Signorella and Gillin, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019, 在Sage期刊的《bck体育官网》上发表了他们关于性取向和性别认同如何影响多人在线视频游戏互动的研究. 他们还在6月1日的“骄傲月”上写了一篇关于Sage Perspectives研究的博客文章.
bck体育官网白兰地酒教授和校友的笔论文详细介绍了性和性别认同评论的普遍性
The vitriol of online gaming gained mainstream attention in 2014 with Gamergate, the organized harassment targeted toward women, people of color and other unrepresented groups. 从那时起, 关于网络游戏中的性别歧视和厌女症已经有了一些科学研究, but relatively fewer on sexuality- and gender-based discrimination, bck体育官网心理学和女性杰出教授表示, 性别, and Sexuality Studies Margaret “Peggy” Signorella and alumna Laura Gillin.
Signorella and Gillin, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019, 发表了他们关于性取向和性别认同如何影响多人在线电子游戏互动的研究 Sage Journals’ Psychological Reports. They also penned a blog post about the study on Sage Perspectives on June 1 for Pride Month.
“我们的一个假设是，性和性别少数群体会注意到更多关于性别和性行为的负面评论，仅仅是因为他们可能在这方面有更多的个人利益, 但我们发现，几乎每个人都能说出一个他们自己看到或说过的歧视的例子,吉林说, 注意的是,, unsurprisingly most participants did not report their own biased behaviors. “几乎没有那么多的人能够回忆起有人对性别或性行为说了积极的话.”
The researchers recruited almost 500 participants through the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses Research Participation System and social media to fill out an online survey. Of those, 185 people completed the survey and were included in the analysis. This sample was split roughly in half based on sexual orientation, with more than half identifying as men, 34% as women and 13.5% as nonbinary persons. Participants were asked about their experiences playing online games, 包括报告关于性或性别认同的各种评论，以及他们是否会将其归类为积极的或消极的，并将其视为笑话, offhand comments or serious discussion.
“It's important to be able to back up what you're saying, what you're claiming when you say, ‘Online video games can be a hostile space towards marginalized people,’”她说。. “You want to prove it. You want to be able to say, ‘This is happening. This has negative repercussions for real people.’”
西诺雷拉说，游戏中的偏见长期以来一直影响着传统边缘化群体的成员, and the scientific literature reports this in detail when it comes to misogyny.
“These biases also play out online in other contexts, but the specific problems in gaming have wide-ranging consequences,”她说。. “对于那些通常不被视为游戏爱好者的人来说，他们的游戏选择可能会受到限制, such as in themes or characters, but also the benefits of fun, 缓解压力, cognitive skill building, etcetera may be constrained by the hostile environments encountered.”
According to Signorella, 目前还很少有实证研究关注与性取向和性别认同相关的偏见. In 2015, Adrienne Shaw是天普大学媒体研究和制作助理教授，著有《bck体育官网》一书 wrote about her frustration 在没有数据的情况下，试图找到所有人似乎都认为是主要问题的已发表研究.
这项研究的数据显示，大多数关于性或性别的负面评论都是针对LGBTQ+玩家的, heterosexual and cisgender players also hear them. 然而, 吉林指出, their analysis did not include race, so there may be unexplored impacts concerning intersecting identities.
“我们希望提高人们对许多少数群体成员所遇到的敌对游戏环境的认识,” Signorella said. “Cisgender heterosexual individuals hearing the slurs, 针对不同身份的人的侮辱和“笑话”也会受到影响, including learning that such behavior is normative or worse, acquiring models for engaging in harassment of LGBTQ+ players.”
The work represents not only a contribution to the field, according to Signorella, but also a personal achievement for Gillin, who said she never expected the findings to be published.
“I was incredibly grateful for the support from Dr. Signorella, my brother and my classmates,吉林说, 她特别感谢Signorella在Gillin毕业后继续和她合作. “I'm glad to have the experience. I'm glad to have a professional connection in Dr. Signorella. I'm glad to have the conference, 演讲和出版本身以及五年的奉献都要写在我的简历上. It was certainly stressful at times, but it was overall incredibly beneficial.”
西诺雷拉和吉林都强调了本科生研究的重要性和好处.
“我是为本科生提供实际研究经验的热心支持者,” Signorella said. “Some, such as Laura, are already interested in pursuing research experience. Others may view the process more as a necessity for graduation. 有些人从更实际的方法开始，最终对从事研究产生了极大的兴趣. 那些不决定继续研究的人仍然学会了如何使用和解释实证研究结果，这也是有价值的.”
吉林补充说，网络和专业发展机会是无价的.
“它为你提供了职业发展的机会，”吉林说. “It helps you with your networking, it helps you make connections that'll be beneficial to you later on. It's something enjoyable, 主要是, to do with your time, 它会让你了解事情是如何运作的，这样你就不会跳得太深.”
Since her graduation from Penn State, Gillin在Widener大学获得了人类性学硕士学位，并继续协助Signorella进行研究. She said she hopes to pursue a career in research and education.
