Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Over the past decades, digital games have continued to extend their audience as they moved into the cultural mainstream. Despite this fact, however, only a portion of those who play games consider themselves a gamer. Drawing on insights from social identity theory, this study explores the factors that contribute to why people attribute a gamer identity to self or others. It does so by considering 2 sites of identity construction: the social context of players and the broader cultural milieu. Results suggest that a gamer identity is first and foremost associated with stereotypical behaviors that find their origin in a consumption logic. Friendship networks, however, provide an important environment in which a gamer identity can be performed.
DOI: 10.1111/jcc4.12114
Institutions: Ghent University, iMinds, KU Leuven
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1977058968