RESULTS
Hypothesis 1a
Hypothesis 1a postulated that playing the sexualized female character would result in lower self-esteem for females. No support was found for this prediction. There were no differences in terms of playing the non-sexualized video game character (M = 5.53, SD = .58) in comparison with playing the sexualized character or no video game. So, condition had no significant effect on female self-esteem, F (2, 204) = .98, p = .38. Table 1 contains ANOVA descriptives, and Figure 1 provides a pictorial representation of means across the three conditions.
Hypothesis 1b
Hypothesis 1b stated that playing the sexualized female character would result in lower self-efficacy in women. Support was found for this prediction. Results indicate that
condition had a significant effect on female self-efficacy, F (2, 204) = 3.55, p = .03, W 2 = .03. Specifically, Tukey pairwise comparisons (p < .05) indicated that playing the sexualized character (M = 5.40, SD = .66) versus playing no video game (M = 5.67, SD = .52) resulted in lower self-efficacy for female participants. In other words,
playing a sexualized female video game character negatively affected feelings of self-efficacy in women, compared to playing no video game character. Table 1 contains ANOVA descriptives, and Figure 1 provides a pictorial representation of means across the three conditions.
Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis 2 proposed that playing the sexualized characters would result in lower body esteem for female participants. No support was found for this hypothesis, F (2, 204) = .37, p = .69, indicating that condition had no significant effect on women’s feelings of body satisfaction. Table 1 contains ANOVA descriptives, and Figure 1 provides a pictorial representation of means across the three conditions.
Hypothesis 3
Hypothesis 3 postulated that females who played the sexualized female character would report greater self-objectification than those who played the non-sexualized female character or no video game at all. It was expected that playing the sexualized character would result in females judging appearance to be more important than competence, in comparison to the females who did not play the sexualized character.
No support was found for this hypothesis. Condition had no significant effect on how females rated physical appearance, F (2, 204) = 2.25, p = .11, or physical competence, F (2, 204) = 2.21, p = .11 as being important to them. See Table 1 for ANOVA descriptives and Figure 1 for a pictorial representation of means across the three conditions.
Hypothesis 4
Hypothesis 4 posited that the relationships in hypotheses one, two, and three would be moderated by presence. In other words, the females who participated in one of the video game conditions would be differentially affected by the level of presence they experienced during the game. It was expected that a high level of presence would enhance the effects of the video game exposure, such that participants who reported high
levels of presence would report lower self-efficacy, self-esteem, and body-esteem, and greater self-objectification than females who experienced a low level of presence during game play.
No support was found for this hypothesis. Level of presence did not interact with character portrayal to determine ratings of self-efficacy, F (1, 125) = .96, p = .33, self- esteem, F (1, 125) = 0.00, p = .96, or body esteem, F (1, 125) = 1.55, p = .22. Additionally, level of presence did not interact with type of character to determine self- objectification in terms of females’ ratings of the importance of physical appearance, F (1, 125) = .71, p = .40, or physical competence, F (1, 125) = .37, p = .54. See Table 2 for descriptive statistics. See Figures 2 and 3 for pictorial representations of the results.
Hypothesis 5
Hypothesis 5 proposed that playing the sexualized female video game character would result in increased negative attitudes toward women, in comparison to playing the non-sexualized character or no video game. Some support was found for this prediction. Specifically, participants who played the sexualized character (M = 2.93, SD = 1.17)
reported less favorable attitudes toward women’s mental capabilities than did participants who did not play a video game (M = 2.52, SD = 1.01), F (2, 325) = 3.38, p = .04, W 2 = .02.
There were no significant differences with the non-sexualized character (M = 2.72, SD = 1.13). Additionally, no significant differences were found for the career/domestic, F (2, 327) = 0.21, p = .81, appearance, F (2, 327) = 0.29, p = .75, or physical capabilities, F (2, 327) = 2.64, p = .07, gender role dimensions.
Hypothesis 5 also posited that playing the sexualized female video game character would result in more unrealistic expectations of the female body, in comparison to playing the non-sexualized character or no video game. No support was found for this prediction, F (2, 322) = 0.39, p = .68. See Figures 4-6 for pictorial representations of the results.
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