A 3rd of girls cellular avid gamers within the UK really feel responsible, says new research

A brand new research has discovered that just about a 3rd of girls who play cellular video games within the UK really feel responsible about gaming.

Published on August 21, 2025, the study was led by University of Stirling’s Dr Steph Rennick and Cardiff University’s Dr Seán Roberts, in partnership with Swedish gaming studio Undone Games, and surveyed 1,000 girls who play cellular video games within the UK about their attitudes to gaming.

The analysis discovered that 28% of the ladies surveyed agreed they felt responsible about taking time to play video games, with older gamers (these over 55) much less more likely to really feel disgrace than younger gamers (these aged 16 to 24).

According to the research, girls who stored that gaming secret from family and friends had been thrice extra more likely to really feel guilt (63%) than those that did not (23%), whereas girls who sit up for taking part in are 9% extra more likely to really feel responsible than those that do not (34% vs. 25%).

The analysis additionally discovered that this sense of disgrace was aligned with whether or not girls recognized with gaming tradition.

60% of respondents did not imagine they performed sufficient video games to be thought of a “gamer,” and girls who stated they understand gaming as a male pastime had been twice as more likely to really feel disgrace about taking part in video games (46% vs. 23%), whereas those that could be embarrassed to name themselves a gamer felt 20% extra guilt.

By distinction, girls who imagine sometimes taking part in video games makes you a gamer felt 42% much less disgrace.

“The study shows many women feel excluded from video game culture, with significant numbers of women feeling guilty about playing video games and worrying about what others think of them taking time to play games,” Dr Rennick instructed the University of Stirling.

“Interestingly, feeling responsible or holding secrets and techniques about gaming didn’t correlate with how a lot time girls spent taking part in video games.

“We anticipated a major proportion of girls to report emotions of guilt round taking part in video video games and taking leisure time extra typically.

“But while we thought feelings of guilt or shame would have a negative impact on the amount of time women spent playing games, we didn’t find such a connection. Those who feel guilty or keep secrets don’t play less, but they feel worse.”

Elsewhere, the research discovered correlations between guilt and obstacles associated to sport advertising, with 41% of girls extra more likely to really feel guilt in the event that they did not know which video games to attempt, and 44% feeling extra disgrace in the event that they thought video games had been too violent.

“This aligns with barriers identified by Chess (2017): That women may not be aware of the diversity of games available, because there is a limited range marketed to them (thus the former), and yet when they think of ‘games’ simpliciter, they may not have casual games in mind (thus the latter),” the report stated.

The report specifies that this research solely thought of responses from individuals figuring out as girls, and whereas its outcomes are “revealing,” they don’t display that girls really feel extra responsible about taking part in cellular video games than different genders.

“Taken as a whole, we propose that the results suggest that many UK women feel excluded from video game culture, and that this exclusion can be a barrier to playing mobile games, or being open about one’s play,” the report said.

“In other words, many of the results can be explained by women’s sense that games and gaming culture are not for them.”

“This is in keeping with previous research, which has found many gender disparities in leisure time, with women being almost twice as likely to feel guilty about taking ‘me time’ than men (GameHouse, 2023),” the report continued

“Women tend to spend less time playing if they feel they don’t fit into gaming culture – for example, if they believe that gaming is a male pastime, or that they don’t play enough games to be a gamer, are embarrassed to call themselves a gamer, or think video games are too violent,” Dr Roberts instructed the University of Sterling.

“In distinction, girls spend extra time taking part in if they’re happy with their gaming achievements.

“This means that guilt and disgrace are simply signs. While these are clearly negatively impacting girls avid gamers, they might not be the basis of the issue.

“Instead, removing barriers to play for women may require deeper changes such as reducing leisure inequality between men and women.”