Gender Differentials and Factors Leading to Youth Participation in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs)

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to examine the gender gap and the factors that influence youth participation in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). This study used a quantitative method to collect data from respondents aged 15 to 30 who actively play online games on Facebook using a purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling was used to select the respondents. The questionnaire was filled out willingly by 50 people. There were 52 percent males and 48 percent females, and the survey took about one month to complete. The results show that there are two internal factors that lead to youth participation in MMORPGs, which are addiction, a source of income, and as a stress reliever. While the external factors include peer group social influence and mass media influence. To summarize, youth participation in gaming activities, particularly multiple role-playing games, is increasing, and many factors contribute to that participation. Stakeholders such as the Ministry of Youth and Sport or the e-sport team should improve their programmes to attract and recruit more youth to be professional e-sport players so that they can turn their passion into a career and represent the nation later. The findings of this study can be used as a future reference for more in-depth studies that should focus more on the effects of youth involvement in MMORGPs.