How about checking with us this research that is giving something to say: sexualization in games or not affects people? Thus, according to a new research published on the ScienceDirect , sexualization in games does not seem to harm players. The results indicate that playing video games does not lead to misogynistic views or harmful results to mental health.
While female characters are often attractive and scantily clad in many games, some people have raised concerns that the sexualized representation of women has negative effects on gamers.
In short, to better understand whether playing video games is associated with decreased player well-being or increased misogyny, the research authors used a statistical technique known as meta-analysis to systematically evaluate the results of previous research.
Does Sexualization in Games Affect People or Not?
I've been studying the effects of video games on players for two decades , most of them violence. I think most people have come to accept that there is no relationship between violent video games and aggression or violent crime,” explained study author Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor of psychology at Stetson University.
However, people still wonder a lot about sexualization and whether games make male gamers more sexist toward women or whether female gamers experience more body dissatisfaction and other well-being issues . It's a much smaller field of research than violence, so we hoped to bring some clarity,” she added.
Ferguson and his research team performed a meta-analysis of eighteen relevant studies. All studies included a measure of exposure to general or sexualized video games. Fifteen of the studies measured aggression towards women or sexist attitudes, while ten studies measured outcomes related to depression, body image or anxiety. But researchers were unable to find a statistically significant relationship between video games and sexist attitudes or psychological well-being.
In general, the “moral panic” about video games and sexualization more or less follows the “closed-minded” pattern of the video game debate . Lots of hyperbole and moral outrage, but very little evidence that video games are causing any 'harm' to male or female gamers, he added.
As a purely 'public health' issue, this doesn't seem like a huge concern. That doesn't mean people can't advocate for better representation of women in gaming. They just need to be careful not to make “damaging” claims that can be easily discredited, calling into question what could be reasonable defense targets.” The researchers also assessed the quality of the studies by examining factors such as pre-registration, standardized measures, independent ratings of video game content, and the use of control variables .
Conclusion about the study
The main caveat is simply that many of the studies are not very good. The good news is that high-quality studies were less likely to find evidence of negative effects than lower-quality studies. In some cases, academics likely contributed their personal moral views to scholarship, albeit unintentionally. Granted, it's still a fairly small area of research, but this initial data has been so unsatisfactory that I'm not sure there's much to be gleaned here,” he clarified.
Obviously, we go through these cycles of blaming the media for social problems. At least with fictional media, the evidence generally reveals that we are likely scapegoating the media and that fiction rarely causes social problems. Again, to be fair, advocating for better representation of women in gaming might be a worthy cause, even if gaming doesn't cause negative effects. I support these efforts, I just hope that advocates don't misrepresent the evidence as part of their efforts.
Comment what you think about this new study. Furthermore, the featured image in this post is from Qureate's Prison Princess
See also:
- Yor Forger gets new +18 figure – Spy x Family
- Spy x Family – Artist draws Anya +18 in a different way
- Engage Kiss – Anime is canceled after controversial kiss
Via: ScienceDirect and Kudasai
