Gender and Teenage Computer Use and Gaming. Activity in Turkey and the United States

Transcription

1 Gender and Teenage Computer Use and Gaming Activity in Turkey and the United States Christine Ogan Professor Emerita Indiana University Courtesy Professor University of Florida Turkan Karakus Yavuz Inal Doctoral Students Middle East Technical University Ankara, Turkey Kursat Cagiltay Associate Professor Middle East Technical University Ankara, Turkey Presented to the EU Kids Online Conference, London, June 11, 2009

2 Game playing, both on and off the PC, has been a world wide phenomenon for many years. First games were played in video arcades in malls and shopping centers. Then they were designed for game devices Atari and Nintendo. Children growing up with computer games in the early to late 1980s often played them on floppy disks inserted into an IBM PC. Nowadays, games are played on the Internet as well as on game consoles and increasingly in mobile devices. On the research side, gaming has usually attracted researchers because of the public concern about its effects on adolescent boys the extreme amount of time game playing can consume; and at its extreme, the addictive nature of game playing, how it fosters a sedentary lifestyle and contributes to obesity; and more seriously, how it leads to an obsession with violence that can spill over into real life. And then there is the research about girls and gaming the sexist nature of game design that fails to appeal to girls, the creation of girl-based games that use characters like Barbie to overcome the male game stereotypes, and the analysis of possible genetic differences that can result in differential game-playing activity. Gender has long been an issue in game research. The popular belief is that because games are designed for boys, most girls are not interested in playing. Yet in 2006, Nielsen Entertainment released results of a study finding that 64% of online active gamers were female (Lombardi, 2006, October 5). The research defined active gamers as people who are at least 13 years of age, own at least one game device and play video games for at least one hour a week (Lombardi, 2006, October 5). Not all games are played online, of course, and males dominate the videogame-playing universe by more than two to one, the study also found ( Nielsen: 56% of Active Gamers, 2006, October 5). Males who are active gamers also play for longer periods of time, averaging 13 hours a week, while active gamer females play about 9 hours. 2

3 In all this research we have made assumptions about the transferability of the research findings across borders. But very few studies have been conducted that actually compare game activity cross-culturally. Even fewer look at the gender differences comparatively. This study is a secondary analysis of two studies of gaming activity in the United States and in Turkey (Karakus et al., 2008; Lenhart et al., 2008). Research on Gender in Use of Videogames As Lucas and Sherry (2009) point out in their review of the literature on video game research, most studies have their basis in psychology and have focused on effects of playing video games (addiction, relationship to aggression and violence, arousal, and health-related consequences) (2009, pp ). The authors argue that research based in both mass and interpersonal communications can provide a new perspective on video game playing and particularly on gender differences in playing (2009, p. 501). Yee agrees that the bulk of research focuses on the negative effects of video game play, but that the rest is concentrated on the mostly positive use of games for pedagogical purposes (2006). His study of 30,000 users of Massively Multi-User Online Role-Playing Games examines the users demographics, motivations and derived experiences, categorizing motivations in a five-factor model where females motivations differed from those of the male players. Males who played MMORPGs selected games on the basis of achievement or manipulation factors, while women were motivated by relationship factors followed by immersion and escapism.. In addition, more of the females thought their online friends were comparable or better than their real life friends than did the males (p ). Players under the age of 18 were almost exclusively male, he found (324). 3

4 Somewhat similar to Yee, Lucas and Sherry adopted the uses and gratifications paradigm to help determine why girls play fewer videogames and generally like them less than males (2004), a finding common in earlier studies (Fromme, 2003; Griffiths, 1991; Kaplan, 1983; Ogan et al., 2006; Phillips et al., 1995; Wright et al., 2001). Previous studies that focused on gender differences in game preferences have found that in Germany boys between the ages of 7 and 14 preferred action and fighting games, sport games and platform games, while girls preferred platform games and puzzle games (Fromme, 2003). But as Sherry and Lucas (2003) point out, most games are designed to play to the strengths of males, not those of females. For example, males are better at mental rotation of three-dimensional objects, navigation through a route or maze, and target-directed motor skills (p. 508). Females, on the other hand, are superior at landmark memory (remembering details of objects seen along a route), object displacement (identifying if an object is missing or has been moved) and perceptual speed (rapidly identifying or matching items based on visual cues) (p ). Kimura (1999) identified these biological differences. Feng, Spence, and Pratt (2007) later conducted experiments to determine the relationship, if any, between training and gender differences in lower level spatial attentional processes and the likely effects on higherlevel spatial cognition (i.e. mental rotation tasks) (p. 851). They found that when both males and females spent time in training in first person shooter games, their shooting accuracy improved, However, females performance on spatial tasks improved more than that of males, virtually eliminating gender differences (p. 853). Quaiser-Pohl, Geiser and Lehmann (2005) found that males demonstrated mental rotation ability and also age differences. Similar to Feng, Spence, and Pratt, they found that non-player boys had 4

5 lower MRT scores than those who played action-and-simulation games. Girls game preference was unrelated to MRT performance, but girls also tended not to be action and simulation game players in the study. A recent study by Williams, et al. (2008) based on a survey of 7,000 players of EverQuest, a massively multiplayer online game, found some surprising gender differences from those of other studies. Many fewer of the players were female (19.2% vs. 80.8% male), contrasting with findings of the 2006 study reporting that more women than men are players (Lombardi, 2006, October 5). Women playing EverQuest recorded playing slightly more hours per week than the males (29.31 hours vs for males), and a larger percentage of the female players reported having been diagnosed with depression (23% vs. 11% for males). Comparative Studies and Gender: Examples of studies of game-playing behavior and attitudes outside of the United States are relatively common in the literature (Quaiser-Pohl, Geiser and Lehmann, 2005; Hartmann and Klimmt, 2006; Chou and Tsai, 2004; Feng, Spence and Pratt, 2007; Jansz and Martens, 2005; Stewart, 2003), and the results generally support the findings of U.S.- based studies. However, respondents to Griffiths et al. s study of EverQuest (2004), were not distributed evenly across the world. More than three-quarters of the respondents to that online survey lived in North America, while 20% were from Europe and very small numbers from other locations. Relatively little comparative research on gender and gaming can be found. One general study of media culture and communication device use in Taiwan and Japan found that many more Taiwanese youth play online games than those in Japan (Ishii and Wu, 5

6 2006). The authors thought this may be due to the feeling that there is more trust among youth in Taiwan and Japan and more overlap between the online and real social worlds of Taiwanese youth than Japanese youth (p. 112). In Taiwan, when boys are playing online games in cyber cafés, the girls tend to sit and talk rather than play the games. Okazaki, Skapa and Grande (2008) used the technology acceptance model to study mobile gaming cross culturally in the United States, Spain and the Czech Republic. They expected that young people would have similar perceptions of mobile games. Surveying university students studying business administration in all three countries the researchers found that perceived convenience exercises greater effects on attitude toward mobile games than perceived fun in all three countries (p. 845) and is overall the most important determinant in adoption. And perceived novelty was a more important factor in determining perceved convenience than economic value across all countries (p. 847). Although the authors admit that there is danger in oversimplification, they believe their model provides support for a world youth segment (p. 847). Some national differences were found, however, in the U.S. and Spanish respondents in that the Americans were more likely to appreciate perceived fun, perceived convenience, visual appeal and novelty than the respondents from Spain (p. 847) which might have been what led to higher sales and diffusion of mobile devices in the U.S. than in Spain. There were no differences between the U.S.-Czech responses and the Spanish-Czech responses, however. A second cross-cultural study focuses on leisure digital game usage and preferences among 13 and 14-year olds in Israel and Australia (Henderson, et al., 2008). Attention is paid in this article to the differences in game playing in a country at peace 6

7 and one at war and also on possible comparative gender differences. In this qualitative study, there were no motivational differences in game playing related to entertainment, enjoyment, challenge or difficulty of games in the two countries, but graphics were four times more important to male players than female players while preventing boredom was more important to females than to males. Females in both countries played games less in arcades than did males, but a substantial portion of females in Australia (43%) and in Israel (15%) did play in arcades, while 61% of Australian males and 39% of Israeli males played there. Home, was the most preferred place to play for all respondents, however. Both Australian and Israeli females preferred action games over all other genres (followed by simulation), while males reported preference for this genre at between 7 and 9% (p. 20, 21). Australian males preferred racing cars and shooter games, while Israeli males preferred sport and strategy games (p. 20) Though it is certainly much easier to do cross cultural research on online gaming, especially in the Massive Multiplayer environment, as participants play these games from many different countries, little research has been published outside of those reported on above related to EverQuest. Method and Research Questions: This study is a secondary analysis of two surveys, one conducted in 2008 in the United States by Pew Internet Research on teen gaming and civic engagement (Lenhart, et al., 2008) and the other conducted in six cities in Turkey with vocational high school students (Karakus, Inal and Cagiltay, 2008) about the same time. A major purpose of the Pew study was to determine the nature and frequency of game playing activity on computers, consoles or cell phones among teen-agers in the United States. The Pew Internet and 7

8 American Life project leaders surveyed 1,102 youths from age along with their parents from November 1, 2007-February 5, The Turkish study had a similar goal, surveying 1224 students at eight different schools (but not their parents). Though the surveys were not identical, the overlap in the questions was sufficient to undertake a comparative analysis. The margin of error for the Pew study was +/_ 3.2%, while the Turkish study, which was not based on a random sample, did not have a margin of error. However, because the students came from a variety of geographic locations in Turkey, some degree of representation of a national random sample was likely. Because the two countries have different traditions and levels of computer adoption, and different levels of economic development as well as different religious traditions related to gender expectations, we wondered whether game playing would also reveal different preferences, attitudes and behaviors among the teen-age populations. Research questions for the study were as follows: 1. How do the game-playing attitudes, preferences and practices of the teen-agers in the United States and Turkey compare? 2. Are there differences between male and female game-playing practices in the United States that also exist between males and females in Turkey? The data were made available by the authors of the original studies and analyzed through SPSS. Diffusion of the Internet, Computer-based and Online Gaming in the United States and Turkey In the many surveys conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project over the last nine years, the organization has compiled trend data on the demographics and social 8

9 uses of the internet. The statistics most relevant to this study are reported here. In December 2008 the project reported that 74% of American adults use the internet. As of May 2008, 55% of adult Americans had a high-speed internet connection at home. But the adoption rate in poorer families, those earning less than $20,000 a year, stood at 25% in early Those who are not online (27% of U.S. adults) have a median age of 61 and also low incomes ( 55% of Adult Americans, 2008, July 2). Some of those in the study reported that broadband access was not available where they lived. As for computer ownership, a 2005 study by Seagate, a hard drive manufacturer, found that 76% owned a personal computer, while 67% owned a mobile phone and 38% owned a game console (Jenkins, 2005, Aug. 2). Video game consoles were owned by 40% of U.S. households in 2008, but the increase represents greater interest in music games like Rock Band 2, and Wii music for the Nintendo Wii consol. Odyssey reported that 58% of game console owners play music games, second only to the 65% who play action games (Takahashi, 2008, October 20). Online game playing was reported by 35% of U.S. adults in an August 2006 Pew Internet survey, while 9% said they did that daily ( Internet Activities, and Daily Internet Activities, ). When the online game playing was broken down by age group, however, 78% of those in the year-old group said they played games, while 50% of those who were years old played online games in surveys conducted between 2006 and Also in those surveys 93% of online teens and 87% of Generation Y those born between 1982 and 94 said they go online ( Generational Differences ). In 2008, the Office of the Turkish Prime Ministry s Family and Social Research General Directorate conducted a national survey of internet use and family. The data on 9

10 internet activity that is reported on here all come from that survey (T.C. Başbakanlık, 2008). Of the adults responding to the survey, 76.8% reported individual use of the internet and 79% said they owned at least one computer in their household. About 29% of the adults reported that someone in the family plays online games, while online game playing was listed the seventh highest ranked internet activity (28.99%) following information seeking, news reading, educational uses including search, communication, listening to music and chatting. Turkey is the 19 th ranked country in the world in terms of broadband access with 1.6 million subscribers ( Internet Statistics ). Despite advances in broadband and wireless connections in Turkey, many people still access the internet through cafés. And youth frequently play games in cafés to be with their friends or to play in a parent-free environment. The director of the Internet Access Providers Association reports there are 23,000 internet cafés across the country; however only 18,000 are reported as registered in the municipalities where they are located. In these cafés internet access, web cams and game consoles are available (Binark, et al., 2009). In Binark et al. s study of internet café use in Ankara, Turkey, they describe these places as digital game centers, especially since 2000 (p. 290). We have also observed widespread game playing in other locations in the country. A variety of security measures have been imposed on game playing in order to ameliorate the media-reported negative effects, including the restricting of play of a very popular MMORPG, Knight Online, to young people aged 18 and over (p. 291). Internet cafés are also the sites for LAN parties as well as locations for socializing apart from the playing of games (p ). In the 58 internet cafés in their study, the authors observed that females rarely frequent the cafés as 10

11 they are seen as spaces mostly reserved for males, much like coffee houses in Turkey. This means that girls who are interested in game playing will likely conduct that activity from their homes or other kinds of public places where they feel more comfortable. This helps to explain the lower use of computers and the internet by females in Turkey. The Turkish Statistical Institute report for 2008 finds that 24% of females and 41% of males report using the internet in the previous three months ( ICT Usage Statistics ). Even in the age group, 45.4% of females and 65.6 percent of males report having used the internet in the last three months ( Individuals using the computer ) Other national communication diffusion statistics for 2008 show that 87.2% of the population owns mobile telephones, 27.2% own a desktop computer, while 8.5% own a laptop computer, 3.6% own a game console, and.5% own a handheld computer ( ICT Usage Statistics ). Many sources look to mobile devices as the future of computing in less developed countries. Demographic information for the U.S. and Turkish Studies Pew Internet Survey: Of the 1102 respondents to the U.S. survey, about half were males (50.5% and half females (49.5% with the mean age of 15 (range from 12-17). Of all respondents, 93.3% say they use the Internet at least occasionally, while 35.6% say they use it several times a day and another 27.2% use it at least daily. Most of the youth access the internet from home (90.5%), 75.5% use it from school, 47.4% use it from a library, and 43.5% access the internet from another location not mentioned in the survey. American youth have widespread access to communication devices: 72.9% own a cell phone; 62.5% own either a desktop or laptop computer; 76% own an ipod or other MP3 player; and 53% own at least one game console of some type. 11

12 Whether they own a portable game device or not, 57.2% say they play games on such a device. A much larger number play games on a computer (74.0%), while nearly a half (46.8%) play games on their cell phones. Online games are also widely popular (75.1% play them). Perhaps surprisingly, only 20.2% play MMORPGs. Guitar Hero and Halo were the most frequently mentioned games played as the first, second or third choices of the respondents. The game youth play most often is one that is played alone (80.2%), but 87.9% say their parents know what games they are playing, and that they frequently join in the game (31.6%). Turkish Vocational School Survey: There were 51.5% males and 48.5% females in the survey of 1227 high school students in six major Turkish cities. One of the schools was open only to girls, and about half of the female respondents to the survey attended that school. The majority of students were enrolled in the 10 th grade (63%), but the range of grades represented was from 9-12 (or approximately ages 14-18). Only 54.2% of the respondents owned a computer, and even fewer had an internet connection from home (35.2%). The average reported time using a computer in a week was in the 6-10 hour range while 52.4% reported using the internet between one and five hours and 41.6 reported using it more than six hours a week, with 20.3% saying they used it more than 10 hours a week. Since computer ownership was so low, only 27.2 accessed the internet from home, while 37.4% went to an internet café and 25.2% got their access through the school. In the survey, students were asked to check off uses of the internet in their daily lives. The greatest number of students said they used it for information seeking (70.7) or to do their homework (70.2), Chat was ranked next (48.7%) followed by game playing 12

13 (38.8) and (31.4%). The internet was widely used for communicating with classmates (60.9%) but much less so with teachers (only 14.4%). Computer game playing on or off the internet was a common form of entertainment for most of the students (71.7%). But most students played five or fewer hours per week (79%). About half (49.1%) of the students in the survey report that their parents are concerned about their playing games too much, while 40.2% said their parents permit them to play and 9.1% have not told their parents about their game playing activity. Gender differences in the two surveys: Virtually all the students in the U.S. survey owned a computer so there was no gender difference in that study. Males in the Turkish survey were much more likely to own desktop or laptop computers (64.1% vs. 43.8%; Phi=.20, p=.000). In the U.S., no gender differences were found in the time spent on the Internet, the frequency of internet use, or the use made of the internet from home, school or the library. However in Turkey, male students more frequently had a home internet connection (Phi=.079, p=.006) and reported higher levels of both computer use (Cramer s V=.289, p=.000) and internet use (Cramer s V=.219, p=.000). Girls in the Turkish sample chose school and the internet café as the spots most often chosen for access to the net while boys said that they also most oftern used the café but also their homes for access (Cramer s V=.188, p=.000). In both studies, students were asked about their use of the internet for various purposes. Although there was no exact match to the lists of uses, there was some overlap. In the Pew study, no gender differences were found for the use of the internet for getting news 13

14 and information; or using web sites to find out about films, television, music groups or sports stars. More females than males did report sending and receiving (Phi=.175, p=.000) and for using social network sites (Phi=.133, p=.000). When asked to think about all the ways they socialize with one another, the female U.S. students reported sending more IM messages than males (Cramer s V=.109, 142, p=.001), sending more s (Cramer s V=.227, p=.000), and also sending more text messages (Cramer s V=.109, p=.01), but there was no gender difference in the messages reported being sent through social networking sites nor in the talking they do on their cell phones. In the Turkish study, however, males were more likely to use the internet for chatting (Phi=.221, p=.000) and (Phi=.19, p=.000), accessing information (Phi=.09, p=.002), communicating with classmates (Phi=.333, p=.000) and even with teachers (Phi=.127, p=.000). But females reported using the internet more for homework (Phi=.06, p=.05). These differences may indicate that the gender-based communication and socializing patterns of U.S. youth on the internet may not be universal. Or it may be that the reduced access for Turkish female youth causes them to use the time for more practical things like homework. The Pew study asked a variety of questions related to ownership of devices on which games could be played. These questions were not asked in the Turkish study, unfortunately, but we do know that game consoles can be rented in internet cafés. But in the U.S. study, gender differences were found in the greater number of males who own game consoles (Phi=.334, p=.000) and portable game devices like P-S-Ps and Gameboys (Phi=.134, p=.000). There was no difference in the ownership of personal mobile telephones or of desktop or laptop computers, however. Perhaps because 14

15 more males owned the game consoles and portable devices, they also used them more frequently (Phi=.299, p=.000 for consoles and Phi=.156, p=.000 for portable devices). There was no difference in male and female use of computers for games, but more females used their mobile phones to play games (Phi=.09, p=.003) and males played more online games (Phi=.104, p=.065). Gender and Game Playing: The U.S. students were never asked why they play games, but if they didn t ever play games they were asked for the reason. So few respondents had never played games that the result was not reported, and only 29 of the total 1102 respondents had previously played games and did not do so anymore. Of all the respondents, 93.1% of females and 99.1% of males reported playing games. Pew reports that the older girls in the survey tended to play less, though more than half of them still play. Daily game players are more likely to be male (65% vs 35% of the females). As expected, males played more frequently than did females in the U.S. study (Cramer s V=.379, p=.000), with 39.1% of males and 20.4% of females playing once a day or several times a day. In Turkey, males also play games much more frequently than females (Cramer s V=.39, p=.000). At the extreme, 12% of the males and only.9% of females play more than 10 hours a week, while 19.9% of males and 5.2% of females report playing 6-10 hours a week. The respondents were asked for their reasons for play, and these too differed between males and females (Cramer s V=.16, p=.000). More of the females said they played to improve their mind and to pass time than did males, while more of the males said they played for entertainment or to reduce stress. Few of either group said they 15

16 played games to socialize with others, though slightly more of the females checked this reason (2.3% vs. 1.5% of the males). The types of games played by males and females shows variation cross-culturally. Because of the way the data was collected in both surveys, it is somewhat difficult to pinpoint the differences by gender and games chosen/played the most, but some conclusions are possible. In the Turkish study, respondents were asked to name their top three favorite games and these were categorized into the usual game genres. Males and females chose very different types of games (Cramer s V=.74, p=.000). As first choice the females chose Atari (23.4%), puzzle (16.5%), card (12.8%) and car race (12.8%) games. Only 273 females completed this question. Male respondents chose car race (29.5%), first person shooter (26.7%), sports (26.5%), and strategy (5.3%) as their first choices. Of the males, 468 completed the question. For both males and females other choices received smaller percentages as their choice. The same patterns emerged in the second and third choices by gender. In another open-ended question, the students were asked to name their favorite games. Many fewer of the females listed any games, but when the top-named games were tabulated, the choices mostly corresponded to the genre choices listed above. Of the males, 186 selected Counter Strike (and its variations) 186, while the second most-often named game was Need for Speed and the third was some version of FIFA (usually 2005, 2006, or 2007). In the case of females, the top choice was Mario (61), second was Mine Field (42) and third was Solitaire (24). Counter Strike was selected by only 20 of the females. In the Pew study, respondents were asked whether or not they played games in individual genres as a series of separate questions. When the yes responses were 16

17 combined and analyzed by gender, it showed that males played more types of games than females (Cramer s V=.41, p=.000). Girls in the study played an average of six different genres, while males played eight. As in the Turkish study, the racing genre was the top choice of the whole sample (74% said they played), while puzzle games, sports, action and adventure were chosen next in that order When each of the genre selections were compared by gender, there were significant differences in all but the rhythm and simulation categories. Males more frequently chose fighting, action, first person shooter, strategy, role playing, adventure, sports, racing and survival/horror games, while females more frequently chose puzzle games. This is not to say that the female respondents only chose puzzle games, but that they were significantly outnumbered by the male respondents in all other categories, with simulation and rhythm games being represented about equally by gender. In the Pew study, respondents were asked to list their first three choices for favorite game. The parallels to the Turkish students choices are somewhat remarkable. The top choice was Halo (176), followed by Madden (149) and Guitar Hero (110) for the boys. The girls chose Guitar Hero (113), Super Mario (and variations) (86) and Solitaire (64) as their top choices. As in the Turkish survey, more of the girls gave no answer (74) than did the boys (26). The male respondents in both surveys selected a first person shooter game (Counter Strike and Halo) and a sports game (Madden and FIFA) in their top three, while the female respondents chose the identical games (Mario and Solitaire) in their top three. Guitar Hero was not selected by the Turkish respondents, but the cost of this music video game and the need for a game console in the original versions may have prevented widespread participation of the Turkish participants. In the United States, this 17

18 game is extremely popular, even among those who don t regularly play console games, and often played by groups at parties by both males and females. We conclude that U.S. and Turkish male and female students played similar types of games according to genre, with women choosing racing and puzzle games in both countries and males preferring racing, first person shooter, sports and strategy games. Atari games were not listed in the genres for the Pew study, but since the range of Atari classic games in Flash format online are free, it is perhaps the reason for their popularity. The respondents listed these games as Atari, causing them to appear in the list of genres by the researchers, but the researchers in the Pew study defined the genres for the respondents, and did not include these games as a particular genre. This raises an issue in game research that was defined in the Pew report on this study (Lenhart, et al., 2008) The authors point to a lack of consistency in both the gaming industry and in the academic research that classifies genres (p. 16). But the finding that the female respondents in the two countries selected two identical games and males in both countries chose one first-person shooter and one football/soccer game in their top choices is not viewed as a coincidence, given the hundreds of games from which they could choose. Game Playing Drawbacks According to Gender More of the females than males in the Turkish survey believe there is harm in playing computer games (Phi=-.124, p=.000). The females also were more likely to agree that game playing caused specific harms, such as aggression (Phi=.161, p=.000), preventing students from studying (Phi=..181, p=.000), making students lazy (Phi=.135, p=.000), and remove them from real life (Phi=.106, p=.001). Males, on the other hand, saw more benefits to playing games, being more likely to say that game playing improved 18

19 communication skills (Phi=.09, p=.008), and creative skills (Phi=.123, p=.000), and improved hand-eye coordination (Phi=.074, p=.04. There was no gender difference when the question of whether computer games helped people learn new things, however (53.9% of males and 50.0% of females agreed). These questions were not asked in the Pew survey, but the survey asked whether parents talked with them about why they were not allowed to play certain games. Both males (55.1%) and females (53.3%) said that happened. And 53.6% of the males parents and 47.3% of the females parents said they actually prevent them from playing certain games. The respondents also said that the parents monitor which games their children are playing (86.1% of males and 89.8% of females). The respondents to the Pew survey were also ask how frequently they observed other players being overly aggressive during the course of the game. Males more often than females observed such behavior (Cramer s V=.210, p=.000). They also observed that other players asked them to stop such behavior (74.1% of males and 71.0% of females). Since males more frequently play games where aggression is part of the game, it is natural for them to observe such behavior getting out of control more frequently. The respondents were also asked about the frequency of behavior that was hateful, racist or sexist in the course of playing the game. Again, males were more likely to observe this behavior (Cramer s V=.208, p=.000). And both males and females said they observed others often or sometimes ask the offenders to stop the offensive behavior (73.3% of males and 72.2% of females). 19

20 Discussion The overall picture of game use as detailed in the surveys conducted in the United States and Turkey with male and female youth from about in 2008 reveals more similarities than differences. In both surveys girls prefer games that are not violent and tend to like puzzle and card games, and a variety of Mario games found online. Though the U.S. females use their internet connections for a wider range of communication with friends and acquaintances, it is possible that the Turkish girls have not had either the resources or the opportunities to develop those social skills that require computers and broadband internet access to fully pursue those options. And if Quaiser-Pohl, et al. (2006) are right about girls learning mental rotation skills through practice, it means that Turkish girls may not have sufficient opportunity to improve those skills. Traditionally Turkish males are raised to have greater educational advantages than their female siblings. Though that may not be as true today as in the past, it may still apply to some of these students who were raised in urban environments. And computers are viewed as important to advancing their educational success, so it is not much of a surprise that males report greater ownership of computers and greater internet access at home. Teen-age boys also frequently benefit from greater freedom in the family, while girls tend to be more sheltered. This freedom allows them to spend more time in the internet cafés with their friends. As mentioned above, previous research in Turkey has shown that girls say they feel uncomfortable in internet cafés because of the largely male environment. Hence girls may feel excluded from one of the most available public spaces for them to use information technology. So the implications for Turkish girls have importance beyond the game playing that goes on there. 20

21 In the case of the American girls, it seems as if they have all of the tools to compete with boys at game playing and in use of computers and the internet for success in IT programs in school. But as we see from the results of this study and many other studies, girls tend to get into play with computers later than boys and often feel their skills are not as well honed as those of the boys. This leads to fewer women entering fields like computer science and related IT-based disciplines (Ogan, et al., 2006). In this study the U.S. females chose to play solitaire and Mario games just like the Turkish females. Is this outcome more about the similar socialization process in both societies? Does it have meaning beyond these studies? Clearly, more comparative research is called for to determine the barriers and the openings for girls to develop the confidence to compete with the males at an early age in the game-playing arena and later to use the skills they develop and the confidence they gain to enter the IT disciplines in greater numbers. 21

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