This study had participants play the modern role-playing video game Skyrim as a female character with one of three different body types: an idealized feminine body typically found in video games, a tall muscular body that more realistically represents a warrior woman, and a lizard body that is hard to gender stereotype using human gender role attitudes. Participants were given a pretest and posttest measure that checked their gender role attitudes and were allowed to play the game with no restrictions on the role-play choices they make within the game itself. A lens of Black cyberfeminism was applied to critique and enhance traditional social psychological theories to hypothesize that playing as the more realistically represented warrior woman could produce significant change in their attitudes about gender role. Their change on the scale was examined quantitatively, and their video gameplay was analyzed qualitatively to determine different themes of role-play that took place and their connection to various experimental conditions and change in gender role attitudes. Implications for the gaming industry and community are discussed, including what steps would have to be taken to provide more realistic representations of gender, race, and sexuality in gaming.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study had participants play the modern role-playing video game <em>Skyrim</em> as a female character with one of three different body types: an idealized feminine body typically found in video games, a tall muscular body that more realistically represents a warrior woman, and a lizard body that is hard to gender stereotype using human gender role attitudes. Participants were given a pretest and posttest measure that checked their gender role attitudes and were allowed to play the game with no restrictions on the role-play choices they make within the game itself. A lens of Black cyberfeminism was applied to critique and enhance traditional social psychological theories to hypothesize that playing as the more realistically represented warrior woman could produce significant change in their attitudes about gender role. Their change on the scale was examined quantitatively, and their video gameplay was analyzed qualitatively to determine different themes of role-play that took place and their connection to various experimental conditions and change in gender role attitudes. Implications for the gaming industry and community are discussed, including what steps would have to be taken to provide more realistic representations of gender, race, and sexuality in gaming.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kincaid, Hunter"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Deborah Tolman"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Michelle Fine","Jessie Daniels","Katie Cumiskey","Brett Stoudt"],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:21Z","subjects":["Social Psychology","role play","Black cyberfeminism","video games","gender studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5799","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Deborah Tolman"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Michelle Fine","Jessie Daniels","Katie Cumiskey","Brett Stoudt"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kincaid, Hunter"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-06-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social Psychology","role play","Black cyberfeminism","video games","gender studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5799"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study had participants play the modern role-playing video game Skyrim as a female character with one of three different body types: an idealized feminine body typically found in video games, a tall muscular body that more realistically represents a warrior woman, and a lizard body that is hard to gender stereotype using human gender role attitudes. Participants were given a pretest and posttest measure that checked their gender role attitudes and were allowed to play the game with no restrictions on the role-play choices they make within the game itself. A lens of Black cyberfeminism was applied to critique and enhance traditional social psychological theories to hypothesize that playing as the more realistically represented warrior woman could produce significant change in their attitudes about gender role. Their change on the scale was examined quantitatively, and their video gameplay was analyzed qualitatively to determine different themes of role-play that took place and their connection to various experimental conditions and change in gender role attitudes. Implications for the gaming industry and community are discussed, including what steps would have to be taken to provide more realistic representations of gender, race, and sexuality in gaming.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Impact of Playing as a Non-Stereotypical Woman in a Role-Playing Video Game on Players’ Real World Gender Role Attitudes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Deborah Tolman"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Michelle Fine","Jessie Daniels","Katie Cumiskey","Brett Stoudt"],"dc:creator":["Kincaid, Hunter"],"dc:date.available":["2026-06-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study had participants play the modern role-playing video game Skyrim as a female character with one of three different body types: an idealized feminine body typically found in video games, a tall muscular body that more realistically represents a warrior woman, and a lizard body that is hard to gender stereotype using human gender role attitudes. Participants were given a pretest and posttest measure that checked their gender role attitudes and were allowed to play the game with no restrictions on the role-play choices they make within the game itself. A lens of Black cyberfeminism was applied to critique and enhance traditional social psychological theories to hypothesize that playing as the more realistically represented warrior woman could produce significant change in their attitudes about gender role. Their change on the scale was examined quantitatively, and their video gameplay was analyzed qualitatively to determine different themes of role-play that took place and their connection to various experimental conditions and change in gender role attitudes. Implications for the gaming industry and community are discussed, including what steps would have to be taken to provide more realistic representations of gender, race, and sexuality in gaming.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5799"],"dc:subject":["Social Psychology","role play","Black cyberfeminism","video games","gender studies"],"dc:title":["The Impact of Playing as a Non-Stereotypical Woman in a Role-Playing Video Game on Players’ Real World Gender Role Attitudes"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:59:21Z"}