Gamechange(H)er: Exploring The Video Game Design Elements That May Impact The Agency And Identity Of Adolescent Girls

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Gamechange(H)er: Exploring The Video Game Design Elements That May Impact The Agency And Identity Of Adolescent Girls

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Title: Gamechange(H)er: Exploring The Video Game Design Elements That May Impact The Agency And Identity Of Adolescent Girls
Author/Creator: Starks, K
Supervisor: Jones, Christian M
Description: This research explores the roles of gender, protagonist agency, and video game design elements on the effects of agency experience, general self-efficacy, and gender stereotypes via the mechanisms of identification and immersion. This research focuses on female players, and the goal is to establish differing agency and identity effects from playing female-led adventure games as opposed to other video games, such as male-led games and casual games. The overall project is grounded theory, however it is informed by several theories which cover social cognitive and self-efficacy as well as identity, identification, game design, and immersion. This mixed-methods project contains four studies, which (1) establish agency, identification and immersion effects from long-term play of a single female-led adventure game series (Nancy Drew), (2) identify the primary game design elements within the games in the Nancy Drew series, (3) categorise a panel of video games based on those elements and measure short-term play effects on agency, identification and immersion, and (4) explore the player’s expressions of their video game experience using their own words. The participant cohort consists of female players in two age groups (youth and young adult). Results of this research include a FLIA score that can be applied to video games as a measure of the agency experience and identification that female youth will experience while playing. Games with high FLIA scores contain the types of observational learning models and enactive experiences that can help facilitate self-efficacy with long-term play.
Description: Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2018.
Description: The full text of this thesis is restricted until 9 May 2020.
Year: 2019
Subject: FoR 1099 (Other Technology) | FoR 1701 (Psychology) | FoR 1902 (Film, Television and Digital Media) | identity | agency | video games | girls | adolescents | women | female protagonists | self-efficacy

Resource Type: Thesis (PhD)

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USC Research Bank - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia