-Ortega, M., Carretero-Dios, H., Megías, J. L., & Romero-Sánchez, M. (2023). Sexist Attitudes in Online Video Gaming: Development and Validation of the Sexism Against Women Gamers Scale (SAWGS) in Spanish and English. Psychology of Women Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843231162837