People who strongly identify as ‘gamers’ more prone to racism and sexism, study suggests
A new study has suggested that people who strongly view themselves as ‘gamers’ as part of their personal identity are more likely to be prone to extreme behaviours such as racism, misogyny, and defending their community at any cost.
That’s according to ‘Identity fusion and extremism in gaming cultures’, a research paper by Take This, a mental health advocacy organization with a focus on the game industry. Toxicity has long been known to exist within some parts of the video game community, and this research seeks to understand how this occurs.
The research explores the potential role of ‘identity fusion’ in toxic sections of gaming communities. Identity fusion is when a group or cause strongly pervades an individual’s personal life, to the point where they’ll sacrifice themselves to protect it.
Speaking to Vice, one of the authors of the study, Dr. Rachel Kowert, emphasised that its findings refer to a smaller, toxic portion of the gaming community who show signs of ‘gamer’ culture taking over their personal identities, and that there’s no suggestion that the wider populace of players is extreme.
Identity fusion has been studied in a variety of other groups including members of the military and competitive sports, and found to align with both pro-social behaviour, such as a willingness to help others, as well as anti-social outcomes such as hostility and aggression.
“We have individual identities and social identities,” Kower explained. “So I am Rachel, I am a female, and I’m a gamer. I love The Witcher. These are my social identities and are separate.
“Identity fusion is when the social identity, the individual identity, fuses together and you can’t tear them apart…. The way in which fusion is shown to develop makes them more
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