English annotation # 1 about video gamed and teenagers’ mental health

write an annotation for the reading, 

1 st paragraph: the author background information 

2nd paragraph: describe or state the main contents of the reading 

3rd: talk about how this reading can help in writing paper about how  Video games addiction plays significant role in teenagers’ personality disorder and mental health issues. 

I also attach a student sample annotation for you to understand how to do write.

Men’s Harassment Behavior in Online Video Games:
Personality Traits and Game Factors
Wai Yen Tang and Jesse Fox*

The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

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Online video games affordco-play and social interaction, often anonymous, among players from around the world. As predicted by
the social identity model of deindividuation effects, undesirable behavior is not uncommon in online gaming environments, and
online harassment has become a pervasive issue in the gaming community. In this study, we sought to determine what personality
traits and game-related variables predicted two types of online aggression in video games: general harassment (e.g., skill-based
taunting, insulting others’ intelligence) and sexual harassment (e.g., sexist comments, rape threats). Men who play online video
games (N ¼ 425) participated in an anonymous online survey. Social dominance orientation and hostile sexism predicted higher
levels of both sexual harassment and general harassment in online games. Game involvement and hours of weekly gameplay were
additional predictors of general harassment. We discuss implications of online social aggression and online sexual harassment
for online gaming. We also apply our findings to the broader understanding of online harassment, cyberaggression,
cyberbullying, and other forms of online hostility in computer-mediated communication contexts. Aggr. Behav. 42:513–521,
2016.

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Keywords: online harassment; sexual harassment; video games; hostile sexism; cyberaggression

INTRODUCTION

Recent years have seen video games emerge as one of
the most popular forms of media entertainment, in part
because online gaming has made it into an increasingly
social activity. Over 60% of gamers play with others,
either in person or online (Entertainment Software
Association, 2014). Moreover, gaming is drawing an
increasingly diverse audience in terms of age and
gender. Recent surveys indicate that women comprise
approximately half of video game players (Chalk, 2014;
ESA, 2014). Despite women’s growing participation in
games, perceptions about gaming as a men’s activity and
a masculine space persist (Shaw, 2012).
These stereotypes and expectations have implications

for how people interact within gaming spaces as they
determine who “belongs” in games and who does not.
Further, the perceived affordances or features of many
online gaming spaces, such as anonymity and limited
nonverbal cues, may exacerbate these boundaries.
According to the social identity model of deindividua-
tion effects (Lea & Spears, 1991), these salient social
identities, compounded by anonymity, facilitate conflict,
harassment, and other forms of negative social interac-
tion online.
Considerable research has established that online games

can be a hostile environment for players (Ballard & Welch,

in press; Gray, 2012a,b; Kuznekoff & Rose, 2013; Pew
Research Center, 2014; Taylor, 2006; Yee, 2014). Some of
this hostility is an artifact of competitive game play, in
which trash talking one’s opponents is a common practice
(Wright, Boria, & Breidenbach, 2002). Even in collabora-
tive play, players may be hassled for making mistakes or
not contributing to the team’s efforts. Commonly, though,
playersaretargetedforharassmentsimplybecausetheyare
perceived as “not belonging” (Yee, 2014). Women in
particular are perceived as outsiders and become targeted
for harassment in online video games and other gaming
realms (Behm-Morawitz & Schipper, in press; Chess &
Shaw, 2015; Cote, in press; Fox & Tang, 2014; Gray,
2012b; Salter & Blodgett, 2012; Taylor, 2006; Yee, 2014).
Given the limited quantitative research in this area,

this study seeks to address this gap by investigating the

Conflicts of interest: None.
�Correspondence to: Jesse Fox, School of Communication, The Ohio
State University, 3016 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Columbus, OH
43210-1339. E-mail: fox.775@osu.edu

Received 15 October 2015; Revised 3 January 2016; Accepted 7 January
2016

DOI: 10.1002/ab.21646
Published online 16 February 2016 in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com).

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
Volume 42, pages 513–521 (2016)

© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

prevalence and predictors of sexual harassment as well
as other forms of harassment in online video games.
Because online harassment causes significant distress in
targets (Fenaughty & Harr�e, 2013; Pew Research
Center, 2014) and can lead to offline rumination and
even quitting a game entirely (Fox & Tang, in press), it is
important to investigate the predictors and incidence of
harassment behavior in games. At this time, however,
research on harassment in gaming has been studied as a
distinctly online phenomenon and has largely over-
looked the considerable body of existing research on
sexual harassment in organizational contexts. These
studies have identified key traits, such as sexism and
social dominance orientation (Diehl, Rees, & Bohner,
2012; Pryor, Giedd, & Williams, 1995; Russell & Trigg,
2004), that predict the likelihood of harassing others.
This study seeks to address this rift by synthesizing
existing work on sexual harassment in nonmediated
environments (Pina & Gannon, 2012; Pryor et al., 1995;
Russell & Trigg, 2004) with previous findings on sexist
gaming beliefs (Fox & Tang, 2014). Specifically, we
examined the roles of ambivalent sexism and social
dominance orientation alongside gameplay and game
involvement to identify predictors of men’s harassment
behavior in online games.

Online Video Games

Social gaming is important to consider given that the
presence of other people—or even the perceived
presence of others—can affect performance, physiolog-
ical reactions, and enjoyment (Bowman, Weber,
Tamborini, & Sherry, 2013; Weibel, Wissmath, Habeg-
ger, Steiner, & Groner, 2008). Most popular online video
games focus on competition wherein individual gamers
face other, opposing players, or they collaborate with
other players to face a common opponent. These online
multiplayer games are often dominated by men (Quandt,
Chen, M€ayr€a, & Van Looy, 2014; Ratan, Taylor, Hogan,
Kennedy, & Williams, 2015).
The violent content and competitive nature of online

video games may also facilitate hostility between
gamers. Several meta-analyses framed from the general
aggression model have found that violent video game
content can lead to increased aggression in some players
(Anderson & Bushman, 2001; Anderson et al., 2010;
Greitemeyer & M€ugge, 2014). Furthermore, longitudi-
nal studies on the exposure to violent video games have
revealed long-term effects, such as higher physical
aggression and less prosocial behavior among children
(Gentile, Coyne, & Walsh, 2011) and an increase in
normative beliefs about aggression and subsequent
physical aggression among adolescents (M€oller &
Krah�e, 2009). Beyond violent content, players’ experi-
ences in games have also been shown to influence

aggression. Adachi and Willoughby (2011) found that
competitiveness of a video game contributes to greater
levels of aggression, and recent research by Przybylski,
Deci, Rigby, and Ryan (2014) suggests that frustration
and diminished competence within the game leads to
aggression.
Given that popular networked video games often focus

on competition, feature violent content, and are designed
to keep players engaged through challenging (and often
frustrating) play, these environments may be prone to
fostering hostility which may translate into negative
social interaction. Other features of the gaming
environment, such as the lack of co-location and player
anonymity, may also promote harassment in online
games.

Social Identity Model of Deindividuation
Effects

In some online spaces, users perceive few, if any,
social cues. Feeling that they are effectively anonymous,
users experience deindividuation, or a loss of a sense of
self. The social identity model of deindividuation effects
(SIDE) posits that under these conditions, users defer to
salient group memberships (Lea & Spears, 1991). For
example, when gender cues are made salient, anony-
mous users interact in more gender-stereotypical ways
than nonanonymous users (Postmes & Spears, 2002).
Further, perceptions of other anonymous users’ identi-
ties are reduced to salient group memberships that are
depersonalized and stereotyped (Postmes, Spears, &
Lea, 1998). This confluence of factors leads to
disinhibition in online environment, which facilitates
antisocial behavior such as flaming, trolling, cyberbully-
ing, and other forms of online harassment (Fox & Tang,
2014; Suler, 2004; Wright, 2014).
Video games have traditionally been perceived as a

masculine space: developers and industry members are
overwhelmingly men, representations in games are
predominantly men, and games often feature tradition-
ally masculine tasks rooted in competition and aggres-
sion (Gray, 2012a; Salter & Blodgett, 2012). This
perception carries over to players as well; the prevalent
stereotype for a “gamer” is a defensive heterosexual
White male (Gray, 2012a; Salter & Blodgett, 2012;
Shaw, 2012). SIDE would predict that in largely
anonymous online gaming spaces, players would neglect
their individual identities in deference to this prevalent
social identity for gamers. This defensive, masculine
social identity encourages hostile and aggressive
behavior toward others, particularly outsiders.
Indeed, networked video games can be hostile spaces

characterized by trash talking, objectionable language,
and offensive comments. Women and other minorities
are often specifically targeted for this harassment

Aggr. Behav.

514 Tang and Fox

(Behm-Morawitz & Schipper, in press; Cote, in press;
Salter & Blodgett, 2012; Yee, 2014). Recent research
has parsed apart the scope and nature of this harassment.
Kuznekoff and Rose (2013) played a networked violent
video game with other anonymous players and inter-
acted with them using prerecorded voices. The woman’s
voice received three times the amount of negative
comments than the man’s voice had received. Holz
Ivory, Fox, Waddell, and Ivory (2014) followed a similar
protocol with prerecorded voices and also manipulated
whether the comments were supportive or insulting.
After the match, they friend-requested other players.
They found that when the voice demonstrated gender-
stereotypical behavior (i.e., women were supportive and
men were hostile), significantly more players accepted
friend requests than when the voices were counter-
stereotypical. Gray’s research (2012a,b) shows that
players who allow gender, race, or ethnicity-related cues
to leak in networked game play are subsequently
targeted for harassment. Similarly, Ballard and Welch
(in press) noted that women and lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender (LGBT) players were disproportion-
ately targeted. Two surveys have also found that men are
more likely to be perpetrators of harassment in video
games than women (Ballard & Welch, in press; Fox &
Tang, 2013).
Thus, the body of existing research demonstrates that

harassment is common in online gaming spaces. Men are
most likely to be perpetrators, and those perceived to
be minorities are often targeted as they do not fit within the
dominant social identity. Given that gender can often be
determinedevenwiththelimitedpersonalcuesavailablein
networked games, women in particular seem to be targeted
(Ballard & Welch, in press; Fox & Tang, 2013; Kuznekoff
& Rose, 2013); as such, research on sexism and gendered
harassment may provide further insight.

Sex Roles, Sexism, and Sexual Harassment

Research on sexual harassment originated from
studies on victimization of women in the workplace
(Farley, 1978). Sexual harassment is defined as unwel-
come sexual advances or other conduct that targets
someone based on their sex or gender, which may range
from making suggestive or discriminatory comments to
coercing someone to perform sexual acts (Pina &
Gannon, 2012). Most often, sexual harassment is
perpetrated by men and targeting women (Pina, Gannon,
& Saunders, 2009; Pryor, 1987). Online sexual harass-
ment is similar to its offline equivalent (Barak, 2005),
but the perpetrator’s and victim’s identities are often
anonymous. This circumstance enables individuals with
sexual harassment proclivities to identify such oppor-
tunities and act upon them with little or no consequences
(Ritter, 2014). In an aggressive, largely anonymous

online social environment such as networked video
games where men as perceived as the majority, these
findings suggest that women are likely to be targeted for
sexual harassment.
One predictor of sexual harassment is sexism (Glick &

Fiske, 1996; Pryor et al., 1995). The theory of ambivalent
sexism posits that individuals may hold hostile, benevo-
lent, or both types of attitudes towards women; both
hostile and benevolent sexism have derogatory implica-
tions for women’s nature and abilities (Glick & Fiske,
1996). Hostile sexism is defined by antipathy towards
women and a sense of superiority over women. This type
of sexism characterizes women as manipulative and
trying to dominate men because of women’s inherent
inferiority. Benevolent sexism entails a paternalistic
attitude towards women and rigid views of gender roles
(Glick & Fiske, 1996). In this case, women are seen as
weak, precious, and incapable of accomplishing the same
things as men, and as such should be disempowered and
protected by men. Although research examining sexism
and gaming is rare, one study identified a positive
relationship between video game use and hostile sexism
(Fox & Potocki, in press).
Both forms of sexism have deleterious outcomes.

Prior studies found that men high in hostile sexism were
more accepting of sexual harassment, more likely to
blame the victim rather than the perpetrator, more likely
to see harassment as harmless, and more inclined to
sexually harass women than men low in hostile sexism
(Begany & Milburn, 2002; Diehl et al., 2012). Russell
and Trigg (2004) found that hostile sexism predicted
tolerance of sexual harassment, whereas benevolent
sexism was negatively associated with it. Based on these
findings, we expect that:

H1: Higher levels of benevolent sexism will be
associated with less harassment behavior in online
video games.

H2: Higher levels of hostile sexism will be associated
with more harassment behavior in online video
games.

Other Predictors of Harassment
Social dominance orientation. Social domi-

nance orientation (SDO) reflects individuals’ endorse-
ment of inequality among social groups, resulting in
prejudice and the belief in one group’s superiority over
other groups (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). SDO is a
predictor of intergroup prejudice against ethnic minori-
ties and other denigrated groups, including women.
Individuals high in SDO feel threatened if they perceive
that members of a disadvantaged group are competing

Aggr. Behav.

Harassment in Video Games 515

with them, and thus may take action to assert and
maintain their dominance (Cozzolino & Snyder, 2008;
Duckitt, 2006). For example, men high in SDO are more
likely to harass women when the legitimacy of their
dominance is questioned (Maass, Cadinu, Guarnieri, &
Grasselli, 2003). For men, SDO may be exacerbated in a
competitive social environment such as gaming given
the potential for one’s masculine social identity to be
threatened. Similarly, anyone perceived as an outsider
(based on demographic characteristics, skill level, or
other behavior) may threaten the legitimacy of their
gaming space as an exclusive group.
Theoretically, social dominance orientation is of

particular interest within the SIDE model. SIDE
suggests that the salience of social identity, made
possible via anonymity, drives the process of dein-
dividuation. Higher levels of SDO suggest not only an
adherence toward one’s social identity, but also a greater
social distance from other groups. Thus, it seems that
higher levels of SDO may increase the likelihood of
negative social behavior fostered by the process of
deindividuation in online environments.

H3: Higher levels of social dominance orientation
will be associated with more harassment behavior
in online video games.

Video game involvement and time spent
playing video games. Video game involvement is
another factor in how players are informed in their
interactions with other players. Social identity theory, the
framework for the SIDE model, suggests that higher
levels of involvement with one’s group leads to a greater
desire to identify oneself as a group member and
distinguish one’s group from other groups (Tajfel &
Turner, 1979). Further, highly involved individuals are
more likely to engage in conflict to protect or defend their
group from outgroup threats (Tajfel & Turner, 1979).
In gaming, many players are highly involved and

engaged with specific games as well as groups within the
gaming community. Involvement with games has been
shown to be a distinct predictor of player characteristics
and behavior (e.g., Billieux et al., 2015; Peters &
Malesky, 2008). Further, those who are highly involved
with games have been shown to attack or discredit those
who they perceive as a threat, such as scientists reporting
harmful effects of games (Nauroth, Gollwitzer, Bender,
& Rothmund, 2015). Thus, we anticipate that men who
are highly involved in games may be more likely to
harass others, perhaps out of a desire to protect or defend
what they perceive as their space.
Involvement also entails socializing oneself into the

game’s social norms, and spending time in the game

would lead to more exposure to harassment, so if players
are frequently playing online games, they may normalize
or begin perpetuating harassing behavior. Indeed, Ross
and Weaver (2012) found that participants who
encountered antisocial interactions in a game were
more likely to interact antisocially and to anticipate
more antisocial interaction in the future. Thus, we
anticipate that:

H4: Higher levels of game involvement will be
associated with harassment behavior in online
video games.

H5: More time spent playing video games will be
associated with harassment behavior in online
video games.

METHOD

Sample

IRB approval was obtained for the study from the
authors’ institution. Adult participants were recruited
through posts on video game-related online forums,
blogs, and social media. Both authors also promoted the
survey from their personal social media accounts and
asked others to share the link. No compensation was
offered for participation. When participants followed the
link, they were taken to an online consent form. If
participants consented to participate, they were redir-
ected to the online survey.
All participants identified as men (N ¼ 425) and

represented 47countries. The most common was the U.S.
(representing 46.4% of the sample) followed by the
United Kingdom (9.6%), Canada (5.4%), Germany
(4%), and Sweden (3.8%). Participants ranged in age
from 18 to 55 (M ¼ 23.40, SD ¼ 5.64) and reported their
race/ethnicity as Caucasian/European/White (83.8%),
Asian/Asian–American (5.2%), Latino/a (1.6%), Afri-
can/African–American/Black (0.5%), other (1%), and
multiple races/ethnicities (8%).
Participantsplayedanaverage of24.88hr(SD ¼ 15.99)

of video games a week. For this study, they were asked to
complete the survey based on their experiences in one
game. The most frequently cited games were Defense of
the Ancients (DOTA) 2 (n ¼ 157), Team Fortress 2
(n ¼ 43), League of Legends (n ¼ 25), World of
Warcraft (n ¼ 13), and various iterations of Counter-
Strike (n ¼ 55), Call of Duty (n ¼ 33), and Halo (n ¼ 14).
Measures
Social dominance orientation (SDO). Sida-

nius and Pratto’s (1999) 16-item measure assessed the
belief that some groups of people are superior and

Aggr. Behav.

516 Tang and Fox

entitled to more power in society. Participants indicated
agreement on a 7-point Likert scale (1 ¼ Strongly
disagree; 7 ¼ Strongly agree) with statements such as
“Some groups of people are simply inferior to other
groups” and “Sometimes other groups must be kept in
their place” (M ¼ 2.63, SD ¼ 1.08; a ¼ .91).
Ambivalent sexism. The Ambivalent Sexism

Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) consists of two
11-item subscales that measure two aspects of sexism
against women. Hostile sexism (M ¼ 3.02, SD ¼ 1.09)
scale items include “Women seek to gain power by
getting control over men” and “Women are too easily
offended.” Benevolent sexism (M ¼ 2.74, SD ¼ .91)
items include “Women should be cherished and
protected by men” and “Many women have a quality
of purity that men do not possess.” Participants
indicated their agreement with these items on a 6-point
scale (1 ¼ Strongly disagree; 6 ¼ Strongly agree).
Cronbach’s reliability for HS was a ¼ .91 and for BS
a ¼ .84.
Game involvement. Participants responded to

three items regarding how involved, committed, and
invested they were in this particular game (1 ¼ Not very;
5 ¼ Very; M ¼ 3.87, SD ¼ .83). Reliability was a ¼ .84.
Video game harassment behavior. Derived

from previous research on harassment in video game
settings (Fox & Tang, 2013, in press), participants were
asked to indicate which of two types of harassment
behavior they had performed within the selected
game. Participants responded to five items (1 ¼ Never;
5 ¼ Always) regarding their general harassment behavior
(i.e., said curse or swear words toward another player;
made comments about intelligence; said general insults;
made comments about others’ abilities to play; asked
others to leave the game; M ¼ 2.27, SD ¼ .91; a ¼ .87)
and five items regarding their sexual harassment (i.e.,
made sexist comments or insults; made comments about
appearance or weight; doubted their motivations for
playing video games because of their gender; expressed
unsolicited liking of affection toward someone; made a
rape joke or threatened to rape; M ¼ 1.23, SD ¼ .56;
a ¼ .83).

RESULTS

Correlations for all composite variables can be seen in
Table I. Ordinary least squares regressions were
conducted to examine the hypotheses. All variance
inflation factor values were below 2, indicating the
absence of multicollinearity.
The proposed model predicted sexual harassment,

R ¼ .43, adjusted R2 ¼ .17, F(5, 417) ¼ 18.60, p < .001. Higher levels of hostile sexism, b ¼ .17, t ¼ 2.79, p ¼ .005, sr2 ¼ .12, and social dominance orientation, b ¼ .28, t ¼ 5.00, p < .001, sr2 ¼ .22, predicted sexual harassment in online games. Weekly game play, b ¼ .06, t ¼ 1.33, p ¼ .19, sr2 ¼ .06, game involve- ment, b ¼ .02, t ¼ .39, p ¼ .70, sr2 ¼ .02, and benevolent sexism, b ¼ .01, t ¼ .28, p ¼ .78, sr2 ¼ .01, were not significant predictors. The proposed model also predicted general harass-

ment, R ¼ .43, adjusted R2 ¼ .19, F(5, 417) ¼ 12.95,
p < .001. Higher levels of hostile sexism, b ¼ .21, t ¼ 3.57, p < .001, sr2 ¼ .16, social dominance orienta- tion, b ¼ .16, t ¼ 2.75, p ¼ .006, sr2 ¼ .12, game involvement, b ¼ .09, t ¼ 2.01, p ¼ .045, sr2 ¼ .09, and weekly game play, b ¼ .14, t ¼ 2.97, p ¼ .003, sr2 ¼ .13, predicted general harassment. Benevolent sexism was not significant, b ¼ .08, t ¼ 1.77, p ¼ .08, sr2 ¼ .08.

DISCUSSION

This study found that certain personality factors and
contextual factors predict men’s harassment behavior in
online video games. Sexual harassment, including
making sexist comments and joking about rape, was
predicted by social dominance orientation and hostile
sexism. General harassment, such as swearing at a player
or insulting their intelligence or skill, was predicted by
social dominance orientation, hostile sexism, game
involvement, and weekly game play.
Supporting our hypothesis and previous work (Maass

et al., 2003; Russell & Trigg, 2004), social dominance
orientation was related to both sexual and general
harassment in online games. Given that SDO reflects the
endorsement of distinctions among social groups,

TABLE I. Zero-Order Correlations

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

VG play — .25��� .14�� .19��� .03 .23��� .14��

Involvement — �.01 .03 �.01 .13�� .04
SDO — .62��� .16��� .32��� .40���

Hostile sexism — .33��� .36��� .36���

Benevolent sexism — .18��� .11�

General harassment — .58���

Sexual harassment —

�p < .05, ��p < .01, ���p � .001.

Aggr. Behav.

Harassment in Video Games 517

assessing SDO may further enrich studies using the
SIDE model. Theoretically, it may be that higher levels
of SDO increase the likelihood that hostile communica-
tion will occur because these individuals feel a need to
establish boundaries and distinguish themselves from
outgroup members who are perceived as inferior. To
examine this link, future research may measure
participants’ SDO and employ an experimental harass-
ment paradigm such as that used by Maass et al. (2003)
or a quasi-experimental approach such as that used by
Kuznekoff and Rose (2013) to examine hostile
communication toward outgroup members.
Our study also found that hostile sexism was related to

both sexual harassment and general harassment. One
explanation for this finding is that we did not specifically
ask whom participants targeted for harassment. It may be
that sexist men target women for both types of
harassment. In contrast to hostile sexism, benevolent
sexism was not related to either form of harassment.
Future research may investigate other forms of unde-
sired behavior in online games. Benevolent sexism, for
example, may lead players to attempt to “white knight”
and protect other women players. These attempts at
paternalistic chivalry may anger or annoy women,
interfere with their gameplay, or reinforce stereotypes
among other players that women are not capable of
playing the game (Yee, 2014). Conversely, men may
genuinely confront sexist or harassing behavior, but they
may be perceived as having ulterior motives (Shelton &
Stewart, 2004). These social costs may dissuade men
from intervening when they observe harassment as they
themselves could become targets of harassment or others
could misconstrue the intent of their actions.
Game involvement and time spent gaming predicted

general harassment, which may be due to socialization
processes in many online games. This finding reflects
Ross and Weaver’s (2012) study in which participants
who encountered antisocial behavior within a video
game later replicated those types of behavior. It is
possible that the more time players spend in these hostile
online games, the more likely they are socialized into a
culture of harassment and begin to normalize (and
perhaps perpetrate) harassment. A recent longitudinal
survey offers some support for this possibility, as
adolescents’ beliefs in the acceptability of cyberaggres-
sion predicts later cyberaggressive behavior (Wright &
Li, 2013). Our findings for sexual harassment, however,
indicated that personality traits were the only predictors.
Individuals high in SDO and hostile sexism may be
prone to sexually harass women across contexts,
regardless of their relationship with an existing game.
Another possibility is that traditional media or video

game content may normalize harassment behavior,
effectively desensitizing players to its destructive nature.

Exposure to media violence desensitizes individuals
towards actual violent acts and also diminishes
sympathy for victims (Fanti, Vanman, Henrich, &
Avraamides, 2009; Funk, Bechtoldt Baldacci, Pasold, &
Baumgardner, 2004; Krah�e, M€oller, Huesmann, Kirwil,
Felber,&Berger,2011).Mediatedaggressionandviolence
directed toward women also leads to more callous attitudes
towards women and desensitization towards women’s
experiences with domestic violence and rape (Linz,
Donnerstein, & Penrod, 1988; Linz, Donnerstein, &
Adams, 1989; Mullin & Linz, 1995). Investigating the
role of video game content, as well as a broader scope of
media exposure, may lend more insight into the onset and
prevalence of harassment, both offline and online.
Although our findings focused broadly on networked

video games, it is important to note that our findings will
not necessarily generalize to all types of networked
games. One limitation of this study was that we confined
the assessment of harassment to a single game of the
player’s choice. The game that participants chose may
not be representative of the normal level of harassment
they engage in, observe, or experience across the games
they play. Different online games foster different
cultures, which may be due to game features or the
type of players involved in the specific game. Indeed,
several games included in this study are known for being
competitive and heavily populated by men (e.g., Call of
Duty). Other research has shown gendered preferences
for game genres (Quandt et al., 2014), which may make
sexual harassment of women more common due to a
hostile climate or less common simply because women
are less likely to be observed in the environment. Other
contextual features may also mitigate or exacerbate
harassment, such as cooperative gameplay (Velez,
Mahood, Ewoldsen, & Moyer-Gus�e, 2012), aggressive
content (Gitter, Ewell, Guadagno, Stillman, & Bau-
meister, 2013; Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012), or a
player’s performance (Kasumovic & Kuznekoff, 2015).
Other variables, such as rank or status within a game,
should also be considered given power has been shown
to be an important variable in harassment and bullying
(Barlett, 2015; Pryor et al., 1995). Future research
should investigate more structural, cultural, and contex-
tual features of games and their relationship to
harassment.
Additionally, as our findings suggest, individual

differences play a large part in whether or not players
harass others. Research investigating online hostility
should take into account trait and other individual
predictors that contribute to aggression. Gender role
orientation and identification as a gamer may provide
further insight into applying the SIDE model to this
context. Other predictors of cyberaggression, such as
moral disengagement (Page & Pina, 2015; Page, Pina, &

Aggr. Behav.

518 Tang and Fox

Giner-Sorolla, in press; Pornari & Wood, 2010), hostile
attribution bias (Pornari & Wood, 2010), and perceptions
of anonymity (Barlett, 2015; Ritter, 2014; Wright & Li,
2013) may also explain harassment in online games.
Because this survey used a volunteer sample recruited

from online sites, samples drawn from other sources may
produce different results. Further, survey research is
limited in the conclusions that can be drawn due to the use
of self-report data. Given its social undesirability, men
may have been unwilling to report their harassing
behavior (Dekker & Barling, 1998), which may explain
the small to moderate correlations observed in this study.
Our low means may indicate a type of floor effect for self-
reporting this behavior. It is possible that players who
frequently harass chose not to disclose this on the survey
or opted not to take the survey in the first place. Men who
defend the hostility, trash talking, and harassment as “just
part of the game,” or who recognize the socially
undesirable nature of their behavior may have deliber-
ately underreported or avoided the survey entirely,
perhaps to protect their gamer identity (Nauroth et al.,
2015). Thus, it is likely that our findings underreport the
frequency of harassment. Alternative methods, including
content analytical techniques and field experiments (Holz
Ivory et al., 2014; Kuznekoff & Rose, 2013), would
provide further insight on harassment in games.
Inthis study,wechose to focus on men, the predominant

social identity associated with gaming, given the
predictions of the SIDE model and previous work
indicating that men perpetuate more harassment both in
video games (Ballard & Welch, 2016; Fox & Tang, 2013)
and in the physical world (Pina et al., 2009). Future studies
shouldinvestigate women’sharassmentbehaviorinonline
video games, as well as how outgroup members perceive
andrespondto harassmentbehavior.Anothershortcoming
of this study is that we did not gather data on the targets of
harassment. Future research should probe who is targeted
and what factors predict the targeting of specific groups.
A major concern for alleviating the issue of harassment

in games is that both perpetrators and bystanders may
have little desire or incentive to stop the behavior. The
same factors that enable harassment to perpetuate offline
may exist online. For example, players may not perceive
any harm, especially in an anonymous environment for a
leisure activity in which players have the ability to quit at
any time. Alternatively, they may fear retribution from
other players for speaking out. Resources to educate
players about the nature of harassment and system
affordances that encourage reporting incidents may
diminish the behavior or encourage more intervention
from bystanders (Dillon & Bushman, 2015).
Additionally, those who identify as gamers have been

shown to resist evidence that games have a dark side as
well (Nauroth et al., 2015). Indeed, one limitation of this

study is that gamers may have recognized the purpose of
this study and underreported their harassment behavior.
Despite scientific evidence to the contrary (e.g., Fox &
Tang, in press; Pew Research Center, 2014), men who
play may continue to endorse the idea that harassment is a
harmless and acceptable behavior (Page et al., in press).
Other channels of communication about gaming, such as
game-related forums, Reddit threads, YouTube videos
and comments, and chat during Twitch live streams, may
also contribute to players’ attitudes and the dismissal of
harassment as a pernicious behavior. Future research
should investigate players’ beliefs about the prevalence,
severity, and consequences of harassment for others as
well as their exposure to myths about harassment in
games. A recent study indicates that drawing attention to
victims’ experiences may mitigate harassment (Diehl,
Glaser, & Bohner, 2014); interventions may be similarly
effective in counteracting myths or incredulity about the
impact of harassment in games.
In summary, this study has established that men’s

harassment behavior in online games is predicted by the
same psychological factors that predict harassment in
other social contexts. Furthermore, the degree of
involvement in a game may further promote harassment,
perhaps indicating the influence that peers, game content,
and game creators have on individual players’ social
experiences. Going forward, it is important to identify
how harassment can be managed in online environments.
Although there are decades of research on sexual
harassment, the rise of computer-mediated communica-
tion raises the question of whetherfindingsin face-to-face
environments apply, as well as how well proposed
solutions derived from that research would work in an
online environment. From an applied standpoint, it is
necessary to continue to probe the nature of harassment in
online video games to ensure that these environments are
not perpetually hostile to women and minorities.

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The different colors are here to show you the five different parts of each

annotation. Your annotations do not need color and should simply be typed

in black.

Toto, Christian. “Donning The Uniform; Proponents give A+ To Student Dress Code.”

Washington Times, 24 Mar. 2003, B01. Nexis Uni, advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/

b01c400e-6695-48af-a924-271fdf1268c9/?context=1516831. Accessed 3 Aug. 2017.

Christian Toto is a freelance reporter and an award-winning journalist. He has been

writing for newspapers, magazines, and the Web for over ten years, and his work has appeared in

People magazine, MovieMaker magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburg Tribune-Review and

The Washington Times. He also provided movie commentary for the Dennis Miller Show and

runs the blog, “What Would Toto Watch?” He is also a member of the Broadcast Film Critics

Association, the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, and the Denver Film Critics

Society. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado and frequently writes about popular culture

for The Washington Times. (“Topic-Christian Toto.” The Washington Times, The Washington

Times, n.d. washingtontimes.com/topics/christian-toto/. Accessed 3 Aug.

2017.)

Toto writes about the positive impact that school uniforms have had in the Southeast.

Toto interviewed a mother whose four children attend schools that require uniforms, and he

discusses the reasons uniforms are growing in popularity and numbers across the nation. The

parents that he interviewed all said that uniforms have eased their children’s lifestyle and

enhanced their performance in school. Toto writes that in addition to unifying the population of

school, school uniforms have also helped with school safety because no students have been

caught smuggling weapons and there is also significantly less fighting among the students. Toto

also discusses the complaints about uniforms from parents; he writes that the only complaint that

parents had was the high price of the uniforms. However, some parents have donated uniforms

outgrown by their children to help those who cannot afford them. Overall, he explains that the

students and parents have embraced the mandatory uniform policy due to all the positive results,

from elevated mock SAT scores to significantly less brawls in the school. This article will be

helpful in my essay because I can use the author’s research about how school uniforms have

positively affected students’ performance in school to support my argument that schools should

adopt a uniform policy. Another part of the article that I find really helpful is that Toto offers a

solution to the complaints from the parents about the high prices of uniforms. Toto’s article

extends some of the concerns from parents that my article by Mark Johnson only briefly

mentions.

Vitale, Robert “Opinions overflow – Folks at a meeting about a Hilltop Casino were split

between creating jobs or making a dumping ground.” Columbus Dispatch, 6 Jan. 2010,

01A. Nexis Uni, advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/b01c400e-6695-48af-a924-

271fdf1268c9/?context=1527720. 13 Aug. 2017.

Robert Vitale has been a reporter for The Columbus Dispatch since 2004. He graduated

from Ball State University in 1987, and began his career as an editor for The News Dispatch in

Michigan City, Indiana. For over 20 years, Vitale has extended his reporting efforts with the

Lansing State Journal, The Sheboygan Press, and Thomson Newspapers in Washington D.C.

(“Robert Vitale.” Facebook, Facebook, Inc., n.d., facebook.com/bob.vitale.1. Accessed 13 Aug.

2017.)

Vitale details the growing concerns local residents have about Columbus’ decision for a

casino location. The public meetings that were held in 2010 gave casino developers and city

officials clearer insight on what the people on the West Side wanted to gain as a result of the

casino being built in their neighborhood. Vitale writes about the emotional pleas many lifelong

residents of the Hilltop area extended to the panel of leaders at the Greater Hilltop Area

Commission meeting. This article shows the determination for a positive change in an area of

Columbus that rarely gets any attention. This article will be useful because of the predetermined

ideas and concerns that were voiced among area commissions and city leaders. Vitale writes

about how Penn National, the current casino developer, needed additional feedback as they

continued to map out plans for choosing the right location for their building. This also will be a

great addition because I will be able to compare these predicted concerns with those of

neighboring cities (as described in my other article by Corbin Smith) that have already begun to

see the effects of constructing a casino in their city.

Appleby, Andrew D. “Pay at the Pump: How $11 per Gallon Gasoline Can Solve the United

States’ Most Pressing Challenges.” Cumberland Law Review, vol. 40, no. 1, Jan. 2009,

pp. 3-85. EBSCOhost, cscc.ohionet.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.

aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=a9h&AN=50467181&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 18 Aug. 2017.

Andrew D. Appleby was a Graduate Tax Scholar in the LL.M. in Taxation program at

Georgetown University Law Center in 2010. Prior to focusing on tax law, he was an associate in

the Energy Infrastructure, Climate, & Technology Group of a leading Atlanta-based law firm. He

has earned the following degrees: J.D. 2008, Wake Forest University School of Law; M.B.A.

2004, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; B.S. 2003, Florida State University. (“Andrew D.

Appleby.” Sutherland, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, n.d., us.eversheds-sutherland.com/

people/Andrew-D-Appleby. Accessed 29 July 2017. & “Andrew D. Appleby.” Martindale,

Martindale-Hubbell, n.d., martindale.com/new-york/new-york/andrew-d-appleby-44882691-a/.

Accessed 29 July 2017.)

Appleby determines that most of our country’s problems are a result of our addiction and

over-consumption of foreign oil. His major points for change revolve around national security,

climate change, and public health. He believes the solution to the problem would be to greatly

increase the tax on gasoline so that most consumers would literally be unable to afford it. This

would force the expansion of alternative energy solutions. Basically, he predicts that if the price

of gas were to be raised to $11/gal, everyone would drive a hybrid or electric car. He also shows

that new jobs could be created if the percentage of hybrid cars would increase. I can use the

article because it has a lot of powerful examples and statistics about hybrid cars and spending.

Appleby is a big hybrid car supporter. His theory seems so much different than the simple ones

explained in my other articles. They just argue that people should get hybrid cars, but Appleby

takes it a step further and suggests “making” people buy hybrids.

Ferenchik, Mark. “Study: Casino to revitalize West Side.” Columbus Dispatch, 14 July 2011,

1B. Nexis Uni, advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/b01c400e-6695-48af-a924-

271fdf1268c9/ ?context=2834161. Accessed 2 Aug. 2017.

Mark Ferenchik has been a reporter for The Columbus Dispatch since 1998. He graduated

from Kent State University in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. His career began by

working as a county court reporter for The Medina County Gazette in Medina, Ohio. He also

continued his efforts as a county, city, and enterprise reporter for The Repository in Canton,

Ohio. Currently, his writing and reporting focuses on urban development, government issues and

sports writing. (“Mark Ferenchik.” linkedin.com, LinkedIn Coporation, n.d., linkedin.com/in/

mark-ferenchik-9351b57. Accessed 1 Aug. 2017.)

Ferenchik writes about the city’s proposals and efforts to expedite the construction

process of the casino development in Columbus. He details how the changing demographics of

the city’s west side will impact how new businesses are marketed to. For instance, he clarifies

that 26% of the people in the area are Latino and developers will have to carefully determine

how to market to them. Marketing, Ferenchick explains, will play a pivotal role for investors and

much attention will need to be given to the already vacant business community. One study

indicated that an increase in annual visitors would ultimately provide $450 million of revenue for

nearby businesses, restaurants and hotels. Ferenchick also reports that the decision to develop a

casino and other new businesses on the West Side will motivate land-developers into

constructing a multi-sport athletic center for AAU athletes, including basketball, volleyball,

indoor track, soccer and mixed martial-arts competitions. This article will be useful for my essay

because it gives insight on what city officials have in store for the west side of Columbus. This

will also provide valid information regarding surrounding business and the positive economic

outlook. Unlike some of my other articles— especially the one by Smithson—this article looks at

the casino as a very positive addition to the community.