Video games are an American pastime -- but don't expect those playing to self-identify as gamers.
According to a Pew Research study, 49% of Americans say they play games. And despite what marketing campaigns might make you think, the gender divide is minuscule: 50% of men and 48% of women say they enjoy games, based on a phone survey of 2,001 Americans.
Pew also collected data indicating that a majority of respondents buy into the common misconception that far more men play games. 60% of people agreed that more gamers were men -- meaning there are probably a lot of women out there (57%, in fact) who don't realize they're part of a growing group.
While the stereotype that younger people are more likely to play games held up, it doesn't mean that older people have shied away from gaming (especially as the pastime's been around for 35-plus years). More than half of 30-to-49-year-olds surveyed said they played games (about 58%), followed by 40% of people between 50 and 64, and 25 percent of people older than 65. In these older demographics, women play more games than men: 38% vs 29%.
While Pew's definition of "games" includes everything from PCs to smartphones, players from every demographic and platform were more supportive of games as a form of entertainment, and as a tool to develop good problem-solving skills and communication. They were also far less likely to believe that video games cause violent behavior; only one 3 out of 10 held that view. (It seems increasingly to be an opinion falling out of favor, with 40% of adults overall associating video games with violent behavior.)
But playing games and calling yourself a "gamer" are very different things. Of the percentage who said they played games, only 10 percent would self-describe with that term.
Pew doesn't dig any further on the whys, so we're left to speculate on who is -- and isn't -- filing themselves into that group. The most likely candidates to self identify are men, especially those between 18-33; a full third of those call themselves gamers. The largest ethnic group to identify with the term were Hispanics, followed by black Americans, then whites.
@chelseabot definitely I would. Gaming has been a part of my life forever. Big focus of my career and hobbies.— Wendy (@fasterkitty) December 15, 2015
@chelseabot Sure, it's a simple, general descriptive term for a practice like "writer" or "snowboarder" or "carpenter."— David Chartier (@chartier) December 15, 2015
Maybe a majority of respondents don't identify as gamers because of the marketing directed toward that term. (If you've seen a Mountain Dew ad in the last 20 years, you're probably aware of it.) Their responses may also have something to do with the baggage the term has gained in the last year, thanks to GamerGate.
@chelseabot Not any more. I’m a nerd who plays games, but there are so many parts of gamer culture that I don’t really identify with.— lindsay paige (@lindsaypages) December 15, 2015
@chelseabot Definitely not. I play videogames as a past-time, it’s never going to be something I want to define myself by - even more so now— Rob Wright (@wright_rob) December 15, 2015
@chelseabot for instance, a cinephile or audiophile loves their hobby, but generally aren't blindly loyal to it.— Colin Chisholm (@ColinHantsCo) December 15, 2015
@chelseabot nope. Not on my state ID and not the main marking of who/what I am, even the my collection of games say differently— Ken Wesley (@Darkarm66) December 15, 2015
The full text of the study can be found on Pew's website.