How Many Virtual Wars Must a Man Fight Before You Call Him a Man: Video Games and Masculinity

Video games have become one of the most dominant forms of entertainment, eclipsing major Hollywood productions. With the rise of video game as a medium it has remained a form of entertainment primarily consumed by males. To date there have been few substantial studies exploring the relationship between video game usage and masculine identity. This study proposes to fill in this gap in literature by examining how video game usage is related to male role norms. Participants over the age of 18 completed the following self-report measures: Gender Role Conflict Scale Short Form, Health Behaviors Inventory, Gender role discrepancy and discrepancy stress, Masculine Body Ideal Distress Scale, and a questionnaire designed to assess video game usage. This study examined the relationships between video game usage, masculine role norms, gender role conflict, and health behaviors. Relationships between individual variables were examined by using bivariate correlation. All variables were examined for their impact upon video game usage by using a regression analysis