As digital games are increasingly used in education, understanding attitudes toward their use is important. A meta-analysis conducted by Liu and colleagues examined gender differences in attitudes towards digital games. The analysis which included 41 eligible studies yielded 133 effect sizes.
Among those studies, 29 involved students, 8 involved teachers, and 3 involved parents. Females accounted for 51.23% of the total. Digital games were classified as serious (designed for education, healthcare, etc) and entertainment, with 31 studies focused on the former while 10 on the latter. Attitudes were categorized as affect (emotion responses such as anxiety, enjoyment), beliefs (perceptions of value), and self-efficacy (confidence in operating games). Effect size in the analysis referred to the difference in standardised mean scores between male and female. The results of three-level meta-analysis and moderator analysis revealed that:
- Overall, males exhibited a significant more positive attitude than females (ES = +0.21).
- Among students, boys had more positive attitudes than girls (ES = +0.26). With the small number of studies, no significant gender differences were observed among teachers and parents.
- Attitude aspects significantly moderated outcomes, with males showing stronger affect (ES=+0.34) and self-efficacy (ES=+0.37), but no significant gender differences were detected in beliefs.
- Moreover, the disparity in attitude towards entertainment games (ES = +0.39) was significantly greater than towards serious games (ES = +0.14) with males consistently more positive.
While findings reinforced that males generally have a greater affinity for digital games, no gender differences were observed regarding their perceived value and usefulness. More research is needed to explore potential moderators, such as education level and interactions among these factors to better contextualise the results.
Source: Liu, C., Wang, Z., Yang, Y., Mao, P., Tai, R. H., Cai, Z., & Fan, X. (2024). Do males have more favorable attitudes towards digital game use than females: A meta-analytic review. Children and Youth Services Review, 160, 107550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107550