Flow Experience, Performance Expectation and Performance: An LGBTQ+ Diversity Perspective on Gamified Systems

Cis-heteronormative stereotypes in STEM fields are responsible for making minority groups like LGBTQ+ people feel like they don’t belong in these areas of science. To identify and analyze the effects of such stereotypes, we carried out a quasi-experiment with N = 70 participants in a gamified system. The results indicate that self-identified cis-heterosexual participants had better flow experiences in environments with stereotypes that disagreed with their sexual orientation. Regarding expected performance, stereotypes not aligned with sexual orientation were harmful. These results reflect the importance of developing socially inclusive educational technologies, with mechanisms that allow customization of the interface to avoid disadvantages of minority groups, and are also relevant to the scientific community as empirical evidence that sexual stereotypes must be taken into account. when designing gamified platforms to avoid negatively impacting individuals.