Since their origins, video games have tended to portray women as characters needing help or holding passive or instrumental roles (Downs and Smith, 2010; Near, 2013; Stermer and Burkley, 2015). In video game magazines, over 80% of female characters are portrayed according to three types: sexualized, scantily clad, or vision of beauty, and over a quarter fit in all three categories (Dill and Thill, 2007). While it appears that women are generally underrepresented in video games (Scharrer, 2004; Dill et al., 2005; Williams et al., 2009; Downs and Smith, 2010), they are frequently presented as attractive beings (Scharrer, 2004), sex objects (Dietz, 1998; Burgess et al., 2007; Jansz and Martis, 2007; Downs and Smith, 2010) and in sexually suggestive ways (Ivory, 2006). In one of the first extensive content analyses of top selling games, Dietz (1998) showed that in over a quarter of games women were depicted as sex objects. Other more recent content analysis showed that women are often displayed with revealing clothing or at least partially nude (Beasley and Collins Standley, 2002; Miller and Summers, 2007; Downs and Smith, 2010). For example, in a systematic analysis of 47 randomly selected games, female characters were more likely to wear low-cut clothing and bare arms than males. Of the 71 female characters for whom cleavage could be seen on, 2.82%, were considered “flat” by independent judges, 56.34%, were considered “average,” and 40.85%, were considered “voluptuous” (Beasley and Collins Standley, 2002). Moreover, while male characters have generally normal sizes in video games (compared to actual sizes of adults), female characters are depicted as thinner (Martins et al., 2011).

According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 2001), symbolic representations of the world are learned through exposure to models. People rely on such acquired knowledge structures to perceive others and interact with them. Developments in media psychology suggest that the digital representation of the female body is not a mere innocent succession of entertaining polychromatic polygons on a screen, but can change users’ attitudes and behaviors off-screen (Yee and Bailenson, 2007; Fox and Bailenson, 2009; Blascovitch and Mc Call, 2014). Previous theoretical developments suggest that users learn long-term schemas about gender, and that such schemas influence everyday interactions in potentially detrimental ways for women. According to the cultivation theory (Gerbner et al., 1986), repeated exposure to media content influences how social realities are perceived and understood. Adolescents who play video games may model beliefs about gender role on the distorted reality presented in video games. Relevant to the present study, given that a high percentage of video games include sexist and even misogynistic portrayals of females, we hypothesize that more spent time playing video games should predict higher sexist attitudes.

Because video games are designed for iterative play (potentially more than 100 h for the more developed products) and are inherently interactive, they enable repeated and distributed learning about gender roles that may have enduring effects. Video game characters can be agents of gender socialization among youth, and the amount of exposure to video games should predict the endorsement of gender stereotypes. Some studies have supported this prediction. Several experimental studies showed the short-term effect of sexualised video games on sexist attitudes. These studies show that playing sexualized video games for a few minutes (10–20 min) promotes men’s likelihood to endorse gender stereotypes (Behm-Morawitz and Mastro, 2009; Yao et al., 2010), increase hostile sexism (Fox and Bailenson, 2009), and increases men’s acceptance of sexual harassment (Dill et al., 2008).

Fewer studies have been interested in long-term links between video game and sexist attitudes. In one cross-sectional study, it was shown that men who regularly played video games with sexist contents (according to their own evaluation of sexism) tended to have a higher level of benevolent sexism, that is associated with perceptions of rigid gender roles and is characterized by protective, patronizing attitudes toward women (Stermer and Burkley, 2015). However, a longitudinal study examining the influence of video game exposure on sexist beliefs and attitudes over a 3 year period found no evidence of a cultivation effect (Breuer et al., 2015). Further cross-sectional and longitudinal studies are therefore necessary.

In the present study, we were interested in the links between video games and sexist attitudes and we focused on the largest sample gathered to date on video games and sexism. We therefore hypothesized a positive relationship between overall video game exposure and the adherence to sexist attitudes (hypothesis 1). We investigated television as a comparison variable, because most of the available research on sexism and the media is based on TV content (Herrett-Skjellum and Allen, 1996; Morgan and Shanahan, 1997; Signorielli and Bacue, 1999; Coltrane and Messineo, 2000; Oppliger, 2007; Valls-Fernández and Martínez-Vicente, 2007; Nassif and Gunter, 2008; Eisend, 2010; Furnham and Paltzer, 2010; Paek et al., 2011; Scharrer, 2014; Matthes et al., 2016). As in other countries, French television depicts gender roles in very stereotypical ways, as indicated by the gender of the primary character, the associated product categories, the home or work setting and the working role of the primary character (Matthes et al., 2016).

It is therefore relevant to analyze simultaneously the respective links of these two kinds of media on sexism. It can be expected that the inherent interactivity of video game could prove to be more influential than television. In a study on media violence, it has been shown that children playing a violent video game were then more aggressive than those who merely watched the same violent video game in a passive way (Polman et al., 2008). We therefore expected that the link between sexist attitudes would be more strongly predicted by video game exposure than by TV exposure (hypothesis 2).

Although social psychological research has shown that sexist attitudes or behavior may be temporarily increased even by situational cues (Rudman and Phelan, 2010), sexism is generally embedded in a mesh of cultural beliefs and grounded in social and institutional practices. Long-term and institutional sources of sexism may interact with media influences on sexism. Media content may produce contrasted effects for different types of people or in different social context (Morgan et al., 2009). For example, although overall amount of television viewing was related to the endorsement of anti-egalitarian gender roles in a sample of Tokyo residents, the correlation was reversed in a subsample of politically conservative participants (Saito, 2007). In some cultural contexts, therefore, media exposure may counter gender stereotypes. For example, in Kuwait, exposure to US television appears as a significant predictor of less, and not more, gender stereotypical views (Abdulrahim et al., 2009). Religion embodies an important and ubiquitous influence on gender role representations (Morgan, 1987; Glick et al., 2002; Christopher and Mull, 2006; Maltby et al., 2010), and represents maybe the “single most important shaper for sex roles” (Wilson, 1978). We included religiosity in our model to compare the effects of video game to ideological commitments that consistently contribute to gender role beliefs. Many studies carried out in Europe and North America have shown that religiously affiliated people were more prone to support unequal gender roles and to consider that women are first of all housekeepers and mothers (Thornton et al., 1983; Wilcox and Jelen, 1991; Sherkat and Ellison, 1999; Ghazel, 2003; Voicu, 2009).

We therefore expected that religiosity would be positively related to sexism (hypothesis 3), but also that the link between video game exposure and sexism would be lower among high religious participants (hypothesis 4) following the above research showing that media can challenge rigid sex roles among traditional groups.

The sample included 13520 participants aged 11–19 who were selected at school through stratified random sampling and is representative of the metropolitan areas of Grenoble and of Lyon, France. These two cities are the major municipalities of the second largest and wealthiest region of France. The sample population corresponded to urban France in terms of age, sex and school level. Students completed paper questionnaires in their classrooms. An assistant was present in the room and helped the participants upon request. The participation rate was slightly above 95%.

The sample included both public and private schools (with the rare exception of schools that have not contracted with the state) and all curricula, professional as well as the general (the latter being the pathway to college with the best students). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies indicated that in the year during which the survey was carried out, there were 99.4% of youth attending school at 12, declining to 89% 1 year prior to the baccalaureate¹. After contacting all schools, half of them declined to participate (the participation was 46/67 in Grenoble, and 81/220 in Lyon, with a deficit in schools with reputation for excellence or “general curriculum” and the private schools). Classes were randomly selected in each school grade of every school. The sample is in line with the reference population in terms of percentage of students per grade, age, gender according to the available statistical elements provided by the education authorities.

The study was approved by the National Commission on Computer and Freedoms (CNIL, decision n#2012-148). Ethics in social studies in France is entrusted to the CNIL which is a national independent body that has representatives in universities. The present study categorized as sensitive was therefore subjected to the most thorough examination by the CNIL (the full review level 3). It includes questionnaire, population, sampling process, data storage, and modalities for obtaining the person’s consent. Due to the juvenile status of the population in its largest part, and the fact that the survey took place at school, a multiple level consent process was designed. The consent process was reviewed by the CNIL and implemented along the lines of the CNIL. Consent of schools was obtained in writing both from school heads and provincial directorates of education (one for each sampling zone). Consent of parents was asked through a home liaison diary which is the usual means for communication between the school and the family. The parents had to return an approval/refusal written note (active consent). Children could orally refuse to participate to the survey in full, even if their parents had approved the survey. They also could omit responding to questions in the questionnaire. All written consent material is retained by school masters so that filed workers never learn any of the names of the students. Statistical material about approval/refusal in each classroom was communicated by the school head to the research team.

Media exposure was assessed by the following question: “How many hours per day did you spend on average last week, Monday to Friday playing computer or on the video game console?” and “How many hours per day did you spend on average last week, Monday to Friday watching TV, DVDs, films (including on the internet).” In order to ensure an appropriate distribution of the variables, we created 10 categories, from (1) 1 h per day to (10) 10 h or more per day. According to their estimations, participants spent 2.77 h per day watching TV (SD = 2.79) and 1.70 h per day playing video games (SD = 2.63).

Although this measure cannot estimate the quantity of sexist content adolescents were exposed to in video games and on television, women are frequently portrayed in sexist ways (e.g., Dietz, 1998; Beasley and Collins Standley, 2002; Burgess et al., 2007; Jansz and Martis, 2007; Downs and Smith, 2010), and this is the case in French media (Matthes et al., 2016). Time exposure to TV and video games may therefore be considered as an acceptable proxy for general exposure to sexist contents.

Two measures of religiosity were included. Religious attendance was assessed by asking respondents to report the frequency they attended religious services, from never (1) to every day (6). The denominations were: Catholics: 27.4%; Muslims: 25.9%; Protestants: 1.9%; Jews: 0.9%; Christian orthodox: 0.7%; Anglicans: 0.1; others 3.8. Moreover, 39.4% declared no religion. Religious salience was measured by a 4-point scale of how important religion is in participant’s everyday life ranging from not at all important (1) to very important (4). The two measures being strongly related, we constructed a composite measure (Cronbach’s α = 0.72; M = 2.24; SD = 1.07).

Sexism was measured with a single-item question. Participants were asked the following Likert-type question: “A woman is made mainly for making and raising children,” from fully disagree (1) to fully agree (4), M = 1.53; SD = 0.9.