James D. Ivory

The virtual census: representations of gender, race and age in video games

A large-scale content analysis of characters in video games was employed to answer questions about their representations of gender, race and age in comparison to the US population. The sample included 150 games from a year across nine platforms, with the results weighted according to game sales. This innovation enabled the results to be analyzed in proportion to the games that were actually played by the public, and thus allowed the first statements able to be generalized about the content of popular video games. The results show a systematic over-representation of males, white and adults and a systematic under-representation of females, Hispanics, Native Americans, children and the elderly. Overall, the results are similar to those found in television research. The implications for identity, cognitive models, cultivation and game research are discussed.

Still a Man's Game: Gender Representation in Online Reviews of Video Games

Despite the rising popularity of video games, the majority of the mediums audience continues to be male. One reason may be that character representations in video games are geared toward male players. This content analysis used video game reviews from a heavily trafficked Internet site to investigate the prevalence and portrayal of male and female video game characters. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, female characters were found to be underrepresented and proportionally more often sexualized in comparison to their male counterparts. In addition to these findings, the studys innovative method-the use of online video game reviews as an indirect measure of video game content-shows promise as a tool for future content analyses of video games.

The virtual doppelganger: Effects of a virtual reality simulator on perceptions of schizophrenia

Recent scholarship suggests that virtual environments can serve as effective proxies in battling implicit stereotypes. However, existing experimental research has rarely examined the effectiveness of virtual simulations of mental illnesses in inducing empathy to combat stereotypical responses. We report results from a 4-condition, between subjects experiment (N = 112), wherein participants were exposed to either a virtual simulation of schizophrenia, a written empathy-set induction of schizophrenia, a combination of both the simulation and written empathy conditions, or a control condition. The results indicated that the virtual simulation + empathy condition induced greater empathy and more positive perceptions toward people suffering from schizophrenia than the control or written empathy-set condition. Interestingly, the simulation-only condition resulted in the greatest desire for social distance whereas not significantly differing on empathy and attitude measures from either the written empathy or simulation + empathy conditions. We discuss the implications of the findings and recommend directions for future research.

Genetic, Maternal, School, Intelligence, and Media Use Predictors of Adult Criminality: A Longitudinal Test of the Catalyst Model in Adolescence through Early Adulthood

The catalyst model suggests that adult criminality arises from the interaction of genetic and proximal social influences such as family influences, but that distal social influences such as media exposure have only negligible influence. This article uses data from a 13-year longitudinal study of adolescent health to examine the catalyst model. As expected by the catalyst model, adult criminality was best explained by a confluence of genetic and proximal social risk factors. The influence of media exposure on adult criminality was negligible. Implications of these findings for both theory and policy are discussed.

You Can't Take It with You? Effects of Handheld Portable Media Consoles on Physiological and Psychological Responses to Video Game and Movie Content

Portable media consoles are becoming extremely popular devices for viewing a number of different types of media content, both for entertainment and for educational purposes. Given the increasingly heavy use of portable consoles as an alternative to traditional television-style monitors, it is important to investigate how physiological and psychological effects of portable consoles may differ from those of television-based consoles, because such differences in physiological and psychological responses may precipitate differences in the delivered contents effectiveness. Because portable consoles are popular as a delivery system for multiple types of media content, such as movies and video games, it is also important to investigate whether differences between the effects of portable and television-based consoles are consistent across multiple types of media. This article reports a 2 x 2 (console: portable or television-based x medium: video game or movie) mixed factorial design experiment with physiological arousal and self-reported flow experience as dependent variables, designed to explore whether console type affects media experiences and whether these effects are consistent across different media. Results indicate that portable media consoles evoke lower levels of physiological arousal and flow experience and that this effect is consistent for both video games and movies. These findings suggest that even though portable media consoles are often convenient compared to television-based consoles, the convenience may come at a cost in terms of the user experience.

Celebrity and politics: Effects of endorser credibility and sex on voter attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors

Abstract While much research examines the effects of celebrity endorsements in commercial advertising, scholars have only recently sought to investigate the effects of celebrity endorsements of politicians on voter perceptions and behavior. This study expands existing research on celebrity political endorsement effects via an experiment exploring effects of different versions of a news story describing a celebritys endorsement of a political candidate on participants’ voting attitudes, perceptions of candidate credibility, and voting behavioral intent. Although participants perceive credibility differences between high- and low-credibility celebrities, neither endorser credibility nor endorser sex impact attitudes toward the endorsed candidate, perceptions of the candidates credibility, or intended voting behavior. Conceptual relationships to other studies on celebrity endorsement effects are discussed, as are implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

Red-Hot and Ice-Cold Web Ads: The Influence of Web Ads’ Warm and Cool Colors on Click-Through Rates

A field study compared the click-through rates of box and banner web ads with red and blue color schemes using data from more than 1.5 million ad impressions from 12 months of traffic on a popular news website. For box ads, a red (versus blue) color scheme generated substantially higher click-through rates, but for banner ads the effect of color was less pronounced. Consistent with research on color and attention, ads with a red color scheme elicited a greater number of responses. This finding also suggests, though, that habituation to certain types of ads, such as banner ads, can attenuate the effect of ad attributes.

Awareness of Risk Factors for Digital Game Addiction: Interviewing Players and Counselors

The potential dangers of digital games for the development of game addiction among their players are discussed in media as well as in scientific research. Research so far has identified several potential risk factors among social settings, traits, and playing motives. The present study provides first insights into the perceptions of risk factors by (non-addicted) players (N = 28) and by counselors (N = 7). By conducting individual interviews with both groups we found that players especially named social settings as the most important influence on the development of problematic playing behaviour while counselors focused more on further existing psychological problems. We argue that the experience of both groups has to be taken into account to guide the development of prevention and intervention programs.

It's Not Easy Trying to be One of the Guys: The Effect of Avatar Attractiveness, Avatar Sex, and User Sex on the Success of Help-Seeking Requests in an Online Game

Interactions in online environments are influenced by many of the same gender and sex-role stereotypes that people use in offline interactions. However, less research has examined systematically how the traits of an avatar and the avatars user interact to influence stereotypical responses in virtual spaces. A field experiment manipulated avatar attractiveness, avatar sex, user sex, and favor difficulty to measure responses to a requested favor across 2,300 interactions in an online game. Attractive avatars received more help than less attractive avatars, but female users received less help than male users when represented by avatars that were less attractive or male.

Psychological and physiological responses to stereoscopic 3d presentation in handheld digital gaming: Comparing the experiences of frequent and infrequent game players

Recent advances in commercial gaming technology include stereoscopic 3D presentation. This experiment employed a mixed factorial design to explore the effects of game display format (2D; 3D), frequency of game play (weekly; non-weekly), and participant gender (male; female) on feelings of presence and arousal among participants playing a handheld racing video game. Responses to display format were moderated by frequency of game play, with stereoscopic 3D presentation eliciting reduced presence and increased arousal among weekly game players, but the reverse pattern among non-weekly game players. Theoretical and practical implications of the moderating role of game play frequency in effects of 3D presentation are discussed.