Online gamers prefer gender swap

Online gamers frequently choose characters of the opposite sex, university research found.

The study discovered that 68% of women who played computer games online have chosen male characters, often to ward off unwanted attention from men or to gain the upper hand over opponents.

Meanwhile, more than half of men who played games online adopted a female persona so they could "flirt" with other characters or avoid being targeted by fellow gamers, the Nottingham Trent University study found.

It surveyed more than 100 online players and discovered that one in five who enjoyed games such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy over the web found it easier to socialise via online gaming than in reality.

Two in five people also used gaming to escape personal problems, the study found.

Zaheer Hussain co-wrote the report - entitled Gender Swapping and Socialising in Cyberspace - at the university's International Gaming Research Unit.

He said: "It seems that women gender swap for a variety of reasons, such as to avoid unsolicited male approaches on their female characters, or because they felt male characters were treated better by other males during the course of the game.

"Gamers were also playing to escape personal problems or to change their mood. The games are often seen as a means of escape and a coping strategy which gamers use to distract themselves from having to deal with other problems."

The research is published in American journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour.

Professor Mark Griffiths, who co-wrote the report, said: "The laid back means of communication in the virtual world was seen by some participants as more pleasant and satisfying than the real world; it is viewed as a world where everyone can speak their mind and be heard.

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