Lorraine Williamson
Between the ages of 15 and 29, 77% of Spanish youth are video game fans and more than half play games daily. The group of men between the ages of 25 and 29 appears to be most addicted to games. Furthermore, four out of ten young people even aspire to a career as a professional gamer.
Among the boys, almost 68% play games on a daily basis and that percentage is 44.8% among the girls. On average, young Spanish people spend no less than 3.7 hours a day on this hobby. The Fad Juventud Foundation conducted an online survey among 1,513 young people who lived in Spain last year. One of the things that became clear from the research is that boys are on average 9.4 years old and girls 10.3 years old when they first come into contact with video games.
Boys play games more often than girls
The research shows that boys play video games more often than girls. Moreover, only 3.7% of the survey participants say they have never played a game. Within the group of respondents between the ages of 15 and 29, the group between the ages of 25 and 29 plays games most often (81.4%).
What do Spanish youth think of sexualisation within video games?
In general, girls have a more negative view of video games. Nearly 58% believe that female characters in these games are sexualised and over 40% believe that the content of many games is sexist. Indeed, 44% of boys think that many games are made more for them than for girls.
One of the most important conclusions, and perhaps action points for the Spanish government and other parties involved, is that almost 30% of girls who play online games every week have been sexually harassed at least once. Consequently, that is why more than 45% of girls choose to play online games anonymously.
Are there also negative sides to gaming?
Young people are also honest about the negative experiences they experience while gaming. The feeling of frustration, fear or anger during gaming plays a role among more than 42% of young people. About an equal group say that they are regularly insulted while gaming and 39% think that gaming takes up more of their time than they would like.
Furthermore, almost 96% of the group of respondents indicated they spend money on games almost every month. On average, young people spend €50.70 per month on new games or updates to their current games. A special fact is that four out of ten young people see playing video games as a potential job for the future. Furthermore, over 36% say they are interested in becoming a professional gamer.
Also read: Almost half of young Spanish people play online gambling