GENDER AND VIDEO GAME PERFORMANCE

We investigated potential gender differences in video game (pong) perf ormance in university students. In Experiment 1 men (N = 16) performed significantly better than women (N 16). Experiment 2 was similar to t he first but used 14 men and 14 women who were matched carefully on pr evious video game experience. In spite of the matching, results replic ated those of the first experiment. In Experiment 3 we evaluated the e ffect of an audience (male, female, none) on pong performance in 42 me n and 42 women. We also assessed trait competition anxiety (Sport Comp etition Anxiety Test scores), sex role identification (Bem Sex Role In ventory scores), and video game experience. Both genders showed signif icantly poorer performance when they played pong in the presence of a female audience. Overall, males outperformed females as in the first t wo experiments. Examination of individuals with low, medium, and high levels of sport competition anxiety and videogame experience reveals p ersistent gender differences in performance, seemingly independent of levels of anxiety and experience. In all three experiments, both men a nd women showed significant improvement in performance over trials.