No, I’m not just characterizing the personalities of those people who choose to harass women when playing with them online. New research has been done that looked at the responses of players to neutral statements in game when spoken by a male or female voice and the results are rather intriguing, if not surprising.
The study published by the Public Library of Science (thanks Ars Technica) looked at player reactions during 126 recorded Halo 3 matches. The researchers took one of three approaches: during control matches, the player was silent throughout; two experimental groups the researchers played the same set of prerecorded statements such as “Alright team let’s do this” or “Good game everyone” in either a male or female voice. Unsurprisingly, the results showed that “female” players received more negative comments than “male” players, and that those players that were less skilled made fewer positive comments and more negative comments.
A player with zero kills in a match, for instance, could be expected to make five negative comments to a “female” player presented in the experiment, while a player with 25 kills would only be expected to make one negative comment to the “female” experimenter. For the “male” experimental player, there was no such correlation; they received an average of about two negative comments regardless of how many kills the other player had.
The research takes it a step further, trying to understand the root of the issue. According to the researchers, it fits into typical evolutionary behavior where “low-status, low-performing males are hostile towards female competitors”.
… Men often rely on aggression to maintain their dominant social status, the increase in hostility towards a woman by lower-status males may be an attempt to disregard a female’s performance and suppress her disturbance on the hierarchy to retain their social rank. This idea is reinforced by the fact that higher-skilled males that should not feel threatened by a female increased their number of positive comments.
[…] As women are attracted to dominance, a high-status female is less likely to find lower-status males attractive. We argue that a secondary benefit of increased female-directed hostility is that it simultaneously decreases a female’s confidence and perception of her self-worth (i.e. negging) while simultaneously increasing the perception of him being a dominant (i.e. socially valuable) mate. Higher-skilled (i.e. more dominant) males do not behave in this manner as there is no need for them to reinforce their dominance to maintain their attractiveness. Although there is no direct evidence in the literature that negative behaviour towards females increases a male’s mating opportunity, our results provide an interesting testable hypothesis requiring further investigation.
It certainly fits with my understanding and experience when gaming with a variety of men. Those who are confident in their social standing have no need to harass women online – they realize that insulting or putting down women won’t suddenly boost their own status. It’s only those who are lower-status, or fear that they are of a lower status as gamers (or as men in general?) who feel the need to act in this way. It certainly is intriguing and I’m glad to see the research has been done to back up anecdotal experiences. Yet another reason to despise the n00bs, right?
Of course, understanding harassment is only the first step towards stopping it. With such ingrained and subconscious aspects influencing who harasses and who doesn’t, there is a lot of work that society will need to do to raise boys and men who don’t feel the need to insult a woman to feel more powerful. We’ve been trying to do that for a long time in society to curb domestic violence and sexual assault and we still have a long way to go on that front, so I don’t think we should expect things to change within gaming any faster.
Last Updated: July 22, 2015
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:03
So basically, only noobs play dota?
Johnny (•??.•??)
July 23, 2015 at 01:19
nope, 2 types of players in DOTA : noobs and russians 😀
Umar
July 22, 2015 at 11:03
This is general bully behavior though. The bullies and those that like to harass others are usually compensating for something.
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:04
I’M NOT COMPENSATING FOR ANYTHING. SHUT UP. I SLEPT WITH YOUR MOM 6 TIMES LAST NIGHT.
HairyEwok
July 22, 2015 at 11:06
New record?
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:06
Plot twist, his mom wasn’t home but his dad was?
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:07
Then the real question is: why does his dad have a vagina?
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:07
It wasn’t?
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
BECAUSE HIS DAD IS A GIAN.. wait. No not going there.
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:07
Plot twist, his dad wasn’t home but DUTCH WAS!!!!
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:08
Makes sense.
Umar
July 22, 2015 at 11:08
Errrr…I’m right here guys. Please stop talking about my parents.
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
Hey, I am defending your parents by moving them out of this horrible story!
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:13
Oh hi Umar. Didn’t see ya there.
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:15
Yeah Umar. He was too busy composing sonnets about my ass…
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:08
See what Pariah said XD
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:08
Pariah knows not the difference between an asshole and a vagina.
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
But you like it in the rear. So who’s the real loser here?
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
Oh your words are pure poetry…
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:10
Omg that was actually unintentional. XD
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
I do, You’re not a vagina
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:09
LOOOOL!
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:10
Hammer, you love me. You REALLY love me!
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:10
XD
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 22, 2015 at 11:40
OH SNAP!
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:13
You keep quiet! I wouldn’t have died 30 times if that female on my team had come to revive me! She’s so useless! And stuff.
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 11:14
She was just repelled by your musky scent… Yes, it is so vile it can travel through the net…
Chuckster
July 22, 2015 at 13:00
idiot
Dutch Matrix
July 22, 2015 at 13:35
OK. Clearly you got a problem with me. So. Find your balls and tell me what it is.
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 11:07
So basically most Ster Kinekor employers?
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:12
Ohhhhhh!
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:15
I believe you were looking for this:
https://38.media.tumblr.com/6fced82941575e2e43a406fcb3152338/tumblr_mpecmcUSfW1qglee5o1_500.gif
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:16
That’s the one!
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:50
Purrrfect response
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 22, 2015 at 11:33
This joke, I LIKE IT!
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:08
…
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:25
So losers are…. losers? That’s pretty much a nifty summary right?
BurninZ
July 22, 2015 at 11:27
So generally most people get negative comments (yes women a lot more than guys) across the board. Just reiterates the toxic communities in gaming and shows how far we still have to go. The perception of gamers will always be negative if games are regularly being assholes themselves, to the gaming community at large. Grow up, stop trolling and stop “Fu***ng my mom”, she is in the kitchen making some wicked chow. Love you Ma!
Martin du preez (D4RKL1NGza)
July 22, 2015 at 11:28
It can take hundreds of studies before scientists can collectively agree that something is essentially fact. One study does not decide human behavior, especially a study as badly constructed as this
Sageville
July 22, 2015 at 11:29
Clearly an Xbox issue…
Brady miaau
July 22, 2015 at 11:40
Totally. Sure. It is the controller that allows the worst in people to come out.
Also, saw some great vids on Youtube about gamer names. Names like XboxOffYes, XboxGoHome, that sort of thing. Seems that sometimes during a game you would say the name out loud and, if kinected up, the Xbox would obey the voice command. I found it quite funny.
Admiral Chief in Skellige
July 22, 2015 at 11:40
Same here, total lulz
Sageville
July 22, 2015 at 11:53
LOL!
Guava_Eater
July 22, 2015 at 11:29
It would be interesting to understand from the data how many of those people throwing the negative comments are actually pubescent boys (read including the 25 year olds in mom’s basement) who do not have healthy relationships with women to begin with.
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:32
It actually would be really interesting to see how many were under and over 20…..
Sageville
July 22, 2015 at 11:33
Then the PS4 vs Xbox environment as controls….
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:42
lol
The Sten
July 22, 2015 at 11:33
Agreed, I dont think you need a study to determine that though
Sageville
July 22, 2015 at 11:35
Could you imagine the results if this was done with DOTA!
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 12:39
LOL
Brady miaau
July 22, 2015 at 11:35
While the statement ““low-status, low-performing males are hostile towards female competitors”.” does make sense, what does it mean?
If I think about that statement outside of games, I can find correlations. I have see this at various technical firms as well. masked aggression toward woman when a man failed at some task or assigning or shifting blame to a woman. I pay attention to people, one of my hobbies. I know, from previous posts like this, that a lot of people, Gavin, HVR, for example, have different exp. in the tech industries. I have not see this often, in fact, I have seen far more “correct and fair behaviour” BUT I have seen men in weak positions try to get out of it by bellitling those nearest them, starting with woman. I saw this a lot at one firm I worked at, a very big metal place.
Hendrik
July 22, 2015 at 11:35
There is one thing I picked up though, and that is that men are inherently douche bags, but it will only show when they are near a woman of “higher class”. Interesting.
The Sten
July 22, 2015 at 11:42
The problem is that they are harassing people at all, not that they are doing it to women more. They will obviously pick on the easiest target that they can see, that part is obvious.
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:45
I think that’s the whole point. They are trying to show that the majority of people still see woman as the “easy targets” when it’s not actually the case. I know woman gamers who run circles around me in games
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:56
My sister was always funny at LANs. She’d play all innocent and “I know nothing” and then proceed to wipe the floor with all the guys and laugh while she bathes in their tears.
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 12:02
Heh, awesome. And what did guys say… to her face… at LANs? Guess not nearly as much as they’d say online.
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 12:05
Oh she could hear their befuddlement very plainly. She loved it. They continually accused her of cheating, even sent a couple of guys to watch as she played. Every time their frustration would get worse. She loved every minute.
The Sten
July 22, 2015 at 11:59
You, me and alot of other older gamers have had the experience of having female gamers “prove” themselves around us to leave us wiser, but teenagers on the other hand….
Personally i believe the only way to stop it outright is to stop teens from communicating in games altogether, but the impact on the games themselves would make this too bold a decision
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 12:04
Yeah, teens still in school who still like to say “Boys are better than girls nananananana”
It’s very frustrating. However, we are assuming that the stats would show that teens are more at fault of harassing woman in games. I don’t think we are far from the mark, but unless there is data to back it up we are in all honesty just making assumptions based on personal experiences
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 11:49
and here is the core of what I think most arguments are about. There is still a vast majority of gamers out there who see woman as the weaker gamer. However I do beliive that, that viewpoint is mostly shared by newer generation gamers. Gamers. I honestly want to believe that us older crowd (*Cough* 30ish *Cough*) have moved past that and don’t have an issue with gender in gaming at all
Sageville
July 22, 2015 at 11:54
There’s always so exception to that rule… but in general I’d agree.
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:55
That would be nice. Not going to happen. Maybe they should be taking valium instead of adderall.
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:55
Interestingly, in MMOs the attitude towards women is on the whole, rather “just one of the guys”. They’re not treated any different to how men are treated. MOBAs and FPS on the other hand…
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:59
Think it has a lot to do with more competitive vs more co-op style gaming. Competitive leads to more aggression when things aren’t going well.
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 12:07
Out of interest, how much do you really know about co-op, competitive, or multiplayer in general?
😀
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 12:35
That would require interaction with other people, you silly goose.
The Sten
July 22, 2015 at 12:02
True, i find in Guild Wars 2, many of those people with commander tags co-ordinating the world bosses like tequatle etc are girls.
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 12:02
I’ve noticed that too. I’ve seen far more acceptance in mmo’s than in games such as dota, COD etc
Deceased
July 22, 2015 at 11:59
Having or not having a dick has ABSOLUTELY NO effect on performance in a game :/
In fact, been playing more and more DotA2 games where there were female players in the game that:
– Played some of the best support I’ve ever seen
– Was just as good ( or better ) than some of the male players
– Completely rekt the other team**
** Side note:
In this particular game, she was a mort ( Carry ) and got obese because for some reason the team thought that yelling over voice that she should take last hits or KS ( Kill Secure ) heroes would somehow impress her – it was rather odd to see something like this though to be honest and I actually think it was the wrong way to go about having a female teammate, but yeah, was playing alone so got dumped onto a low ranking pool, probably to balance things out – she was higher level than the other three players in the team ( and one of them was definitely under 18 – his voice was like that annoying high-pitched whiny sound 😐 )
My point remains, gender has no effect on gaming performance, gaming has an effect on gaming performance…
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 12:01
But that’s what I just said. That I believe us older generation have no care whether someone is male or female and that it’s a mentality I believe only the younger generation have. I didn’t say it’s ok for anyone to believe woman are a weaker gamer?
Deceased
July 22, 2015 at 12:04
No no, don’t misunderstand, I’m trying to reinforce your statement 🙂
( Also, I’m not that old, I just don’t watch a lot of TV or do anything that people my age do because … *brief dramatic pause* … I am ashamed of the behaviour of the people my age and younger 😐 )
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 12:06
aaaaah. Ok I get you now. Sorry. I’m a bit slow today. Haven’t slept in over 30 hours or something silly like that
Deceased
July 22, 2015 at 12:10
Have you recently started doing the virtual heroin known as DotA2?
Ranting Raptor
July 22, 2015 at 12:12
Nope. Don’t play Dota or any form of Moba. Really don’t like the genre or the community attached to the genre. Far too competitive in nature for my liking
RinceThis
July 22, 2015 at 11:56
Bit of a small study but I get what they are saying and agree with its generalization. I mean Trevor is a weak ass gamer but he doesn’t harass women because he’s too freaking afraid of them. Where is THAT study I want to know!?
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:57
The answer is simple: #ForeverSP.
He doesn’t get an opportunity to do so.
RinceThis
July 22, 2015 at 11:58
And that’s Forever Scaredy pants, right? 0-O
Pariah
July 22, 2015 at 11:58
XD
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 22, 2015 at 11:57
I’m a weak-ass gamer? This young lady begs to differ…
RinceThis
July 22, 2015 at 11:58
lol
RinceThis
July 22, 2015 at 11:59
please, that isn’t blowing a bubble 0_O
Hammersteyn
July 22, 2015 at 12:40
She’s indicating the size of the average blondes brain?
*Runs
DragonSpirit009
July 22, 2015 at 12:48
Luckily I’m one of those women who don’t give a damn about losers harassing me over some game. A skill I learned at an early age!
Chule Gcanga
July 22, 2015 at 15:07
Always the sexist,douche bag,bigoted,twits that are the loudmouthed sore losers expressing their futile whimpered opinions… making up for the lack of skill they have. Useless beings….
konfab
July 23, 2015 at 06:08
The way I see it, is people are making online games seem like an actual physical activity.
Let’s say I hosted an arm wrestling tournament in a pub. If you had a woman winning against guys, I would bet money on the fact that the crowd would laugh at the guy getting beaten. This is because of the reality that men are on average stronger than woman. If you got a man to only challenge woman, and he won every time. People would probably lose interest because it is what they would expect. Cover the genders and it wouldn’t happen.
Now if we did the same thing, except with a chess tournament, I bet there wouldn’t really be any laughter because that person got beaten in an intellectual capacity.
So the people who are negative towards woman online are probably confusing it with an actual physical activity. Which indicates for me at least that the people making the comments probably don’t do any physical activities whatsoever.