1 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00454published: 10 July 2019 Frontiers in Psychiatry |… [603433]

1 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454
SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00454published: 10 July 2019
Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgEdited by:
Takahiro A. Kato,
Kyushu University,
Japan
Reviewed by:
Giuseppe Carrà,
University of Milano-Bicocca,
Italy
Rodrigo Marín-Navarrete,
Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría
Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (INPRFM),
Mexico
*Correspondence:
Olatz Lopez-Fernandez
[anonimizat] ;
[anonimizat]
Specialty section:
This article was submitted to
Addictive Disorders,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Received: 20 January 2019
Accepted: 10 June 2019
Published: 10 July 2019
Citation:
Lopez-Fernandez O, Williams AJ,
Griffiths MD and Kuss DJ (2019)
Female Gaming, Gaming Addiction,
and the Role of Women Within
Gaming Culture: A Narrative
Literature Review.
Front. Psychiatry 10:454.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00454Female Gaming, Gaming Addiction,
and the Role of Women Within
Gaming Culture: A Narrative
Literature Review
Olatz Lopez-Fernandez 1 ,2*, A. Jess Williams 1,3, Mark D. Griffiths 1 and Daria J. Kuss 1
1 International Gaming Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom,
2 Turning Point, Eastern Health and Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 3 Institute for Mental Health,
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Research investigating female gaming has begun to emerge despite gaming being
traditionally more popular with males. Research in the 21st century has drawn attention
to the role of women in culture, society, and technology, and female gaming is one of the
growing phenomena not to have been researched in depth. The aim of the present paper
was to review female gaming (i.e., the role of females within video game culture) and identify
any associated psychopathological symptomatology. The review adapted the Sample,
Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, Research (SPIDER) model in conducting a
narrative literature review. A search of three scientific electronic databases yielded 49 papers
for further evaluation. From a methodological perspective, studies had to fulfill the following
criteria to be included: i) published between the years 2000 and 2018; ii) assessed female
gaming or the female position within gaming culture, iii) contained quantitative, qualitative,
or mixed methods approaches to produce empirical data or discuss theoretical implications
through reviews, iv) be retrievable as a full-text peer-reviewed journal paper, and v) published
in English, German, Polish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or French. Four categories emerged
from the papers: i) the benefits of female gaming, ii) why women might play video games
less than men, iii) perceptions and realities of female characters within video games, and
iv) women’s position in gaming culture. The main findings showed playing video games has
benefits for women in terms of enhancing cognitive, social, and physical abilities. However,
they are less encouraged to play video games due to negative expectations based on gender
and/or experiences during game play. Video games are associated with stereotypical male
characteristics, such as being overly aggressive, and frequently contain sexualized content.
Female gamers appear to require coping strategies to handle online harassment. Females
look for different things in video games, which are not often included in game designs thereby
limiting their abilities. For instance, female avatar representation—which is exaggerated and
hypersexualized—can prompt social comparisons and lead to feelings of decreased self-
esteem, depression, and other impacts on well-being. Overall, there are still obstacles for
women playing video games even though they comprise half of the gaming population.
Keywords: internet addiction, internet gaming disorder, gaming disorder, behavioral addiction, female gaming,
gaming culture, narrative review

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
2 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgINTRODUCTION
Over the past two decades, the number of female video game
players has increased, and females today make up half of the
gaming population according to both the Entertainment Software
Association (ESA) ( 1) and the Interactive Software Federation of
Europe (ISFE) ( 2). Simultaneously, research on addictive internet
use has proliferated, and gaming disorder was recently recognized
as a new mental health disorder (and a behavioral addiction)
by the World Health Organization ( 3). Thus, gaming addiction
is now officially a new psychopathology that has emerged as a
consequence of the development and increasing popularity of
video games and online technologies during the 21st century.
Despite the growing female gaming population, almost
all research on gaming addiction is focused on male gamers.
Currently, there is no agreement on the prevalence of gaming
addiction due to its conceptualization and methodological
problems within the research that has been conducted to date.
This is because most research i) comprises surveys using non-
representative samples (i.e., instead of using randomized
samples, or other methodological approaches, such as classic
experiments or mixed methods research); ii) uses different scales
to assess problematic gaming [e.g., Problem Video Game Playing
Questionnaire ( 4) for offline and online video gaming, Internet
Gaming Disorder Scale–Short-Form ( 5)]; iii) uses scales and
screens based on different addiction criteria (e.g., substance use
disorder criteria, gambling disorder criteria); iv) uses different
cutoff scores even when using the same instrument; v) utilizes
different conceptualizations of gaming [e.g., problematic gaming,
addictive gaming, internet gaming disorder (IGD), online gaming
disorder, offline gaming disorder]; vi) assesses gaming without
taking into account the various technologies and devices (e.g.,
computers, consoles, smartphones, and tablets); and vii) does not
tend to take into account the different game genres played [e.g.,
massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs),
multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, etc.].
For these reasons, the estimated prevalence rates of disordered
gaming have been reported to range from 0.2% up to 34% ( 6),
which is highly variable for a disorder. However, among samples
using nationally representative data, the range is much smaller
(up to 9% at most) ( 6). Higher prevalence rates are reported in
Asian countries, especially in young adult males ( 7). However,
very little attention has been paid to the societal and cultural
parameters associated with gaming, even in cross-cultural
studies. These tend to have a robust psychometric approach that
usually guarantees measurement invariance across languages
(8, 9) and focus on individual factors ( 10, 11). However, these
recent studies suggest an integrative biocultural approach (i.e.,
to distinguish universal as opposed to culturally contingent
dimensions of human suffering) as well as addressing socio-
cultural factors and how these impact on mental health (in
general) and problem gaming as a potential form of behavioral
addiction (more specifically).
During the past decade, a few empirical studies have specifically
researched female gaming ( 12–14). Through interviews and online
diaries, Lewis and Griffiths ( 12), as well as McLean and Griffiths
(15), highlighted that women usually play casual games typically for shorter periods compared with men. They take on their own
female roles as gamers and have their own i) gaming experience
and habits, ii) game motivations and choices, iii) technology
preferences, and iv) gamer identity. In summary, this research has
found that female casual gamers report i) peripheral knowledge
from gaming [i.e., technical knowledge, games knowledge in First-
Person Shooter (FPS) and MMORPGs]; ii) gaming as a domestic
life priority (i.e., gaming as an activity influenced by shared vs.
non-shared leisure pursuit, unsympathetic partner, facilitating
social behavior; e.g., Wii Walk It Out ); iii) gaming as a personal
preoccupation (e.g., as routine in daily life, to satisfy an emotional
need, for competition and/or self-challenge, as an enjoyable waste
of time, or as a hobby); and iv) gaming and technology as gendered
(i.e., concerns about gendered stereotypes) because female gamers
characterize themselves as “tech-savvy” (which goes alongside
social perceptions as “geeky guys” because gamer identity appears
to be more associated with masculinity). However, it has also been
found that women feel comfortable making technology purchases
and consider age as a more important factor than gender, which
appears to negatively affect older women who do not grow up
with technologies and online video games. Finally, female identity
is sometimes viewed as vulnerable and may underlie why some
female gamers utilize male avatars in-game.
However, from a neuroimaging perspective, Wang and colleagues
(14) recently found that females appear to be more vulnerable to
online gaming addiction relative to males. The study tried to get
a better understanding of sex differences relating to biological
mechanisms underlying IGD, a proposed mental health disorder
included in the final section of the latest (fifth) Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American
Psychiatric Association ( 16). They used the structural magnetic
resonance imaging technique and detected a group-by-sex
interaction. More specifically, they found that male and female
IGD participants had increased and reduced cortical thickness,
respectively, alongside their right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)
compared to same-sex recreational game players. Contrarily,
male and female IGD participants reduced and increased cortical
thickness, respectively, in their right PCC. Moreover, only females
had negative correlations between cortical thickness and their
self-reported cravings and IGD scores. These findings suggest that
males and females are differently affected by IGD and that women
are more vulnerable than men based on the effects created by IGD
in the brain regions examined.
More recent quantitative studies analyzing IGD ( 17, 18) have
found that the prevalence of disordered gaming appears to be
more balanced than previous studies. For instance, a recent
study ( 17) found differences between genders when comparing
specific problematic internet uses, where the potential at-risk
problem online gamers comprised 10.8% of the total sample
(i.e., 5.3% males and 5.5% females). Moreover, how gaming
preference affects IGD scores across genders has been also
observed ( 18), where IGD was predicted by several variables
with gender differences. This included time spent online, gaming
motives, and depressive symptoms. For female gamers, IGD
predictors included higher time spent online, higher scores on
specific gaming motives (i.e., escape and competition), together
with significant depressive symptoms, compared with male

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
3 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orggamers [e.g., whose IGD predictors were two types of motives
to play online video games (i.e., escape and coping), together
with higher depressive symptoms than females].
Another gender issue in IGD concerns gaming preference across
genders. For example, the respective game genre that individuals
play has a different effect on IGD score depending upon the player’s
gender, although results are contradictory (e.g., men appear to prefer
MMORPGs, while women appear to prefer casual video games)
(18). For men, coping is a predictor of IGD, while for women,
competition is a predictor, whereas escapism is a predictor of IGD
in both genders. However, in a recent quantitative study concerning
female gaming, women who played video games also reported
spending more time on role-playing games, MMORPGs, FPS
games, simulation games, action-adventure games, casual games,
and MOBA games. Moreover, achievement and social motivations
were predictors of IGD and daily time spent online ( 19). Thus, the
preferred game genre may explain differences between genders in
terms of time spent gaming (e.g., especially FPS games, MMORPGs,
and MOBA games) and IGD scores (e.g., especially MMOPRGs and
MOBA games), at least among female gamers ( 19).
Clinicians treating gaming addiction have reported that this
mental disorder may go unnoticed in females ( 20) and that women
being treated for this problem appear to show differences in the
experience of other psychopathologies (including IGD and other
addictions) compared with men ( 21). Nevertheless, problematic
and potentially pathological gaming in women has rarely been
addressed in either theoretical work or empirical research.
With respect to the scarce literature on female gaming and female
gaming culture ( 22), women are arguably situated outside of video
game culture (i.e., they are not part of traditional masculine gaming
culture) ( 18, 19), which results in a low gamer identity profile (and
is a reason why women may choose a male avatar while gaming
or is more competitive than male gamers), and needs to take into
account about how and why female gaming can become stigmatized.
Women are often discriminated against by male players, which also
discourages women from labeling themselves as gamers ( 13).
A number of comprehensive narrative reviews have been
undertaken regarding the phenomenon of female gaming relating
to gaming culture. According to male gender stereotypes, women
are not considered as “true” or “hard-core” gamers (where video
game skill is viewed as the main defining feature of a “gamer, ” e.g.,
playing more complex and competitive video games on dedicated
consoles, identifying with the gaming community, and sometimes
engaging in competitive electronic sports where gamers can
earn money in international tournaments), mainly because they
appear to play more casually and less skillfully compared to their
male counterparts ( 23). However, this depends on how “gamer”
is defined and the fact that most professional gamers are male.
Furthermore, female players who achieve a high level of skill and
competence are invisible and/or actively marginalized and may be
problematic in terms of the conceptualization of “female gamer. ”
Moreover, the association between representation of women
within video games and their well-being has been recently studied
(24). Findings showed female gamers report self-objectification
and consequently perceive low levels of self-efficacy, which was
corroborated by both genders (e.g., female characters are usually
subordinate to the male hero, in addition to being objectified and hypersexualized). Nevertheless, solutions to some of the
effects of stereotype threat on females’ gaming performance have
been demonstrated via experiments. Kaye and Pennington ( 25)
examined the impact of stereotype threat on female online gamers’
performance (i.e., situations in which individuals’ performance may
be hindered by stereotype-salient cues), and whether manipulating
the availability of multiple social identities (i.e., personal self and the
self as a product of valued social groups) is established effectively for
eliminating these performance decrements. Findings showed that
stereotype-threatened females underperformed on the gaming task
relative to males in the control condition (e.g., prejudice in online
video games), and the intervention of multiple social identities
appeared to protect females’ gaming performance from stereotype
threat (e.g., via more supportive gaming communities through
inter-group cooperative tasks).
Thus, two types of harms appear to be associated with
female gaming at present: i) the personal harm of potential
gaming addiction at an individual and psychopathological
level, and ii) the societal harm of stigmatizing female gaming at
a community and psychosocial level. To date, few studies have
focused on the second type of harm studies, and even fewer
have examined gaming behaviors based on individual gamers’
perceptions and potential risk of psychopathology, such as
gaming addiction [e.g., IGD ( 17–19) or Gaming Disorder ( 5)].
Moreover, almost all studies reported have focused on negative
consequences associated with female gaming without assessing
female gaming behavior from both positive and negative
perspectives at individual and community levels. Consequently,
there is a gap in knowledge regarding female gaming from a
gender perspective, including its nature, benefits, and potential
risks to individual and community health.
In order to overcome the limitations in female gaming
research, the aim of this narrative literature review is to provide
a comprehensive overview of studies assessing female gaming
or the position of women within gaming culture. The present
paper includes studies from both an individual perspective and
a cultural perspective in order to obtain a more inclusive and
contemporary view of gaming behavior in females.
METHODS
Data Source, Search Strategy,
and Research Questions
A narrative review of the literature was undertaken to identify all of
the relevant publications concerning female gaming, female gaming
addiction, and the position of women within gaming culture. The
review adapted the Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design,
Evaluation, Research (SPIDER) model in conducting a narrative
literature review ( 25). This is an alternative search strategy tool
compared to the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome
(PICO) model, which is usually used as a systematic search
strategy tool intended for quantitative research questions ( 26). The
following research questions where formulated: 1) What is the role
of the female gamers in gaming behavior and gaming culture in
contemporary society? 2) Which variables have an influence on
the role of female gamers at an individual and community level?

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
4 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgBetween February and March 2018, a literature search was
conducted using the scientific databases Web of Science (WoS ),
PsycInfo , and PubMed . The following search terms were entered
with regard to female gaming, specifically, girl* OR woman OR
female* OR women AND game* OR gaming AND mobile OR
online OR video* OR digital OR MMO* OR MOBA OR virtual
OR VR OR AR OR FPS.
Eligibility Criteria
The SPIDER model structured the search terms and eligibility of
criteria (see Table 1 ).
Study Selection and Data Extraction
Following title and abstract review, duplicate papers were removed.
All other papers that appeared to meet the inclusion criteria were
then assessed using the full text. At this point, any variations from
the inclusion criteria were noted, and these papers were excluded.
For instance, studies where the female subpopulation could not
be distinguished from the male subpopulation were excluded.
In addition to this, studies which were not published in peer-
reviewed journals were excluded as indicated in the inclusion
criteria ( 27–34). The search strategy is presented in Figure 1 .
All included studies were read, and key pieces of information
were extracted including: sample size, recruitment process and
participants, design of the study, aims, measures or tools used,
main results, and the implications of the study. Thematic synthesis
was then conducted.
RESULTS
Forty-nine studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria for
this review (see Figure 1 ; see Appendix A in the Supplementary
Material ). As this study was the first of this nature concerning
female gaming, the included studies represented research using
various methodologies, such as clinical trials, experimental
studies, and case studies, as well as other methodologies. Four
main types of research were identified: i) the benefits of female gaming; ii) why women might play video games less than men;
iii) perceptions and realities of female characters within video
games; and iv) women’s position in gaming culture. The results
section briefly outlines each of these. A few studies had material
which could be included in more than one category.
The Benefits of Female Gaming [ n = 11]
Within the included studies, several considered how women
engaging with video games might have a beneficial outcome.
These comprised research examining clinical or environmental
interventions ( 35–40), investigating cognitive and social learning,
as well as strategies developed through game play ( 36, 37, 41–45).
Studies that investigated the utility of video games to enrich an
aspect of the participants’ life were proportionally more recent
than those which considered other features of female gaming
(35–40). Clinical interventions considered the physical ( 36, 37,
39) and mental benefits ( 35, 37, 38) which could be offered to
women who interact with video games. All of these studies saw
improvements in their participants’ abilities or health. However,
they had relatively small sample sizes (ranging from two seniors
(37, 40) to 23 women ( 37). The majority of studies also recruited
from only one website ( 35, 38, 40).
Despite these limitations, video games were shown to have
physical benefits, such as encouraging exercise in adults with
lower mobility due to age and illnesses ( 37, 38, 40) and relieving
pain symptoms in participants with fibromyalgia syndrome
by offering cognitive distraction ( 38). Female gaming was also
shown to improve mental well-being because video games were
demonstrated to be acceptable psychotherapeutic tools to assist
mental health recovery in adolescents ( 35). Gaming positively
influenced executive functioning ability in women with urinary
incontinence ( 37) and attention in elderly individuals ( 40). Two
studies considered how gaming environments might be utilized
as a teaching tool within undergraduate student populations
(36). In both studies, it was observed that learners with less
gaming experience showed lower levels of presence within the
environment than others and that women were just as likely to
succeed with this type of educational intervention as men ( 36, 39).
TABLE 1 | SPIDER Table of Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria.
Inclusion Exclusion
Sample Prioritization was given to female gamers, although other samples
including male gamers were included if there was a subsample of
women analyzed independently as a specific genderFemale gamers not addressing female gamers issues at an individual
or community levels; male gamer samples; or female and male gamer
samples where both were analyzed together as a unique gender
Phenomenon of Interest Studies about female gaming or females in gaming culture Studies examining other related themes (e.g., male gamers, industry
professionals, etc).
Studies which do not specifically consider gaming or gaming culture
Design Theoretical (e.g., reviews) or empirical peer-reviewed papers
with all methodological approaches (e.g., experiments, survey,
qualitative or mixed-methods) Non-peer reviewed papers (e.g., gray literature, book chapters,
conference proceedings, PhD theses, etc).
Evaluation Synthesis, quantitative analysis, qualitative or mixed methods
analyses of benefits of female gaming, why women play
video games, and female characters within video games; and
women’s role in gaming culture.Any paper not addressing the topic included in the research
questions (e.g., women learning electroacoustic composition)
Research Type Peer-reviewed journal articles published between the years
2000 and 2018, with full text available in English, German,
Polish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, or French.Peer-reviewed papers published in the 20th century. Gray literature
(e.g., conference papers, reports, thesis, dissertations), protocols,
editorials, opinion pieces, etc).

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
5 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.org
FIGURE 1 | Flow chart displaying the search process.

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
6 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgHowever, DeNoyelles and colleagues ( 36) concluded that college-
age women were less likely to be gamers. Therefore, they suggested
that female non-gamers might struggle slightly more due to less
gaming experience and suggested standardized support according
to gender.
Even at an early age, it has been demonstrated that girls have
similar abilities to gain strategy and performance skills by playing
video games compared to boys ( 41). This was shown in 104
children (second to fifth-grade) where frequency of gaming was
viewed as a better predictor of gaming performance and strategy
than gender ( 41). This was reinforced by Olson and colleagues
(45) who considered the main differences between video game
play of males and females to be the amount of time spent playing
and the types of video games. In a sample of 1,254 children taken
from two schools’ seventh and eighth grade classes, it was shown
that gaming was very common with 93.6% of children playing
video games over the past 6  months but that boys were much
more likely to play over 15 h a week in comparison to girls ( 45).
In a cross-country study of 145 young girls ( M = 11.3 years)
who played video games online, it was shown that prosocial
gaming exposure to typical online video games (e.g., MMORPGs)
had a strong relationship with perspective taking and sympathy,
suggesting less severe violence acceptance ( 43). Within in-person
co-playing, a subsample of girls demonstrated heightened prosocial
behavior and stronger emotional connection when engaging with
their parents ( 44). Again, this is evidence that video game playing
has a positive impact on how girls develop their cognitive abilities,
including social interaction. Alternatively, Olson and colleagues
(45) demonstrated that more boys played video games than girls
and that gaming could be utilized as a male anger management
strategy. This could be reflective of how adolescents are primed to
cope with emotional responses.
It has also been found that adult female gamers need less input
when evoking response reactions than female non-gamers and
have a greater neural plasticity which enhances this ability due to
the familiarity of movements which are needed in gaming ( 42).
This was verified in two studies by Gorbet and Sergio ( 42), in which
they showed that playing video games has beneficial consequences
on visuomotor performance but that these brain patterns are
different from previous studies observing male responses, which
may indicate different ways in which male and female brains react
to problem solving within video games. Nonetheless, video games
have a positive impact on muscle movements and response times
to stimuli, as well as enhancing brain plasticity ( 42).
Why Women Might Play Less Video Games
than Men [ n = 17]
Traditionally, women are thought to play less video games than
men ( 13, 14). Several studies included in this narrative review
discussed this consideration and offered reasons why female
gaming is less common. Notable was the influence of gender
expectations among those that engaged with playing video games.
As previously mentioned, Olson and colleagues ( 45) attributed
gender differences in time spent gaming to how social gender
identities influence how children play, although male and female
children play for the same reasons (e.g., fun, creative engagement, and emotional coping). One study found that if women play as
often as men, they tend to reach similar levels of success within
the game, discouraging the belief that women are less skilful at
gaming ( 46). However, they also noted that female players tend to
play less or stop earlier than their male counterparts, which they
argued was due to gender expectations and peer community, e.g.,
game play was viewed as male dominated ( 46). These implications
originated from two large studies of 9,483 players and 18,000
responses across two online video games. The vast majority of both
populations were men, 82% and 74.5%, respectively ( 46); thus,
from the respondents alone these studies indicate a community
heavily featuring men.
The lower levels of female gaming may also be due to the nature of
video games and the relationship with personal traits. For instance,
violence and aggression are the focal point of many video games,
such as FPS games. It has been suggested that repeated exposure
to violent video games may elicit more aggression from boys than
girls ( 47). A study of 98 adolescents from China indicated that
there was no difference in reaction time to aggressive words when
girls were primed by violent and non-violent video games, but that
boys scored significantly higher when playing violent video games
(47). This finding is supported by previous results ( 48) suggesting
that violent-sexist video games are related to masculine beliefs
(e.g., aggression and dominance), and therefore reduced empathic
feelings when considering violence towards women. This might
suggest that girls play video games less frequently than boys due
to the level of aggression required by some video games. However,
Ferguson and Donnellan ( 49) found contradictory results when
running confirmatory analysis of Gabbiadini and colleagues’
(48) three-way interaction between game condition (neutral,
violent, or violent-sexist), gender, and avatar identification. This
demonstrated that there was no indication of a main effect of
game content on empathy towards girls and that masculine beliefs
were affected only slightly ( p = 0.049). The authors suggested that
this inconsistency of results would likely be reduced by a cultural
research shift to preregistered studies and a focus on the validity of
published results ( 49).
Generally, it is argued that exposure to violent video games
can increase aggressive behavior and that this motivation can be
higher when playing as a same-sex character ( 50). This second
point relates less strongly to female gaming due to there being
fewer female characters to act as ( 50) and because violence in video
games causes women to disengage earlier ( 51). Within their study
of 444 students across two universities, Hartmann and colleagues
(51) suggested that women had limited exposure to violent video
games due to trait empathy, which caused more anticipated guilt
while playing, and therefore reducing enjoyment. Both men and
women often select male avatars, which has been associated with
more aggressive game play ( 52). For women, the selection of a
male avatar may negatively influence the level of identification
with the avatar. This may lead to women playing less often than
men not due to aggression but due to less presence with characters
within the video games. This conjecture is supported by studies
from Eastin ( 53), which indicate that same-sex avatars encourage
greater levels of presence within players, influencing aggression
(54). Therefore, it is possible that female gamers do not succeed
as much within violent video games as they often have to play an

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
7 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgopposite-sex character competing against opposite-sex characters,
reducing their presence and aggression, thus causing less success
when leveling up or mastering the game.
Related to this, Norris ( 54) explored how individuals with
aggressive personalities might interact with computer use and
gaming in a population of 430 women recruited online. The
population was split by those who were gamers and those who used
chat rooms. Gamers were not found to be more aggressive than
chatters, but more frequent game play was associated with more
aggression within gamers ( 54). Using computers was thought to
be masculine, with women who scored highly for masculine traits
(e.g., being active, independent, and competitive) being shown
to have higher levels of computer use ( 54). This provides some
evidence for the association between game play and aggression.
However, it does not consider the type of video games that the
gamers in this sample played or the violent content of these. Again,
encouraging computer use and viewing gaming as a cross-cultural
activity (rather than masculine activity) was suggested ( 54).
Alternatively, Ferguson and Donnellan ( 49) suggest that female
gamers tend to get stressed within gaming not because of the
hostility or aggression of video games, but instead the annoyance
of the game not being suited to them or what they would naturally
select to play. This would suggest that women play less than men
simply due to annoyance that the video games are not developed
with female audiences in mind, as much as their male counterparts.
A major reason why women tend to play less video games than
men is the coping strategies that are required to handle harassment
online ( 55–57). One benefit of anonymous online game play is
that individuals may change their gender (e.g., changing their
avatar from male to female or vice versa), allowing them to explore
their gender identities ( 55). However, this can also have negative
consequences. For example, Crow and Watts ( 55) found that some
male teenagers changed their gender online to gain help from
other players in the game or to help get rare items. This reinforced
the stereotype that female players were less skilled and seeking
preferential treatment, thus generally having to deal with more
harassment. Women acting as male characters online was viewed
as a valid strategy for handling harassment ( 55–58). Indeed, Martey
and colleagues ( 58) found that while men were more likely to switch
their avatar´s gender, they often did not seek to hide their offline
gender, unlike women. Gender switching was considered to be
more of a strategic selection within this sample ( 58), which might
be related to the older age of the participants, averaging 29 years in
comparison to the adolescents in Crowe and Watts’ sample ( 55).
In their qualitative study of strategies for online harassment, Cote
(56) noted that strategies for managing gaming environments were
often used such as playing offline, blocking players, and needing to
prove oneself within the game. In informal conversations with nine
online gamers, four of whom were women, coping strategies again
favored anonymity of gender, non-verbal play, and banding with
other women when dealing with sexual harassment or expectations
from other players ( 59). Female gamers were considered inherently
different, in that their legitimacy was put into question and they
were asked to “prove” their gender ( 59). This hinders women from
having the same gaming experience as men, and it impacts on their
progression within video games ( 57, 59). Fox and Tang ( 57) found
that across multiple countries, a common technique to avoid harassment was to reduce communication either completely or
by masking their voices. By doing this, coordination abilities with
teammates were reduced, causing women to level up more slowly
than their male counterparts.
Motivations for game play may also be indicated as a reason why
women tend to play less than men. One study found that women
playing Diablo III tended to be motivated by their partners acting
as a proxy player for the partner’s character when the male partner
was too busy to play ( 60). This often ended with women deciding
to buy and play the game themselves, often playing longer and
spending more money than men ( 60). While this might not be
a usual way to introduce others to gaming, the study provided
evidence that encouraging female gaming had a positive effect on
women wanting to play video games more often. This could relate
to women feeling that playing video games influences their value
as a significant other, which was demonstrated by Kasumovic and
colleagues ( 61) within their studies. Sexual interest and mate value
were positively related to violent video game exposure among
women, and this was discussed as being due to women feeling
like more attractive partners by having this shared interest ( 61).
Therefore, a motivation to engage with gaming might be related
to self-perceived sexual attractiveness.
Not only do video games have some utility to elicit motivation
through self-perceived attraction, but Song and Fox ( 62) suggest
that romantic video games can relate to these beliefs and thereby
motivate romantically inclined individuals to participate in this
activity. This study found that women with higher identification
with their avatars had stronger parasocial beliefs (the perception
of the figure to be known socially, rather than seen as a fictional
character) about the romantic target within the game. These
individuals also tended to have stronger beliefs about idealized
romance ( 62). In this sense, the motivation to play is related to
their desire of maintaining the relationship with the character
within game, similar to studies which indicate shared gaming is a
positive aspect of the partner relationship ( 60, 61).
Perceptions and Realities of Female
Characters within Video Games [ n = 12]
Nearly one quarter of the included studies observed female
characters within video games. These are broadly separated into
studies considering the appearance of characters ( 63–67), how
these characters were used in the video games ( 68–70), and how
the characters themselves influence gamers’ beliefs ( 71–74). A
number of these studies considered the physical characteristics
of female characters through video game covers or game
representation within gaming culture ( 63–65). It was often noted
that women were less featured than men on game covers and that
when they were featured, this was in a highly sexualized manner
with exaggerated bodies, particularly regarding size of breasts
and buttocks and slimness of waist ( 63, 65–69). Fisher ( 65), who
considered characters from video game magazines, suggested
that women were represented as sex objects rather than actual
characters or avatars for gamers. These studies noted that positive
portrayals were rare and weak within presentation, which may
further discourage video game use among women ( 65). Indeed,
this may detract from how women interact with gaming culture.

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
8 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgAcross 368 characters, it was shown that female video game
characters were smaller than a typical American and had unrealistic
body proportions ( 67). Worryingly, Martins and colleagues ( 67)
suggested that the highest degree of photorealism within characters
were those taken from children’s video games. Unsurprisingly,
video games intended for older audiences tend to feature the
most sexualized characters, with fighting video games having the
highest sexualization overall ( 66). Sexualization of women within
video games was not shown to be associated with the success of
video game sales across a 31-year period ( 66). Alternatively, within
Spanish versions of console game covers, longitudinal comparative
analysis suggested that there has been a decrease in the presence
of violence and sexual objectification in female characters in
more recent years ( 64). It is key to note here that across countries,
depending on laws and policies in different countries, the covers
of video games may vary and that the results of Burgess et al. ( 63),
Fisher ( 65), and Martins and colleagues ( 67) are related specifically
to US game releases. Near ( 70) stated that in their study of 399 video
games purposively sampled from US sales, having a woman in the
center or alone on the game cover negatively impacted sales.
As noted by Burgess and colleagues ( 63), male characters were
almost 4 times more likely to be portrayed than female characters
on console video game covers and were given significantly more
game-relevant action. Of the utility given to women within
video games, female characters are more likely to be secondary
to the story of the game than males, and their role is typically
sexualized. This was shown across 571 video games with playable
female characters ( 66). This relationship is not demonstrated in
the sample of 12 contemporary video games of 22 characters
conducted by Jansz and Martis ( 69), who found that while male
characters dominated video games, there was equal gender
distribution between leading protagonists. Alternatively, female
support characters were considered to hold more dominant
positions compared to their male counterparts who were
considered to be submissive ( 69). On the other hand, when
looking at how children interpret physical features of characters,
it was suggested that strength or masculine characteristics, such
as athletic arms, are a translation of the character’s abilities
rather than just for appearance ( 68). While this study was
only conducted with 19 children, seven of whom were girls, it
suggests that the appearance of a character is acceptable if it is
representative of the abilities the characters hold.
However, while this is an interesting consideration of how
children might interpret characters’ bodies, there have been
several studies showing that a game character’s appearance
may negatively impact how people perceive their own bodies
(67, 71, 74). Martins and colleagues ( 67) considered that the
high level of photorealism within children’s video games could
influence body dissatisfaction at an early age and negatively
impact how children perceive healthy bodies. For university
students, the effect of characters’ bodies on self-perception has
been demonstrated in both males and females, with both studies
demonstrating reduced self-esteem ( 71). Interestingly, the
female study evidenced that although self-esteem was impacted,
body satisfaction was not, and this was attributed to female
gamers considering the unrealistic comparisons being made ( 71).
This might be a reflection of a smaller sample being used in the female study (32 participants compared to 51 within the
first study) ( 71), or it could be a representation of video game
priming at earlier ages.
Another study, which was more recently published, also
examined male and female university students across two studies
(74). They found that video games featuring hyper-idealized
character bodies had a positive impact on body image satisfaction
and attitudes among women but worsened these beliefs among
men ( 74). These studies were conducted with a larger pool of
students (149 female students and 197 males) ( 74). However, with
regard to abilities, it was considered women might make downward
comparisons based on the empowerment of physical capabilities
by the avatar ( 74). In children, the physical traits representing
particular abilities were viewed as positive, whereas in adulthood
comparisons related to body may be more apparently negative.
One concern that is apparent from studies examining avatar
bodies is the impact that they can have on the acceptability of
violence towards and rape of women. Among 141 undergraduate
students, it was found that following violence against women
within video games, sexualized objectification and condoning
rape myths increased in male participants ( 72). It was considered
that the level of exposure and increased realism of the game
influenced these attitudes so as to appear more acceptable ( 72).
Again, for adolescents, playing as sexualized female characters
indicated greater acceptance of rape myths and tolerance of
sexual harassment ( 73). These studies indicate the influence of
sexualized characters within video games and highlight how
characters’ appearances can have negative influences on beliefs
which may translate to real women and which could appear
as sexual harassment to women offline. Alternatively, when
designing female characters in video games, a sample of 14
females aged between 14 and 75 years demonstrated that they
thought professionalism and interpersonal relationships were
more important to a character than appearance, emphasizing
behavior over physical characteristics ( 75). From this type of
understanding, game designers might be able to develop avatars
which encourage more women to play video games and convey
less stereotypical roles.
Women’s Position in Gaming Culture [ n = 14]
Women are considered to be less engaged with gaming than men
(12, 13, 76). It is possible that this extends to the culture as well
as game play. However, despite this gender bias towards men,
women are a part of gaming culture ( 23). This is emphasized
by their positions as designers, gamers, and as users of gaming
technology. Nevertheless, gaming culture is still considered to
be a male-dominated environment ( 76), and the competence of
women in these positions is often questioned ( 59, 77–79).
In a commentary paper, Harvey and Fisher ( 76) discussed the
context of how women in gaming culture are perceived. Their study
emphasized the challenges of being in this environment, particularly
in the position of a video game designer ( 76). Within their
commentary, they claimed that female designers received attention
for physical appearance and as a “token female” rather than being
considered for their abilities of game design. Arguably, this mimics
the harassment seen within the online gaming environment itself,

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
9 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.organd because of these issues, it was noted that there was a constant
problem of visibility as a female designer ( 76), again relating to the
coping strategies observed to deal with online harassment ( 56, 57).
However, it was also acknowledged that some of the hostility came
from other women within gaming culture, promoting exclusivity,
invalidating other players, and being unsupportive of other
women within gaming ( 76). This was likely associated with women
consistently having their position within the culture challenged.
A clear example of this discrimination is described by a study
(77) which included the argument between Ryan Perez (a game
journalist for the Destructoid video game blog) and Wil Wheaton
(an American actor) regarding Felicia Day, a prominent female
gamer. This incident included Perez slandering Day, reducing her
to a sexual image, instead of an actual gamer. Perez suggested
that she had poor gaming skills, and Wheaton defended Day
(77). From this interaction, the bias against women in gaming
culture is evident, considering that the attack from Perez was
unprovoked by Day, her behaviors, or her fans. It is important
to note that other men within gaming culture do not share these
beliefs (including Wheaton), and this might encourage resistance
against such comments in the future.
In the incident against Day, her competence as a gamer was
questioned ( 77). This is a common pattern seen within gaming
culture ( 79). Across two studies, Kaye et al. ( 79) demonstrated that
avatar gender has an impact on how competent a player is considered
to be. In their initial study, women with male avatars were considered
to be more highly skilled than women playing as female characters,
an effect that was not seen within male gamers. The second study
attributes this to gender-role beliefs predicting sexist beliefs across
MMO games and FPS games ( 79). Again, this relates to the gender
swapping seen in previous studies as well as the responses which are
attributed to this behavior ( 55). Within their small study, Linderoth
and Ohrn ( 59) found that players were typically assumed to be male
and therefore more competent, reinforcing the idea that women
need more help or favors within video games.
Despite this study’s small sample size and low number of female
gamers (four participants), it is evident that there is a bias in favor
of men as gamers seen across research ( 59, 79, 80). However, this
bias is not just among men. In their study of 39 female university
students, Vermeulen and colleagues ( 80) demonstrated that
women take gender as an indicator of skill when gaming, and they
experienced more stress when playing against men. Considering
this issue, the authors ( 80) suggested that this reaction was based
on competitiveness as a perceived skill, where this competitive
response was greater against women. The belief that female
gamers are less competent when using technology is also seen
in computerized assessments and by their own self-perceptions
(78). This study demonstrated among a sample of 407 adolescents
that boys had higher levels of computer game self-efficacy ( 78),
most likely related to earlier priming of computerized technology
when young (e.g., gaming at a younger age). Furthermore, the
avatar’s appearance can impact self-efficacy in gaming. In a study
of 328 university students, playing as sexualized female characters
negatively impacted women’s self-efficacy when considered
against non-sexualized characters ( 81). Students stated that
this was based on considering the women’s capabilities, both
cognitively and physically ( 81). This indicates that there are gendered beliefs towards women within video games when they
are represented in a hyper-sexualized way, which may influence
external considerations regarding women’s abilities.
Although gaming culture is mostly viewed as comprising
men, a literature review evaluating 10 video games suggested that
gamers were more evenly distributed in gender ( 23). As gender
visibility is often limited as a coping mechanism within game play
(57, 59), this study suggested that men are more visible, allowing
them to more easily identify with the “gamer” label ( 23). However,
it does appear that there are fewer women who play these video
games more heavily due various game play elements such as
violence, aggression, and/or representation, and this may explain
why women stop gaming at earlier stages than men ( 46, 49, 53,
56, 57, 59). Paaßen and colleagues ( 23) go one step further and
suggest that the stereotype of gamers is accepted into the identity
of male gamers, whereas women are required to be either a
woman or a gamer, marginalizing women within gaming culture.
DISCUSSION
The aim of this narrative literature review was to provide a
comprehensive overview of empirical and theoretical studies
concerning female gaming and the position of women within
gaming culture from an individual and cultural perspective. The
49 studies in the review of female gaming were classified into four
types of research studies, namely, i) benefits of female gaming,
ii) why women play video games less than men, iii) perceptions
and realities of female characters within video games, and
iv) women’s position within contemporary gaming culture. Each
of these will be discussed below.
The studies reviewed indicate that playing video games has a
wide variety of benefits for women, in terms of both physical and
mental health benefits. Empirical research suggests women have
much to gain from interacting with video games at a variety of ages
and by playing different types of video games ( 17–19). Gaming
by females in childhood and adolescence may enhance cognitive,
social, and/or movement abilities and enhance engagement with
educational tools ( 18, 19). Indeed, the benefits of enhanced
brain plasticity and reaction times may be advantages for offline
interactions, such as sporting activities or  problem solving.
Integrating gaming more fluidly into female’s lives may improve
mental and physical health long term, as well as reduce isolation
through online communication ( 19).
This is in line with previous research ( 82) showing that video
games have many beneficial effects on gamers (both genders, young
and old) and are used in various contexts, including video games
as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, distractors in the role
of pain management, cognitive rehabilitation, improvement of
social and communication skills among the learning disabled,
alleviating symptoms of impulsivity/attention deficit disorders,
therapeutic benefits in the elderly, psychotherapeutic settings,
health care, treatment of anxiety disorders, and psychological
well-being. Moreover, experimental research ( 83) indicates that
playing video games can result in improved task-switching,
better top-down attentional control (rather than bottom-up) and
processing speed, and increased and quicker time perception.

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
10 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgIt  is  concluded  that there has been considerable success when
video games are specifically designed to address a specific problem
or to teach a specific skill. However, generalizability outside the
game-playing situation remains an important consideration.
A number of studies included in this narrative literature
review were concerned with the question of why women appear
to play less video games in comparison to men. Across the
included studies which included both men and women, female
participants were typically in the minority ( 46, 51, 55, 58), with
the exception of the studies conducted by Y ang et al. ( 52) and
Lopez-Fernandez ( 17). It is possible that this is representative of
the overall gamer population, as men appear to comprise a larger
proportion of gaming culture, or inversely that gaming culture is
catered for male gamers ( 22–25). Overall, the studies included
here indicate that women are less encouraged to participate in
playing video games due to negative expectations based on
gender or experiences during game play, as well as video games
being designed and developed in a way which is less enticing to
women, including overly aggressive and sexualized content ( 84).
In addition to this, an important reason for why women tend
to play less video games than men is the coping strategies that are
required to handle harassment online, with women often playing male
characters in order to avoid in-game harassment and bullying ( 15, 56,
57, 85). Kuss ( 85) also showed that males benefit from this strategy
because they often play female characters in order to receive additional
support from other gamers, suggesting that gender-swapping is a
strategy that is applied by both male and female players and results
in various benefits in terms of their game play and well-being, which
was supported by another study ( 86), indicating that playing a female
character in MMORPGs results in positive social attributes. However,
Lopez-Fernandez et al. ( 19) have shown that female gamers do not
swap their avatar gender to cope with the potential violence when
gaming online. Moreover, females appear to look for different things
in video games in comparison to men (e.g., relationship maintenance)
(19, 18), and game designers should take this into consideration when
developing video games for this growing audience. This, in itself,
would impact how women are perceived within video games and that
their abilities to gain high experience levels, rare items, and special
capabilities are just as good as that of men.
The next major theme incorporated in the present review was the
perceptions and realities of female gaming characters within video
games. The results indicate that not only are female characters featured
less frequently in video games, their representation often appears to
be exaggerated and hyper-sexualized in terms of emphasizing their
female attributes (i.e., size of breasts and buttocks, and slim waists),
which may negatively impact on female gamers’ own body image
given the representations of female bodies in video games do not
correspond with the reality of female bodies ( 63). This is consistent
with the scarce empirical research performed on female gamers at
present ( 19). Upward social comparisons of oneself with others, as
they frequently occur on social media sites, may in fact lead to feelings
of decreased self-esteem and depression ( 18, 84), suggesting that this
mechanism may apply similarly in comparisons between one’s female
avatar and oneself, leading to decreases in well-being and symptoms
of mental disorders, such as mood disorders.
Research has showed that having female characters prominently
represented on video game box art decreases sales rates ( 70). Overly sexualized female characters in game can have a negative impact
on self-perceptions and beliefs which may impact interactions and
perceptions outside of the game. For instance, some video games
propagate acceptability of violence towards and rape of women,
increasing acceptance of the rape myth ( 72). Y oung and Whitty ( 87)
explored why taboos, including rape, are violated in video games,
and point out that the freedoms afforded by video games may
negatively impact on gamers and their real-life interactions. Gamers
can develop strong attachments to their online representations in
the form of their avatars, and violence against them is distressing
(88). Hypersexualized female bodies and condoning violence
against female characters in-game may have negative impacts on
gamers’ perceptions of themselves, others, and their interactions
with females, suggesting game designers should carefully consider
the inclusion of females with exaggerated female attributes and
violence when developing video games ( 89).
Within younger audiences, it might be appropriate to have bodies
which are representative of the special abilities held by the character,
but ultimately from the sample of studies included in this review, it
appears that hyper-exaggerated bodies can have negative influences
on body satisfaction with women and to some degree with men. By
considering this, game developers should be encouraged to indicate
abilities through the character’s body, but in a less hyper-idealized
manner because this may improve the gamer’s perceived body
image. Indeed, this would allow young audiences to consider the
behavior of the character to be integrated with their appearance and
suit older audiences who are more concerned about the behavior
and skills of an avatar. Furthermore, reducing the sexualization of
females would have liberating effects in terms of how women are
considered both within and outside of video games. Similarly, other
socio-demographic features (e.g., ethnic, cultural, religious, or
sexual) in the avatars shown could offer a bigger range of identities
and tastes which could facilitate avatar identification without body
image dissatisfaction and other problems which are currently
causing the heteronormative video game content in gamers ( 89–91).
The final main theme covered in the reviewed studies was
women’s position in gaming culture. Statistics suggest female gamers
are increasing in number ( 1, 2), with female gamers significantly
outnumbering males when it comes to mobile gaming ( 92), typically
comprising “casual” gaming. Despite this, gaming culture still appears
to be male-dominated ( 67, 76), while female gamers’ abilities as
competent game players are put in question and not considered yet
as “true” or “hard-core” gamers ( 24, 77). The experiences of women
in gaming culture are mirrored within other fields with technology
discrimination [e.g., electroacoustic composition ( 93)], otherwise
known as “Programmed Inequality” ( 94) (i.e., despite the growing
number of females, there are still barriers to entering and working in
male-dominated environments; e.g., there appears to be a systematic
neglect of technical training due to gender). This highlights that
the problem of women having a valued presence in technological
culture and industry is not new. Furthermore, it appears that there
are no regional or time variations regarding this issue.
This review expanded on previous research and targeted
specific outcome studies covering the topic of female gamers,
but it is not without its limitations. One major limitation is that
while the authors followed rigorous search methods to identify
relevant papers, the review was limited to those published

Female Gaming, Addiction, and Culture Lopez-Fernandez et al.
11 July 2019 | Volume 10 | Article 454 Frontiers in Psychiatry | www.frontiersin.orgreports that the authors were able to locate. It is possible there
are additional studies that cover this topic but were not included
in this review (i.e., because of publication bias). The large
number of outcome studies is in itself a strength in formulating
conclusions that can be extracted about female gamers and their
position in gaming behavior and gaming culture. Even for a
scarcely researched topic such as this, the research team found
a considerable number of peer-reviewed papers. However, there
are also limitations, such as excluding papers in Asian languages
given the large gaming culture in Asian countries, including
China and Japan, many of which have developed sophisticated
targeted approaches in preventing gaming addiction ( 95),
mainly because it is considered much more of a public health
concern in these countries than elsewhere.
Additionally, the specific scientific databases selected and
the inclusion criteria used to conduct this review may have
excluded some sources, especially from other disciplines
outside of psychology and medicine, although WoS is an
interdisciplinary database. Furthermore, expanding the review
to female gaming from female and male perspectives could
in some way have limited the views of this specific gender,
although alarming findings have also emerged (e.g., technology
discrimination). Finally, the present study is probably affected
by generalizability bias. For instance, in terms of geographic
location, out of the 49 studies that provided information, 45
were essentially located in the Western culture [i.e., 33 in
America (27 in the United States, 4 in Canada, and 2 in Chile)
and 12 in Europe (the Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom,
Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium); see
Appendix A for details about the authors, location, and other
methodological elements of the samples in each paper]. Thus,
it is not possible to draw conclusions about the extent to which
sample demographics across the studies in this review reflect
female participants only, the population within a particular
geographic region, or across the nation. The findings only
reflect those based on gaming research in Western culture.
Overall, the included studies reflect the difficulties that women
experience within video games among the general community
of gaming. Women are still harassed, belittled, and considered
less able than men when it comes to gaming, by both men and
women. To hold an identity within gaming culture, women must
follow strict rules about how they conduct themselves and hold
views which emphasize that they are part of gaming culture and
that other women are not part of gaming culture. Building on
from this, women need to support each other openly and visibly
in the community, with reinforcement from men. The solidarity
campaign HeForShe ( https://www.heforshe.org/en ) started by the
United Nations is an excellent case in point addressing gender
equality, whereby both women and men are encouraged to commit
to standing in “solidarity with women to create a bold, visible and
united force for a gender equal world. ” In the context of women’s
position in gaming culture, this contemporary feminist movement
helps support the view of women as being just as capable and skilful
gamers as men and require just as much respect and recognition
from gaming culture, which they are part of. It may influence
beliefs that women are inferior within gaming and encourage more
females to play video games. It may also open up communication in such a way that harassment is reduced, and designers consider
video games with women as their audience more so than they have
done previously. According to the ESA ( 96), 45% of United States
gamers are women and are therefore a very large market that can be
targeted by the gaming industry.
Taken together, the research cited in the present narrative
literature review suggests female gamers are a growing
population. Gaming appears to offer a variety of benefits for
them, from cognitive and psychological benefits to physical and
social benefits. However, women still face an over-sexualized
representation of female in-game characters, online harassment,
and an expectation that they are less skilful players in
comparison to male gamers. Furthermore, contemporary video
games do not sufficiently target female gaming motivations
and gaming-related interests, despite the number of female
gamers increasing. Based on the outcomes of this narrative
literature review, it can be suggested that the gaming industry
should pay more attention to the needs and interests of female
gamers given they are an audience to be taken seriously and
now large in number. Moreover, research should be encouraged
to specifically investigate female gamers’ motivations, as
well as the psychosocial impact that in-game violence and
hypersexualization of female characters has on their mental
health and well-being, as well as their overall gaming experience.
Longitudinal, qualitative, and psychometric approaches should
be combined to offer a more comprehensive and holistic picture
of the female gamer, including their socio-demographics,
interests, and psychosocial environment of gaming, including
the gaming culture they are part of.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
OL-F, DK, and MG contributed to the conceptualization. OL-F and
AW contributed to the data curation. AW conducted the formal
analysis. OL-F, DK, and MG contributed to the funding acquisition.
OL-F, DK, and AW conducted the investigation. OL-F, DK, and
AW contributed to the methodology. OL-F conducted the project
administration. OL-F, DK, and MG contributed to the resources.
OL-F conducted the supervision. Writing of the original draft was
done by OL-F (Abstract and Introduction), AW (Method and
Results), and DK (Discussion). Review and editing were done by
OL-F, DK, AW , and MG.
FUNDING
The present study was supported by the Psychology Department
QR Funding at Nottingham Trent University, through a Kickstarter
grant (2018) awarded to OL-F to develop studies on “Female gaming:
A cross-cultural study of pathological and non-pathological gaming
via multi-platforms. ”
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online
at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00454/
full#supplementary-material

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Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that the research was
conducted in the absence of any commercial of financial relationships that could
be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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