Assistant Professor Teresa Lynch, Michael Gilbert (PhD '22), Sage Burridge (MA ‘21) and External Collaborator Jessica E. Tompkins were recently published in Mass Communication & Society for their piece “Evidence of Ambivalent Sexism in Female Video Game Character Designs.”

The report presents findings from a detailed study looking at how female video game characters are portrayed in terms of ambivalent sexism. Researchers analyzed games from Japan and the United States released between 1983 and 2017.

After applying principles of ambivalent sexism’s underlying concepts of paternalism, compulsory heterosexuality and gender differentiation, researchers developed a method to assess how these characters are depicted.

Their findings showed that there are instances where female playable characters are portrayed in a sexist manner. They also found connections between sexist portrayals and concepts like capability, sexualization and development location. These findings shed light on how gender stereotypes are perpetuated in video games, taking into account the cultural differences in game development between Japan and the United States.