Study finds link between avatar gender and game play behaviour
The gender of avatars in action role-playing games could affect how people play, according to new research from Nottingham Trent University (NTU).
By Helen Breese | Published on 18 November 2024
Categories: Press office; Research; School of Social Sciences;
The study by NTU psychologists examined the in-game behaviour of 276 male and 77 female players of Fallout: New Vegas in relation to number of quests completed, number of locations discovered, and number of non-player characters (NPCs) killed.
The findings showed significant interaction between avatar gender and player gender for both quest completion and location discovery.
Players who controlled an avatar of the same gender as themselves were significantly more likely to complete a larger number of quests and discover more locations, suggesting an own-gender bias whereby players experience greater identification with avatars that share their gender.
However, own-gender bias was not present for the variable of NPCs or enemies killed. The study found that players controlling female avatars were significantly more likely to kill more NPCs and enemies than those controlling male avatars, regardless of the player’s own gender - contradicting gender stereotypes that portray men as more aggressive than women.
The study involved more than 300 gamers
Dr Kim Szolin, lead researcher and psychologist at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, said: “We looked at game play behaviour from the view of the Proteus effect, which suggests that players’ attitudes and behaviours may be influenced by the observed characteristics of their avatar.
"Research suggests that even something as fundamental to a person's identity as gender can be temporarily replaced by the adopted gender of their avatar.”
The study focused on Fallout: New Vegas as the game gives players a large amount of freedom and choice in how to play the game, meaning that they may be more easily influenced by their avatar without being constrained by game-based restrictions that could inhibit occurrence of the Proteus effect.
The game also provides players with freedom of choice in how they complete quests or missions and how they interact or navigate through the game world.
A player may also deviate from the intended activities and quests route and either skip or avoid missions to pursue other in-game activities, such as completing minor quests, collecting items and equipment, or even spending time gambling for in-game currency.
Kim added: “Our results suggest that players who identify more strongly with their avatars may derive more enjoyment from the game and are therefore more motivated to play and perform well.
“However, the finding that female avatars were associated with a higher number of in-game kills might be explained by a shift in the representation of female characters in media, including video games.
“In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward portraying female characters as more aggressive, assertive, and combat-ready and this may have led players to associate these traits with female avatars.”
Read the full paper The Proteus effect in Fallout: New Vegas: Investigating gender-conforming behaviours in videogames, published in Entertainment Computing.
Notes for Editors
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named UK ‘University of the Year’ five times in six years, (Times Higher Education Awards 2017, The Guardian University Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023) and is consistently one of the top performing modern universities in the UK.
It is the 3rd best modern university in the UK (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023). Students have voted NTU 1st in the UK for student employability (Uni Compare 2025)
NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with over 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across six campuses. It has an international student population of almost 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The first recognises NTU’s research on the safety and security of global citizens. The second was awarded for research in science, engineering, arts and humanities to investigate and restore cultural objects, buildings and heritage. The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded GOLD in the national 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment, as it was in 2019.
NTU is a top 10 for sport (British Universities and Colleges Sport league table 2023).
NTU is the most environmentally sustainable university in the UK and second in the world (UI Green Metric University World Rankings, 2023).