Zhou Liling, Han Ning, Xu Zeran, Brian Corlyn, Hussain Siraj
School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
School of Foreign Languages, Changchun Guanghua University, Changchun, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 May 12;13:810954. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.810954. eCollection 2022.
This research explored the influencing factors of gender swapping among female players in online games and their impact on online gaming behavior. Based on an online survey of 3,658 female players in China, we found that perceived benefits and the tendency, a psychological indulgence in enjoying novels, comics, or series on love and sex between attractive males, were the most important factors for female players to employ male avatars. Sexual orientation, perceived anonymity, and perceived tolerance also had a significant influence on gender swapping. Different from the practical benefits perceived by men who use female avatars in online games, the perceived benefit for female players who use male avatars was to avoid gender discrimination. In order to obtain more freedom and fairer treatment, they chose male avatars for a better experience. Female players with a higher degree of gender swapping showed a stronger aggressiveness and dominant "hyper-masculinity" behavior tendency in the game. Though online virtual worlds may be a convenient place for females to experience gender equality through gender swapping, the findings of this study suggest that gender swapping in games may, to some extent, perpetuate or even reinforce gender stereotypes in the real world.
本研究探讨了网络游戏中女性玩家性别转换的影响因素及其对在线游戏行为的影响。基于对中国3658名女性玩家的在线调查，我们发现感知收益以及对欣赏有魅力男性之间爱情与性的小说、漫画或连续剧的心理沉溺倾向，是女性玩家使用男性化身的最重要因素。性取向、感知匿名性和感知宽容度也对性别转换有显著影响。与网络游戏中使用女性化身的男性所感知到的实际收益不同，使用男性化身的女性玩家所感知到的收益是避免性别歧视。为了获得更多自由和更公平的待遇，她们选择男性化身以获得更好的体验。性别转换程度较高的女性玩家在游戏中表现出更强的攻击性和主导性的“超男性化”行为倾向。尽管在线虚拟世界可能是女性通过性别转换体验性别平等的便利场所，但本研究结果表明，游戏中的性别转换可能在某种程度上延续甚至强化现实世界中的性别刻板印象。
