Drifting away from the game/film dynamics for a bit and back to socializing in MMOs, I came across a very interesting study carried out by a UK based university on the topic of cyber socializing. Though the study used a small and self-selecting sample of gamers and is far from being conclusive, the researchers feel their findings should pave the way for further research, particularly whether gender-swapping in an online setting has a propensity for affecting a player's gender identity in the real world. Additionally, all the respondents came from four popular online gaming websites (Allakhazam, Women Gamers, White Wolf and IGN's Everquest Vault), further reducing the possibility for a widely varied population. The Allakhazam site was used as the main recruitment forum because of its large audience. It also caters for more than five MMORPGs, including the majors Everquest 1 and 2, Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies, Dark Age of Camelot, and Lineage II.
The study conducted by Zaheer Hussain and Mark D. Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK) titled "Gender Swapping and Socializing in Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study" suggests that a majority of MMO gamers cross th gender barrier. A test-group of 119 online gamers ranging from 18 to 69 years of age completed a questionnaire. The results showed that just over one in five gamers (21%) said they preferred socializing online to offline. Significantly more male gamers than female gamers said that they found it easier to converse online than offline. It was also found that 57% of gamers had engaged in gender swapping, and it is suggested in the study that the online female persona has a number of positive social attributes in a male-oriented environment.
The original study in .pdf format can be found here.
The study conducted by Zaheer Hussain and Mark D. Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK) titled "Gender Swapping and Socializing in Cyberspace: An Exploratory Study" suggests that a majority of MMO gamers cross th gender barrier. A test-group of 119 online gamers ranging from 18 to 69 years of age completed a questionnaire. The results showed that just over one in five gamers (21%) said they preferred socializing online to offline. Significantly more male gamers than female gamers said that they found it easier to converse online than offline. It was also found that 57% of gamers had engaged in gender swapping, and it is suggested in the study that the online female persona has a number of positive social attributes in a male-oriented environment.
The original study in .pdf format can be found here.
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