Stereotypes of Gamers Not True?

Posted on January 11, 2005

Stereotypes of gamers often include negative words like lazy, obese and slacker. The stereotype that most gamers are male was thwarted in 2003 by a study that showed a surprising number of gamers are female (over 40%). The trend in 2003 also showed more female game stars like Lara Croft, Rosella Graham and Princess Zelda. Now, a new survey conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the ESA shows that gamers actually do things like volunteer, exercise, and attend religious services. The survey found that computer and video game players spend more than three times the amount of time exercising or playing sports, volunteering in the community, reading, or engaging in religious, creative, and cultural activities than they do playing video games. In total, gamers spend 23.4 hours per week on these activities, compared to 6.8 hours per week playing games. Avid gamers -- those who play games 11 or more hours per week -- spend 34.5 hours per week on the activities mentioned above.

Some findings from the survey:

45% of gamers volunteer at an average 5.4 hours per month.
61% of game players engage in some type of religious activity for several hours each month.
93% of game players read books or daily newspapers, while 62% often attend cultural events, such as concerts, museums, or the theater.
50% spend time painting, writing, or playing an instrument.
94% follow news and current events, and 78% report that they vote in most of the elections for which they are eligible.

These findings are similar to an interesting opinion piece that recently appeared in the Boston Globe discussing how the baby boomer generation is actually falling behind to this new emerging generation of gamers. The Globe also did a study that found gamers could make great business executives. The Globe reported that, "Professionals who grew up playing video games actually make better business people. They're more serious about achievement; more attached to the company they work for and the people they work with; more flexible, persistent problem-solvers; more willing to take only the risks that make sense. In short, they're pretty good executives right out of the gate -- and not at all what we boomers would expect."