A Focus on Sexualized Characters in Video Games
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UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE Faculté de Psychologie, Logopédie et Sciences de l’Education Unité de Recherche en Psychologie et Neuroscience Cognitives Sexualization and aggression against women: A focus on sexualized characters in video games Jonathan Burnay Thèse présentée en vue de l’obtention du titre de Docteur en Sciences Psychologiques Sous la direction du Pr. Frank Larøi Thèse co-dirigée par le Pr. Brad Bushman Membres du jury : Pr. Stéphanie Demoulin, Pr. Joël Billieux, Pr. Björn-Olav Dozo, Pr. Benoît Dardenne, Pr. Brad Bushman, Pr. Frank Larøi 2018-2019 Acknowlegments ‚It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.‛ When I started my Ph.D., I did not meet an old sage in a cavern and I did not receive a sword to face the difficulties along the road. Unarmed, I was sure to lose all my hearts before succeeding in my quest. But it was without counting on all the fairies I would meet on the way!1 First, I want to thank Frank Larøi, my advisor, for the confidence he placed in me. Thank you for your time, patience, thoroughness, and words of encouragements. You taught me to be obsessive and I sure hope that I took a few pages out of your book! I also want to thank Brad Bushman, my co-advisor. Beyond your precious methodological and theoretical help, you offered me one of the greatest experiences of my life by inviting me for a research stay in your lab. During that research stay, you did not treat me as a Ph.D. student, but as a friend. Thank to my thesis committee, Professor Joël Billieux and Professor Benoît Dardenne who helped me during the development of this thesis through their advices and guidance. I also thank Professor Stephanie Demoulin and Professor Björn-Olav Dozo giving of their time and being part of my jury. I sincerely hope you will enjoy the reading. Thanks to all my colleagues for their help, support, and all the good moments spent during lunchtime: Audrey, Aurélie, Bénédicte, Benjamin, Céline, Christina, Clara, Coline, Fabienne, Fanny, Hedwige, Julien, Line, Lucie, Maëlle, Marie, Marion, Murielle, Sylvie, Sylvie, Vincent, and Thierry. There are a few that I would like to thank particularly. Thank you to Marie Geurten for the many (some might say too many) geek discussions we had. You reminded me that beyond the PhD, I still have other passions. I do not have any excuse left not to finish that story! Thank you as well for your precious statistical assistance. Thank you to Julien Laloyaux, the Great Methodology Destroyer, without whom my studies would have ever reached half their current quality. Thank you to Aurélie Wagener for your problem solving skills and the coffee breaks, in Kawa we trust! Thank you to Clara Della Libera, some 1 If you do not know the reference, the quotation comes from a 1986 video game called The Legend of Zelda. In that game, your health is represented by hearts you lose every time you get hit by a monster. Fairies are the best way to recover all your hearts and they can even resurrect you if you die! would say you are too loud, I would say you bring more joy to the office. Your capacity for hard work is a model for me! Thank you to Audrey Krings for being one of the most smiling and enthusiastic persons I know. No matter the situation, you never seem down. Thank you to Vincent Marinelli for always finding the most uncomfortable theoretical questions. You always seem to calculate the best next moves ahead in everything. Thank you to Bénédicte Thonon for the friendly and productive atmosphere you create in the office. I want to express my gratitude to Sylvie Blairy who trusted me in the past and to Sylvie Willems who trusts me for the future. I have another large group of people I need to thank: my friends, the old as well as the new ones. Many thanks to Adriano Tosoni, Amour D’Haene, Damien Schwanen, Damien Vannespenne, Dimitri Fagnoul, Emilie Casagrande, Gaëlle Cox, Kevin Debois, Laurence Lecrompe, Loïc Diricken, Mégane Likin, Milo Schoonjans, Robin Schoonjans, Sarah Denis, Sarah Schroyen, Tangui Horel, and Vanessa Verest. I particularly want to thank Adriano Tosoni – I know, you do not like to be called Adriano, but I have to make it official – for being my initiator to the scientific method. You taught me that any affirmation should survive multiple sources verifications before being considered as facts. You punched so many of my beliefs in the face I hardly recognize who I was before I met you. Thank you to Laurence Lecrompe, my personal physician, for patching me up every time I needed it. I know I will remain a faithful customer thanks to your cocktails and barbecues. Thank you Tangui Horel for all these hours of co-working and for never giving me any excuse for not going out and taking a break. Thank you to Damien Vannespenne for being the insomniac confidant everyone needs. Thank you to Sarah Denis, your stalking skills made you the first close friend I made in college and since then, your subtle sense of humor remains my favorite. Thank you to Robin Schoonjans for proving that no one should be afraid of changing career track; you have always been a model of resilience and valor. Thank you to Kevin Debois for your perpetual good mood, your jokes always brighten even the worst situations. Thank you to Gaëlle Cox for being the first who explicitly expressed feminist ideas around me. The idea caught on. Thank you to Amour D’Haene for the joy you communicate around you with your everlasting smile. And because no one is too young to appear in the acknowledgment of a thesis, I want to address a special thank you to the newest member of our little band, Milo Schoonjans. I do not really have the words to express how much Charlotte Delleur helped me during these past four years. Thank you for being such a supportive wife. You stood by my side during the best and the worst moments. In the darkest time, you were the one who turned on the light for me and sharing the best moments with you is what made them real. Every day spent with you makes me a better man. The final ‚thank you‛ goes to my parents, Murielle Claes and Olivier Burnay. You have built the foundations that have led to this moment. Table of Content PROLOGUE ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 THEORETICAL SECTION ............................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 1: AGGRESSION AGAINST WOMEN .................................................................................... 15 DEFINITION ...................................................................................................................................................... 15 AGGRESSIVE COGNITION AND AFFECTS ......................................................................................................... 16 AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR AGAINST WOMEN ..................................................................................................... 16 AGGRESSIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD WOMEN .................................................................................................... 18 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 2: AN INTEGRATED MODEL TO EXPLAIN AGGRESSION AGAINST WOMEN: THE CONFLUENCE MODEL INTEGRATED WITH THE GENERAL AGGRESSION MODEL.............. 21 ONE MODEL TO INTEGRATE THEM ALL .......................................................................................................... 21 Cognitive-Neoassociationistic Theory .......................................................................................................... 21 Social Learning Theory ................................................................................................................................ 22 Script Theory ................................................................................................................................................ 22 Excitation Transfer Theory .......................................................................................................................... 23 Social Interaction Theory ............................................................................................................................. 23 THE GENERAL AGGRESSION MODEL .............................................................................................................. 23 Proximate Causes and Processes .................................................................................................................. 24 Distal Causes and Processes......................................................................................................................... 26 THE CONFLUENCE MODEL .............................................................................................................................. 27 Hostile Masculinity...................................................................................................................................... 27 Promiscuous-Impersonal Sex ....................................................................................................................... 27 THE CONFLUENCE MODEL INTEGRATED INTO THE GENERAL AGGRESSION MODEL ................................... 28 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3: REPRESENTATION