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Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

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Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#131

Post by UnpossibleJim »

derefr wrote: post #56
whatshisface wrote: post #53

All of the games I played as a kid were clearly designed for boys and young men (featuring all of the typical things like guns and heavy machinery that men are well known to like more than women). That's just how the market was. If it's like that today, then it is no wonder that boys exhibit signs of enjoying video games more.

There are plenty of games "for girls" (the hidden-object and life-simulation genres are almost exclusively consumed by women, regardless of theming) but they're not marketed with quite the high-budget superbowl ad-campaign effort that games "for boys" are. I've encountered the situation many times where I'll find out one of my female friends doesn't play video games. I'll ask why, and—disregarding the people who just…

This is somewhat anecdotal but the company I work for makes and publishes puzzle games, match three and hidden object games for the mobile space, which are by and large marketed towards women. However, large, AAA console and PC titles look to be marketed towards men. Now, there is A LOT of money put into these games and we run fairly comprehensive marketing campaigns, but rarely televised (though I think we ran one on The Bachelor with small returns which did not warrant the cost). So it isn't that we don't make women aware of the product but we have to follow nontraditional avenues of advertisement to reach them and mobile phones seem to be the preferred gaming platform for women, statistically speaking. At least as far as what I've seen from my company's data.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#132

Post by baroffoos »

whatshisface wrote: post #53

All of the games I played as a kid were clearly designed for boys and young men (featuring all of the typical things like guns and heavy machinery that men are well known to like more than women). That's just how the market was. If it's like that today, then it is no wonder that boys exhibit signs of enjoying video games more.

Guns and heavy machinery are not topics for boys. Its just that those things are pushed on boys more while they are growing up. My sisters main game right now is counter strike.

I saw an interesting video last year where they used toddlers young enough to have no visible gender and they got in babysitters to help the toddlers play with toys. They gave the toddlers random gendered names and clothes. They then asked the babysitters what they think the kids's favorite toys were.

In almost every test the babysitter handed the kids the toys associated with the gender they thought the kid was from the name and not what the kids actual gender was. They then went to comment that the perceived genders toys were the kids favorite.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#133

Post by baroffoos »

chrisco255 wrote: post #57
chrisrhoden wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cultural acceptance / expectations account for a lot of behaviors. I played soccer & baseball as a boy because that was what was expected of me, not because I have some natural inclination to do so.

Did you? You telling me you got no innate enjoyment out of those activities? No rush or thrill when you scored a goal or caught a pop fly?

I joined the school hockey team just because all of my friends were there. I didn't really care about the competition, just wanted to hang out with people and run around a bit.

In a way I used the sports team as a kind of social media.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#134

Post by rjf72 »

Funes- wrote: post #89
whatshisface wrote: post #53

All of the games I played as a kid were clearly designed for boys and young men (featuring all of the typical things like guns and heavy machinery that men are well known to like more than women). That's just how the market was. If it's like that today, then it is no wonder that boys exhibit signs of enjoying video games more.

>all of the typical things like guns and heavy machinery that men are well known to like more than women Okay, so either men liking guns, heavy machinery, and videogames more than women comes from a inherent, biological difference between men and women, or it all comes from a huge, complex social construct that has been cultivated and dominant for centuries. Which one is it, then?

There was an excellent series on this exact question released in Norway called Hjernevask [1]. Linking to Wiki there since it provides a link directly to each video as well as a brief synopsis. It had a profound impact on its release in Norway starting extensive discussion of the topic and ultimately led to the removal of government funding for gender studies programs. The primary methodology was simply approaching researchers with contrary research and seeking their views and opinions.

This is also not an American style documentary where things are taken out of context or efforts made to entrap researchers or anything like that. It's just regular interviews on both sides of the argument alongside giving each side the opportunity to express themselves as well as their views on research that tends to run contrary to their own personal views. But all in all this ultimately serves to greatly emphasize how tenuous the appeals to a social construct are when contrasted against the other option.

It goes without saying, but all episodes are of course also subtitled in English.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjernevask

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#135

Post by sudosteph »

Vrondi wrote: post #5

The article claims that inside games "most communication is through text". This makes me think they haven't seen very many real gamers. There's no mention of voice chat's extensive use inside games for everything from gameplay to homework advice from buddies. Pretty clueless.

Agreed. Gaming-oriented discords (or their predecessors, mumble, teamspeak, skype) are often a social networks of their own - complete with the social drama that often comes with social networks. I love games, but I've never felt comfortable in any gaming group due to the fact that being female in one of those groups almost always means you end up getting a special sort of attention or making others uncomfortable by your presence. My husband has been in a few of these groups throughout the years though, so I often listen in since he plays through the speakers. Some groups are more competitive and oriented to a specific game, others are just groups of friends who pick a game based on who's around and what games they have, but the social aspect is critical in each. In competitive ones people typically want to prove themselves as valuable teammates, while in casual ones people just want to share a experience with friends. The one huge difference I have seen between gaming social groups and social media though is that it's typically much easier to ditch your gaming group since you don't always have connections to those people in other ways. It's more socially acceptable to say you just changed gaming preferences when you want to avoid interacting with certain people who play that game, meanwhile deleting your whole social media profile or blocking a bunch of people is more prone to being judged harshly.

So I think the article is way off base with dismissing the social aspect of games as a major draw for guys. But there are truths to there being significant differences in the way the social networks manifest. My personal hypothesis would be it's related to differences in the "stickiness" of the platforms over which communication primarily occurs now.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#136

Post by throwaway010718 »

Imagine if this headline read "Research on drunks' preference for aggressiveness and sobers' for politeness". Would anyone argue that nurture and societal norms is the reason drunks behave more aggressively ?

As someone who has been drunk on testosterone most of their life, I can testify it is a powerful and fun drug. Perhaps if research was framed in terms of hormonal differences rather than sex differences it wouldn't be as intrinsically controversial.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#137

Post by [deleted] »

hackinthebochs wrote: post #126
majormajor wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The artifacts of the social construct are all around us, starting with most Western religious texts, so... people's confidence that everything is biological and that everyone who spent millennia on indoctrination was just wasting their time surprises me. Redirecting people's biological urges is exactly what society has tried to do for ages. At this point it's gotten pretty good at it. So why do we assume that the thi…

>So why do we assume that the things people are directed at in gendered ways Because we're well past assumptions and have significant amounts of hard evidence that point towards relevant structural differences in the brain along gendered lines and behavioral differences that manifest at the earliest ages.

[deleted]

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#138

Post by esyir »

throwaway010718 wrote: post #136

Imagine if this headline read "Research on drunks' preference for aggressiveness and sobers' for politeness". Would anyone argue that nurture and societal norms is the reason drunks behave more aggressively ? As someone who has been drunk on testosterone most of their life, I can testify it is a powerful and fun drug. Perhaps if research was framed in terms of hormonal differences rather than sex differences it would…

It shouldn't be controversial at all. There are sex differences. A good chunk of those differences are the effect of hormonal differences that stem from sexual dimorphism that in turn likely stem from some other evolutionary selection process.

Does culture play a role in behavior? Probably. But is there an inherent difference between the sexes? Yes.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#139

Post by esyir »

Supermancho wrote: post #103
prometheus76 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would submit that the brain differences are actually a byproduct of a larger dynamic. Historically, pregnant women and women with small children faced much more difficulty capturing and maintaining adequate resources on their own. Predation, lower upper-body strength, releasing a scent for one week per month, not to mention the metabolic and time constraints created by nursing and mothering small children in genera…

> Historically, pregnant women and women with small children These characteristics would have predated humans. Maybe pull the terminology back to male and female hominids in the future?

The crux of the argument is still there, and the point is still clear. This just feels a bit nitpicky to me.

Re: Brain research on boys’ preference for video games and girls’ for social media

#140

Post by AstralStorm »

mokus wrote: post #124
dwaltrip wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't a general case rule you can apply here to determine burden of proof. If the target domain is incredibly complex with major fundamental unknowns, then even robust results should not be viewed as 100% definitive.

IMO the “burden of proof” is a mostly vacuous concept to begin with, because it always and only ever lies with the party that wishes to change others’ minds.

Because it's reasonable. You cannot disprove what has no evidence, and why should you look for it, other than normal single good science "college try" check? It's a great way to waste time.

If the concept is not obvious, the onus is even more on the person bringing it up. Otherwise we'd still have physics running on phlogiston, and medicine on leeches as everyone explored irrelevant ideas.

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