Exploring Gender Differences in Gaming Among Italian University Students: A Discriminant Analysis

Background: Gaming is a common leisure activity among university students, a life stage marked by late adolescence and emerging adulthood, when digital habits and psychosocial outcomes are still developing. However, gaming behaviors and motivations differ by gender, making it important to understand these variations to identify trends and potential risks linked to excessive use. This study examines whether gender is associated with differences in gaming habits, motivations, and perceived toxicity within a sample of Italian university gamers. Methods: A total of 394 participants (M = 22.8 years, SD = 3.6; 58% male) who actively played video games completed an online questionnaire on sociodemographic and gaming variables. Data were analyzed using t-tests and linear discriminant analysis. Results: Results showed gender differences in age of gaming onset, weekly gaming time, perceived toxicity, and motivations such as violent gratification, cognitive challenge, coping, and social interaction. However, discriminant analysis identified weekly gaming hours, violent gratification, and age as key differentiating factors, but the model accounted for a limited proportion of between-group variability. Conclusions: These findings suggest that gender accounts for a limited proportion of variability, indicating a trend toward gender parity in the analyzed gaming variables.