More than Just Child’s Play?: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of an Appearance-Focused Internet Game on Body Image and Career Aspirations of Young Girls

In recent years, elements of the modern environment (such as television, Internet, toys and clothes) have been criticized for having an increasingly sexualized or appearance focus, which has been suggested to be detrimental to girls’ development. The current study examined the impact of an appearance-focused Internet game on young girls’ body image and career cognitions and aspirations. Eighty British girls aged 8–9 years were randomly assigned to play an appearance-focused or a non-appearance focused game for 10 minutes. Girls in the appearancefocused game condition displayed greater body dissatisfaction compared to the control condition. Type of game did not impact girls’ perceived capacity to do various jobs. However, girls who played the appearance-focused game reported a greater preference for feminine careers compared to the control group. This provides preliminary evidence that appearance-focused Internet games may be detrimental to young girls’ body image and aspirations. Internet games should be included in our consideration of influential messages for young girls.

"The aim of the current study was to examine the impact of playing an appearance-focused Internet game on the body dissatisfaction and career cognitions and aspirations of young girls. With respect to body dissatisfaction, the results indicate that 8–9 year old girls who played an appearance-focused Internet game (Dream Date Dress Up) for a brief period of 10 min demonstrated heightened body dissatisfaction compared to girls who played an appearance-neutral Internet game (Penguin Diner). This body dissatisfaction was expressed via a preference for a thinner ideal body now as well as a preference for a thinner ideal body in the future... In the Dream Date Dress Up game used in the present study the female character is preparing for a date with a boy. The player is shown an image of what the boy’s “dream date” looks like, and then proceeds to alter her character’s appearance (through clothes, hair styles, and accessories) in order to be appealing to the boy character. It is possible that the playing of such dress-up and make-over games encourage girls to focus on their outward physical appearance and highlights a perceived discrepancy between their own appearance and bodies and that of the culturally prescribed thin ideal." (Slater et al., 2017: 2054).