Male and Female Game Players' Preferences for Game Characters and Real-world Personalities in Japan

A 2019 study by DiGRA examined how young Japanese game players' gender shapes their preferences for in-game characters and real-world personalities, and whether those preferences carry over into everyday attitudes. Set against Japan's low ranking on gender equality (110th of 149 countries in 2018) and the persistent underrepresentation of female characters in games, the research uses qualitative interviews with 20 players, evenly split between men and women, to address a gap in empirical work on how Japanese players perceive characters of each gender.

The findings reveal distinct patterns in what each group values. Male players tended to favor female characters who combined feminine traits such as kindness, caregiving, and modesty with some masculine qualities like mental strength and coolness. Female players gravitated toward male characters revealed to have hidden depth, vulnerability, or humane qualities, often blending masculine and kawaii features. Male players were more often moved by male characters' stories and worldviews, while female players typically developed attachment after discovering unusual or concealed aspects of a character. Both groups reflected a gap-moe appeal, though female players more consistently described contradictory traits as attractive, and male players held more traditional views of how each gender should appear.

The study also notes that female characters in Japanese games frequently expose more skin, a point both groups raised, though participants also described diverse and anti-stereotypical portrayals. Some participants reported that game characters shaped their real-world preferences, while others denied any influence. The authors are candid about their limitations: the sample is small, the data are qualitative and not generalizable, the per-genre breakdowns yielded no clear differences such as in otome games, and interviewer bias is possible. The reference list that closes the document supplies citations on gender, game characters, and media effects, but the study's substantive conclusions rest on its interview findings.