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Social power motives, gendered traits, and aggression in eSports: evidence from two survey waves
1Department of Communication Studies, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States.
Introduction:
This study examined how social power motives and gendered traits relate to in-game aggression among Honor of Kings players.
Methods:
Two survey waves were conducted with HoK players: Wave 1 included 295 participants, and Wave 2 included 194 returning participants. Participants completed measures of dominance, prestige, leadership, masculinity, femininity, and in-game aggression.
Results:
Dominance consistently related to higher in-game aggression. Prestige also showed positive associations with aggression. Leadership showed negative associations only when modeled with dominance, so this finding should be interpreted cautiously. Femininity consistently related to lower aggression, whereas masculinity did not independently relate to aggression.
Discussion:
Aggression in this eSports context is most consistently linked to dominance-oriented status striving. Femininity may protect against aggressive in-game behavior.
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