Keywords

electronic gaming, body image

Abstract

The current study was conducted to determine whether or not electronic gaming is related to the formation of certain body ideals and appraisals of attractiveness. A sample of 219 college-aged males (age 18 to 32) completed a variety of measures designed to gather information about their game play habits, their perceptions of their own attractiveness (MBSRQ, SMAQ), and their perceptions of women's attractiveness (BCRS, FRS, photographs of women of different BMIs). Results indicate that men's ratings of women's attractiveness vary across the genres of games most frequently played but that frequency of play and age of commencement of game play are not related to self-perceptions of physical attractiveness, the association of positive attributes with muscularity, or the drive to become more muscular. However, results suggest that men's appearance satisfaction and the degree to which they value muscularity are influenced by the extent to which they compare their own appearance to that of the characters they play in the games. Results indicate that unlike other forms of media, electronic gaming is not related to decreased appearance satisfaction in players or the formation of unrealistic standards of attractiveness for women.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2007

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Tantleff-Dunn, Stacey

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0001661

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0001661

Language

English

Release Date

May 2007

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Included in

Psychology Commons

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