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Stereotypes Of Gamers

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One of the fastest growing industries in the world is the video game industry, where $24.8 billion was projected to be spent on video games globally in 2013 (Park & Lee, 2011). Resulting from this growth is a growing community of video game players, or gamers, generating new ways to interact and socialize. During the early years of video games, many games had the objective of obtaining a high score, where the champion could display their three initials—until someone surpassed it. Many video games were in an arcade machine form, where strangers and friends would gather around one machine and watch others play.
Video games began to evolve, and with the evolution of games, came the evolution of the gamer, and the evolution of the social aspect …show more content…
However, there were no differences in self-reported scores between gamers and non-gamers in their level of exercise or weight as the gamer stereotype suggests (Kowert et al., 2014). The lack of differences may have been a result of the self-reported scores. It is possible the gamer participants may have lied about their weight, or how much they exercise, to not be viewed with such a negative stereotype. A variable not explored, but mentioned is the attractiveness of gamers compared to non-gamers—a variable I aim to examine in this …show more content…
Research has determined that a state of higher physiological arousal may increase attractiveness ratings (Dutton & Aron, 1974). Participants walked across two different bridge types: a narrow bridge that tended to tilt, sway, and wobble over a 230-foot drop, or a wide, much more firm bridge over a 10-foot drop. A female interviewer remained constant, but was rated much more attractive after participants had crossed the narrow bridge. The increase in physiological arousal was enough to increase one’s attractiveness rating. This finding is interesting because it is one variable that is hard to account for. People can change their hair, makeup, or clothes to appear more attractive, and others can notice this change. However, a physiological change is much more subtle, and is harder to notice. The excitement of being with another person may be enough to increase their rating of

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