When breaking glass ceiling leads to glass screens: gender differences in civility and competitive aggressiveness in esports

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether gender differences exist in terms of the perceived response to civility as well as competitive aggressiveness and anger in esports. There is a dearth of literature on how these variables affect male and female participation in esports. To fill this gap, a total of 84 professional esports players from 27 different countries completed a quantitative survey of measures related to their competitive aggressiveness and anger and their perception of civil behaviours among competitors. Results revealed that female players perceived lower levels of civility compared to male participants who displayed higher competitive aggressiveness. No significant difference was found between gender regarding anger behaviours. This paper adds to the work in civility, diversity-gender and equity research area in esports. Specifically, it highlights how male and female professional players perceive civility while emphasising some factors that jeopardise gender equality when facing competition.