Study Finds That Men Who Attack Women Online Are, Literally, Losers

[La Lioness Priyanka]

Men who perform badly in games are more likely to harass female users

A new study purports to show what we all could have guessed: Men who attack women online are actual losers. A pair of researchers examined interactions between players during 163 games of Halo 3 to determine when men were most likely to exhibit sexist, anti-social behavior toward their female peers.

http://time.com/3965630/men-attack-women-online-losers/

As they watched the games play out and tracked the comments that players made to each other, the researchers observed that — no matter their skill level, or how the game went — men tended to be pretty cordial to each other. Male players who were good at the game also tended to pay compliments to other male and female players.

Some male players, however — the ones who were less-skilled at the game, and performing worse relative their peers — made frequent, nasty comments to the female gamers. In other words, sexist dudes are literally losers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/07/20/men-who-harass-women-online-are-quite-literally-losers-new-study-finds/?tid=pm_pop_b

[bettyellen]

1. And I'm thinking it's an analogy that holds up beyond gaming.

Yep.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. it probably applies to most scenarios where men used to dominate and now don't have monopoly

like say, political discourse or business decisions etc

[bettyellen]

9. Yeah, and I don't think most are conscious of it. We can see their shock and discomfort and pretty

Much know it's going to lead to some assholery.
Many seem unaware they are having a visceral negative reaction (cringing, interrupting, rolling eyes) to having to listen and respect women, but it's not uncommon.

[Rozlee]

30. No doubt applies to a lot of those guys in Men's Rights blogs too.

The ones who whine that the female cashier was rude to them in the checkout line and it means that they're being relegated to second class citizen status.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. i think some people have a very fragile sense of self and a huge sense of entitlement to resources

this sort of leads to things like men's rights warriors and race warriors etc.

(resources could be social things like respect and status, or material resources such as money/jobs)

[1StrongBlackMan]

45. LOL ... rude, as described as ...

smiling, ringing up the purchase, accepting payment and giving correct change, and bidding him a good day; rather than, agreeing to go out back for a quickie or providing her contact information.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

48. so true. nt

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. I'm certain it applies to discussion forums too. nt

[bettyellen]

26. Yes, a couple of DU names spring to mind here. HOF stalkers.

Love to try again and again to put women in their place. Yawn.

[Rod Beauvex]

43. Visit an imageboard sometime.

Gaze upon the horror.

Anyone who thinks liberal Millennials are the future are only kidding themselves.

[randys1]

2. THen there must not be hardly any skilled video game players who are rightwingers, because one of

MAIN reasons a man becomes a rightwinger is to hang with other men who all hate Women.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. i dont think this is entirely correct. i think sometimes we liberals give ourselves a huge pass

on issues of sexism and racism. while sexism and racism is much more overt among right wingers, liberals are not exempt from these attitudes.

[randys1]

8. Agreed, completely. Sexism and racism is abundant in liberal circles

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. a while ago i got into some disagreements on DU, which were mostly of a personal nature

however, i found that a lot of DU'ers were extremely racist/sexist/bi-phobic in their criticism of me. i think when push comes to shove, liberals display an alarming amount of racism. it took me by surprise at the time, but it has made me re-analyze liberal racism.

[randys1]

12. Would love to read those exchanges, I can pm you about it.

deleted, you cant say truth around here, you can get in trouble

[cwydro]

46. Absolutely.

Libs are in no way immune to these archaic attitudes.

[closeupready]

15. Yes, funny that, huh? And I agree with Lionness that

there is a lot of sexism and racism in liberal circles, too.

You know something - it took me YEARS to figure out (because I'm stupid lol) why "100% straight" guys would tell everyone how much they love women and girls and catcall and leer at jiggling breasts ... why such men work almost exclusively with other men, join exclusively male fraternities, join exclusively male armed forces (which has changed, but certainly is a mostly male milieu) ... duh, because they really do NOT like women, after all. They are lying - whether to themselves, or to everyone else, who knows. And society refuses to recognize the obviousness there. Sick, huh?

As a disclaimer, yes, I am generalizing, which means it wouldn't apply 100% to every man who fits the description. K&R

[bettyellen]

27. They love the old school concept of women as chattel and playthings-

But the shit really hits the fan when they realize they actually have to treat them as fully equal human beings. That pisses them off.

[closeupready]

35. Exactly. THAT, and in the worst cases, they think,

"God forbid women ever have the audacity to treat us men in the same way we treat THEM!"

[stevenleser]

3. And then they wonder why women don't like them. nt

[bettyellen]

11. It's called a death spiral, LOL.

[ismnotwasm]

6. Yes indeed

One way or another.

[yuiyoshida]

7. Some how I Knew that

[Baclava]

13. Kicking the asses of those alien scum offworlders makes us all equals as defenders of our planets

I coulda told ya that

[shenmue]

14. Zoiks

Some people suck at video games and life.

[Left coast liberal]

16. No real surprise there! NT

[iandhr]

17. In other news scientists have determined water is indeed wet.

[sarge43]

20. Breaking news: Getting a research grant is a cool and profitable gig. n/t

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. not really. without systematic observation we cannot conclude causality. if we depended only

on common sense, we would be essentially relying on pseudoscience.

we do science, so we can filter out facts from random motivational and cognitive biases that exist when we rely on intuition.

[sarge43]

23. No argument. Science is our silver bullet.

Just snarking. Every self confident woman could have confirmed the hypothesis.

[LanternWaste]

22. Breaking News Part II: Trivializing Science is Way Cool Among the Under-Educated and Sub-Literate.

Breaking News Part II: Trivializing Science is Way Cool Among the Under-Educated and Sub-Literate.

[iandhr]

34. The intent of my post was not to trivialize science

My point was it is really obvious that men who sexually harass women on the internet are losers. I think the majority of nonsexist people figured that out before study was published

[mythology]

40. But you are trivializing science when you equate

Data and anecdotes. Individual variations influence what we see. For example, pretty much everybody I know can do a cartwheel. That doesn't mean that I can extrapolate that almost everybody in the world can do a cartwheel. But if I judge based on what I see around me, I could easily assume that.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. There are plenty of losers on DU, then ...

We might have said disparaging things about Ann Coulter, Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, etc.

And will again.

Losers, all of us.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. did you bother to read the description of the study or its conclusions?

because from your post it does not seem like you understand what the authors were saying.

[kimbutgar]

24. I found that out one when I commented on a blog post by a troll

This guy attacked me for my sensible comment and I pushed back. He started harassing me. I found him on Facebook. A total loser who was fat, ugly and single who probably lived in his mother's basement. I confronted him on a Disqus comment and he backed off.

[cwydro]

47. Soo...fat, ugly, and single makes him

somehow less than?

[kimbutgar]

61. No I am fat and ugly but not single and I don't think that makes me less

And I would never harass troll someone.

[rocktivity]

28. Well, it's just another video game to them, isn't it?

with the advantage of no other competitors...


rocktivity

[CreekDog]

29. Well, they are here

[Jack Rabbit]

31. Wow, that's a surprise

Who could have imagined that?

Is there a study on GOP congressmen and state legislators who have been fighting a war against women for 35 years?

[AtheistCrusader]

32. My wife's a gamer. I have certainly observed this effect.

Usually made worse if she selects a feminine username. It got bad enough on Xbox Live that we just do a private chat group with our friends/teammates and play that way. Don't have to hear random shitheads that way.

I chalk it up to this effect, courtesy Penny-Arcade.

[geardaddy]

33. I am not surprised that the study found this. n/t

[MADem]

36. I wonder what they might say about women who attack women online.

FWIW, I agree with the thesis!

I complained about the formatting earlier--but apparently it has been fixed so I will delete that gripe.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

49. i think they would first have to demonstrate that women attack women based on gender

and not general disagreeableness. (for instance in this study losers attacked only women, not men).

[MADem]

53. I don't want to derail from the principal thesis of this thread--which speaks to the

misogynistic sexist/threats and violence bullshit that women have to endure from jerks who likely lack the social skills to find female friends--but I've also seen women get very vicious with other women. I think, though, the older they get, the nicer they get. It is less common to see a woman (or someone fronting as a woman) attacking the appearance of a female celebrity if they self-identify as older. It's often an appearance-based issue with women, or a "She's not all that" kind of complaint working.

I don't think the level of brutality is the same, certainly. "Carping about" someone is very different from confronting them directly and calling them names.

Anyway...i wasn't really looking to open up a new line of inquiry. I was just idly wondering.

With regard to THIS study, though, and speaking of wondering.... I wonder, in addition to the fact that these guys aren't game winners, if--in addition to being game "losers"-- it's a combination of low status (being stupid and unpopular, to be blunt about it) and excessive testosterone, or something, that causes males to behave this way. "I'm a moron and my hormones are acting up!!!!"

I also wonder if fitness/height to weight ratio, "attractiveness," (not impossible to measure, but subjective in some cases), "personality" (another one that is tricky to measure), and "intelligence" might be measured as part and parcel of this inquiry. I mean, low status young men are probably short in all those departments--and they might be internet 'losers' as well.

Surely there must be some game losers who are polite to women. What's the difference between them and the mean ones? That's the next question, I think!!

I think pisspoor socialization enables a lot of internet bullying. You can't do much about your looks, but you can always work on that personality, I say. And there actually is something that fixes 'stupid' -- it's called studying!

The study doesn't have an answer to fix the cyberbullying problem. I think we need to start early. Kids need to be taught at home and in nursery school that poor behavior isn't 'cool'--it's the mark of a misfit and the group shouldn't put up with it.

[Nevernose]

60. Super thoughtful post

And all very good questions.

Speaking anecdotally with absolutely zero scientific data, I'd say the opposite of your hypothesis might also be true: good looking, popular, etcetera makes might be MORE likely to be misgynistic because they fall so highly in our society's sexist pecking order. They expect the world to be theirs, and if it isn't, there's no harm in being an asshole because they're so high on the social scale. There's more incentive for schlubs to be decent human beings.

I think more likely than either theory is that some people had fucked up parents who raised them in a fucked up society and now they act like fucking assholes to women

[SunSeeker]

37. Yes, they're insecure, infantile men who fear any woman with skill or strength.

They immediately go to work be put in her place with violent threats, stalking, whatever it takes to protect their fragile egos.

They see women as subhuman, and losing to a women in gaming or anything else is the worst thing they can imagine happening.

[LynneSin]

38. You didn't need a study to figure that one out

Real men do not need to belittle women. They are confident enough in who they are that they do not need to go slut-shaming women.

I will admit that I do like to do online gaming, mainly World of Warcraft in the wintertime. From time to time I'll see some a-hole in general chat with some form of slut-shaming of women. You can pretty much assume that guy hasn't had a date in ages. Why else would he make such general rants about women in such horrible ways? I meet many men who I will chat with hang out with gaming and none of them treat me poorly. They know I'm there for gaming and not interested in online-sex or hooking up, I'm just a cool chick that likes to game. None of them are disrespectful to women and chatting with them I know they are respectful men who probably have decent, balanced lives and probably take good care of the women in their lives. Some of them I know their wives/girlfriends and I even game with them too.

If someone has to slut shame anonymously I question their values in real life. It makes no sense.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. it's not a question about figuring it out per se. it's a question of confirming a hypothesis

and we could not do that with idiosyncratic information, which is why we need systematic observation (otherwise known as science).

[LynneSin]

62. point taken

[JonLP24]

39. The left side of DU is covering up the left side of this box

Anything before of in the title I can't see to the left of. First this happened, probably a glitch here but I couldn't ever or want to play an online game with the sound up. Especailly a shooter like that unless it was something like friends so you can plan, organize, etc but otherwise useless. Plus I remember from those old Yahoo CSCO board discussions where no one talking about CISCO but the internet floodgates were open. In any case, at Halo or any third-person shooter I'm a big-time loser and get bored with them really quickly but losing or winning is not an interest as I don't care. They're all the same and generic though remember it was blast trying to keep this bguy (it wasn't online but on two connected Xboxes) this guy that was far better than us from getting to the sniper rifle on the open field course on Halo because it was over when he did.

This study reminds me of my dad playing Monopoly or anything including those old PS1 or Sega football games. Gotta lose a game or so to get him in a better mood again.

[1StrongBlackMan]

44. Whoa ... This ought to be good!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

50. Reminds me of an AOL chat room a long time ago.

Some guy decided to insult another person they thought was a man, and called them a cocksucker. Turns out the person was a female, who came back with, "Cocksucker and proud of it!"

[Uncle Joe]

51. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, La Lioness Priyanka.

[tularetom]

52. Extrapolating this theory from gamers to the larger interwebs (as I'm sure is happening as we speak)

Every dude who has ever posted anywhere that Sarah Palin is a blithering idiot is somehow a "loser', eating cheetos as he posts from his mom's basement.

All generalizations are full of shit, including this one.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

54. i am not sure where you are getting your generalization, but it was not in the articles

you are reacting to your own imagination about what this study is implying.

[tularetom]

55. What I was reacting to was your post title

After a few clicks, I see now that I was generalizing and that the focus of the study is in fact much narrower.

I apologize.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

56. also, attacking women generally is not the same thing as criticizing a specific woman.

[tularetom]

59. Again, you are correct

I concede defeat.

[grahamhgreen]

57. What about women who Attack men?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

58. there has to be some demonstration that women selectively attack one gender

which, i dont think is the case.

[Baclava]

63. Obvioulsy, the men are not attracting the right mates under this plan

I suggest plan #2 - leaving ice cream sunday treats with strawberries, peaches, chocolate syrup and whipped cream at her door as a gift

worked for me

[niyad]

64. NSSNSS