The Playing Motivations of Male and Female Gamers and the Effects of Stereotypes on Their Motivations in Honor of Kings

Abstract

Introduction

Honor of Kings (HoK) is one of the most popular mobile games worldwide. To understand why players actively engage with digital games, it is essential to focus on their gaming motivations. However, no previous studies were found to have investigated the kinds and depth of players’ motivations in this game. Moreover, the empirical research concerning the impact of stereotype threat and lift on players’ motivations is scant. Thus, this pre-registered study aims to examine male and female players’ gaming motivations in Honor of Kings and the effects of stereotypes on players’ motivations.

Methods

This study utilized Yee et al. (2012)’s motivational model. A 2 × 3 MANCOVA was performed for the outcome variables of achievement, social, and immersion motivations; with gender and stereotype activation (no activation, female, and male threat activation) as independent variables; and with age and gaming time as covariates (n = 421).

Results

Contrary to prevalent perceptions, the results suggested females had higher achievement and immersion motivations, but lower social motivation than males in Honor of Kings. Unexpectedly, only females’ immersion motivation was impaired under stereotype threat, and females demonstrated lower social motivation under stereotype lift. However, males were not affected by either stereotype threat or stereotype lift.

Discussion

The results suggest that caution is needed for the assumption that male gamers are more achievement-oriented and females are more social-oriented because their motivations may vary depending on game genres. This study also found unexpected effects of stereotype threat and lift. Future research should further explore how to implement stereotype activation effectively to promote gender equality in gaming. Notably, this study only recruited participants from China due to the restrictions of recruitment channels. Future researchers are highly recommended to examine whether there are cross-cultural differences in the findings of this study.

Keywords

game gender stereotype Honor of Kings playing motivation stereotype lift stereotype threat

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