An Exploratory Study on Gender Dysphoria & Character Customisation

In the present paper, we set out to understand in what manner character customisation of a video game could have an influence on the mental state of transgender players. Current literature shows that a player's character can indeed be used to experiment with gender-related struggles in a safe environment. To this end, studies suggest that the character choice of transgender players is based on an alignment with their actual, self-identified gender identity; as a means of both experimentation and wishful identification. However, only limited research has been conducted to find how the portrayal of a video game character's gender specifically influences the player's gender dysphoria (i.e., the distress a person feels due to a mismatch between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth). As such, the present paper contributes (1) an overview of selected background works on the interplay of gender and character customisation, and (2) a qualitative study that includes 37 transgender adolescents between the ages of 16 and 23. Findings of the study extensively discuss to what extent - and to what effect - transgender adolescents use the possibility to customise their character as a means to experiment and/or come to terms with their gender identity.