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This selection is an excerpt from a 2011 research article that appeared in Media Psychology. As the abstract notes, the study uses content analysis of video game magazines to make claims about the perpetuation of racial stereotypes in the world of video gaming and about the possible consequences of such stereotypes.

In excerpting this article, we have retained the abstract, the introduction (including the literature review), and part of Study 1, specifically, the discussion of the method used, the content variables analyzed, the first part of the results section, the discussion section, and the conclusion. We have omitted the technical part of the results section, which reports the statistical analyses of the data presented in Table 1; we also omitted Studies 2 and 3. We found the authors’ discussion of the theoretical importance of stereotyped portrayals — part of the literature review — especially relevant for this chapter.

At the time of the article’s publication, its authors were teaching or conducting research at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (Burgess and Burgess), UC–Santa Barbara (Dill), Oklahoma State University (Stermer), and UNC–Wilmington (Brown).

In their general discussion at the end of the study, the authors wrote, “Whereas schools are teaching children to tolerate and even celebrate diversity, this research demonstrates that some forms of popular media are sending opposing signals with troubling effects” (pp. 308–309). As you read, consider how these researchers provide evidence to back up this claim and give serious thought to the ways other kinds of popular media perpetuate, rather than challenge, stereotypes of various sorts.

Playing with Prejudice: The Prevalence and Consequences of Racial Stereotypes in Video Games

MELINDA C. R. BURGESS, KAREN E. DILL, S. PAUL STERMER, STEPHEN R. BURGESS, AND BRIAN P. BROWN

ABSTRACT

A content analysis of top-selling video game magazines (Study 1) and of 149 video game covers (Study 2) demonstrated the commonality of overt racial stereotyping. Both studies revealed that minority females are virtually absent in game representations. Study 1 revealed that, in video game magazines, minority males, underrepresented generally, were more likely to be portrayed as athletes or as aggressive, and less likely to be depicted in military combat or using technology, than White males. Study 2 also showed evidence of the “dangerous” minority male stereotype in video game covers. Again, underrepresented overall, minority males were overrepresented as thugs, using extreme guns, and also as athletes. Study 3, an experiment, exposed players to both violent and nonviolent games with both White and Black characters. Participants were faster at classifying violent stimuli following games with Black characters and at classifying nonviolent stimuli following games with White characters, indicating that images of popular video game characters evoke racial stereotypes.

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INTRODUCTION

Emerging in recent years as one of the most ubiquitous forms of entertainment, video games have become a media giant with U.S. sales recently reaching a record high of over $21 billion (Ortutay, 2009). Children between 8 and 17 years old make up the group that plays the most video games (Gentile, Saleem, & Anderson, 2007), with approximately 90% of this age group being regular players (Walsh et al., 2005). There is a sizeable effects literature demonstrating that games influence behaviors, thoughts, feelings, and attitudes (Anderson, Berkowitz, et al., 2003; Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007; Dill, Brown, & Collins, 2008; Konijn, Bijvank, & Bushman, 2007). Recent brain research even demonstrates differences in the brain’s empathic responding based on differential video game exposure (Bartholow, Bushman, & Sestir, 2006).

Only recently has gaming research begun to concern itself with the portrayals of game characters, and this research has often focused on the portrayal of women in games (e.g., Burgess, Stermer, & Burgess, 2007; Dill & Thill, 2007). Two initial investigations of race in video games (Dill, Gentile, Richter, & Dill, 2005; Glaube, Miller, Parker, & Espejo, 2001) revealed a pattern of infrequent appearance for minority characters and stereotyped depictions when minorities were present. Glaube et al.’s (2001) examination of 70 console games (such as PlayStation) found that some minorities (e.g., Latina women and Native American men) were never present, and that children’s games included only White and nonhuman characters. This pattern was echoed in a sample of 20 computer games examined by Dill, Gentile, et al. (2005), which revealed only a few Black and Latino men in the role of main characters and not a single Latino or Latina secondary character. Beyond this, both investigations found frequent stereotyping of minority characters. Glaube et al. (2001) found that Latino characters were only present in sports games, that Asian characters were largely consigned to a wrestling or fighting role, and that Black characters were typically depicted as unaffected by violence through a lack of pain or physical suffering. Interestingly, even in games created before the terror attacks of 9/11, targets of violence were disproportionately likely to be portrayed as Middle Eastern (Dill, Gentile, et al., 2005).

Other content analyses have focused specifically on portrayals of aggression related to gender and race. Smith, Lachlan, and Tamborini (2003) found that, across all game types, 71% of perpetrators of violence and 65% of targets were White, and that 79% of perpetrators and 77% of targets were male. In a further investigation, these same authors classified the ethnicity of violent characters as White, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, or undefined. Results showed that the majority of characters were White (40.5%) with the next largest group being Asian/Pacific Islander, at only 8%. Interestingly, whereas mild violence was the most common form of violence, Asian/Pacific Islanders was the ethnicity most likely to engage in extreme violence, defined in part by large scale bloodshed and disfiguring injuries.

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5 Whereas the portrayal of game characters has been a concern, there is also a growing body of research examining the social effects of media images, from video game as well as other outlets, on young adults (Dill, Brown, et al., 2008; Johnson, Bushman, & Dovidio, 2008). Dill, Brown, et al. (2008) exposed participants to images of women and men that were either stereotypical sex-typed images from video games or professional images from press photographs. Then participants gave their reactions to a real-life account of the sexual harassment of a female college student by her male professor. Results demonstrated that men who were exposed to the video game images (female sex objects and powerful males) were more tolerant of sexual harassment. This research suggests that exposure to stereotypical imagery in the media can alter social judgments, such as deciding that a case of sexual harassment is less serious or requires less action against the perpetrator. The larger meaning is that stories we glean from mass media can change how we behave in the real world.

In one study dealing with racial stereotypes (Dill & Burgess, 2011), White students saw either video game images of Black men who fit the aggressive criminal or “dangerous minority” stereotype or media images of esteemed Black leaders such as Barack Obama alongside analogous White images. Next, in a purportedly unrelated study, participants evaluated the Web site of a political candidate named Peter Smith who was either Black or White. Results revealed interactive effects of the exemplar prime (negative or positive) on favorability and capability ratings of this candidate. Those who saw the negative (Black video game) exemplars rated the Black candidate as less favorable and capable than the White candidate. In a reversal, those who saw the positive (Black leader) exemplars rated the Black candidate as more favorable and capable than the White candidate.

Whereas there is a sufficient body of literature to appreciate the damage inherent in repeated negative and stereotyped portrayals of minorities and women, there has been a paucity of research on racial portrayals in video games. At the same time, there has been public interest in these portrayals, centering on a sample of blatantly stereotypical portrayals. Perhaps most notably, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was criticized for depicting Haitians and Cubans as criminals and for potentially inciting hate crimes (Haitian, Cuban leaders denounce GTA, 2003). The game’s producer, Rockstar, responded to public protest about game content by removing the lines “Kill the Haitians” and “Kill the Cubans” from the game.

THEORETICAL IMPORTANCE OF STEREOTYPED PORTRAYALS

Stereotypes have both cognitive (e.g., generalizations) and affective (e.g., fear) components (Amodio & Devine, 2006). Repeated exposure to a particular portrayal of a group teaches that this cultural view is a relevant schema for processing members of that particular group. For example, exposure to the schema of the violent Black man teaches that it is appropriate to experience apprehension when approached by a Black male. Further, exposure to these stereotypical images triggers access to thoughts, preferences, and evaluations, ultimately predicting discriminatory behavior (Amodio & Devine, 2006).

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Stereotypes may sometimes be consciously processed, but stereotypes can also provoke thoughtless, non-conscious, impulsive reactions. In an update of his cognitive neoassociation theory of aggression, Berkowitz (2008) underlined the theoretical importance of these automatic processes, and the role of classical conditioning in inciting hostility and aggression. Negative ideas and feelings associated with a group are applied to other group members. These negative associations can trigger negative affect which, in turn, prompts impulsive aggressive reactions that preempt more conscious reasoning. “My cognitive-neoassociationistic analysis . . . suggests what kinds of external stimuli have this relatively compelling capacity to elicit aggressive reactions: primarily situational features that are associated with aggression and those that are linked to decidedly negative experiences” (Berkowitz, 2008, p. 120).

10 Berkowitz (2008) noted that African Americans are commonly stereotyped as aggressive, hostile, and criminal (see also Devine, 1989), and that these are devalued social identities. He wrote, “. . . those people who are associated with aggression generally and/or with gratifications for aggression in particular or who are associated with negative affect are especially likely to be the victims of aggression” (p. 128). Again, for aggression to be evoked, the perpetrator need not engage in a conscious cognitive appraisal (of the stereotype or situation) because aggression can be provoked through an automatic, impulsive route. Berkowitz cited research — particularly that of Devine (1989) and of Bargh, Chen, and Burrows (1996) — as examples of how even unconscious exposure to images of Blacks and words associated with Black stereotypes evoke hostility and aggression. He noted that aggressive portrayals activate hostility toward African Americans, which in turn makes aggression toward them more likely. “. . . [N]on-conscious activation of the African American stereotype can promote hostile-aggressive behavior towards others” (Berkowitz, 2008, p. 122).

Relating this explicitly to mass media, imagery that associates African American men with the negative stereotypes of aggression, hostility, and criminality conditions viewers to associate this constellation of negativity with African American men in general. Subsequently, unrelated Black men will trigger this association, which can, in turn, provoke increased aggression and hostility.

It is important to note that the stereotypical images of Black video game characters are not even real people, but they can still provide fodder for negative social judgments and negative reactions to real Black men. Support for this notion comes from Slusher and Anderson (1987), who found that even when people are simply asked to imagine stereotypes such as a rich lawyer, they do not distinguish between what they have imagined and what they have seen in reality. Slusher and Anderson call this a failure of reality monitoring. People treat their imaginary vision as they would a real-life image and it supports their stereotypes. If this is true, then it follows logically that seeing another type of imaginary or fantasy image — a picture of a video game character — might also be treated as confirmation of a stereotype. There will be little difference from seeing a Black thug in a video game and seeing a real Black criminal — both will be taken as evidence confirming the culturally held stereotype of the Black male criminal.

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Given the large body of violent video game research (see Anderson, Berkowitz, et al., 2003), we expected portrayals of aggression. We were also aware of the racially charged discussions surrounding games like Grand Theft Auto (Leonard, 2009) and wanted to explore whether or not the portrayal of aggression differed as a function of the race of characters. A theoretically relevant way of characterizing this portrayal of violence is whether or not it is socially sanctioned (Lachlan, Tamborini, et al., 2009). We were interested in whether Whites would be more likely to be portrayed as engaged in socially sanctioned violence compared to minorities.

STUDY 1

METHOD

Study 1 is an exploratory content analysis designed to investigate how Black males are portrayed in imagery from top-selling video game magazines. The variables, described below (and the percent agreement between the two raters), are: race (.98), hypermasculinity (.99), aggression (.99), war/military aggression (.96), fighting (1.00), athletics (.91), and use of technology (.94). The sample used in the present study included images taken from the six top-selling game magazines on sale in January 2006. One issue from each magazine was selected, and the largest male and female images on every page from each issue were included. This produced a sample of 482 images (362 male images and 120 female images), which were then coded by one White male and one White female undergraduate research assistant. For details about magazine and image selection, and for rating procedures, see Dill and Thill (2007).

CONTENT VARIABLES

15 For each image, the following races were coded following Dill and Thill (2007): White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, other, and humanoid. The other category was reserved for characters who appeared to be human and who appeared to be of a non-White race that was not always determinable. Only three races (Native American, Egyptian, and undeterminable) were listed by coders under the other category.

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Hypermasculinity was defined as exaggerated male characteristics such as unnaturally large muscles or expressions of dominance. Hypermasculinity relates to features of extreme dominance, power, and aggression (Dill & Thill, 2007; Scharrer, 2004, 2005).

Aggression was defined as being engaged in behavior intended to harm another living being (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2007). Of the violence categories used in Study 1, we categorized war and military aggression as socially sanctioned and fighting as not socially sanctioned. We argue that military violence should be considered relatively more socially sanctioned than fighting because military aggression is legal and, thus, sanctioned by governments and often respected by citizens. In contrast, violence in the form of non-sports fighting is most often considered criminal activity and thus, by definition, is not socially sanctioned. Therefore, aggressive images were further coded as war/military aggression or fighting (no identifiable military rationale). Some images did not fit either category, such as a violent athlete. These images were simply coded as aggressive and not included in the subcategorical analysis.

In the initial stages of this exploratory investigation, we remarked that computer and technology use were regularly portrayed in gaming magazines. We were also aware that sports games have ranked consistently among the top sellers. We, therefore, coded computer and technology use and athletics by race of character.

RESULTS

The data were coded using the variables described above. Frequency data were calculated for each race on the variables described above (see Table 1).

The authors of this article gathered evidence by analyzing the images in gaming magazines. Chapter 4 offers other examples of “hard evidence” used in arguments based on fact.

Following APA style, Burgess and her coauthors included a list of references at the end of the essay. Chapter 22 provides detailed examples of citations in APA style.

RESPOND •

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