Do males have more favorable attitudes towards digital game use than Females: A Meta-Analytic review

Abstract

With increasing research attention on digital game use for purposes of both entertainment and non-entertainment (e.g., education and learning, training), more empirical studies have been conducted to explore various issues related to digital games and their uses and applications. Given the background of gender difference related to technology in general, gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use has been a topic in many research studies. However, findings from previous research studies on gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use were inconsistent. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to address this issue. From the research literature up to January of 2023, 41 studies were identified as useable, thus included in this study. From these 41 studies, the cumulative sample size was 35,348, and a total of 133 effect sizes were obtained. Using a three-level random-effects meta-analytic model, a significant effect size of gender difference in attitudes toward digital game use (g = 0.21, 95 % CI: [0.10, 0.32]) was found. Moderator analyses showed that study features of game type (entertainment games vs. serious games) and sub-types of attitudes (self-efficacy, affect, and belief) contributed to the heterogeneity of the results across the studies. The implications of the findings, and the limitations and future research considerations were discussed.