New study: Men more likely to be gaming addicts

Finally we know why men are more likely to become immersed in video games – it’s all to do with the brain.

A new study from Stanford University shows that the part of the brain that generates feelings of rewards and addiction is far more animated in men than women.

This discovery should explain why more men become addicted to video games than women, study author Fumiko Hoeft of the Stanford University School of Medicine said.

Higher activity

The study looked at how the brains of 22 young gamers – half of them male, half female – reacted when playing a simple video ball game. The researchers found that men’s brains had a higher activity in the mesocorticolimbic system.

“These gender differences may help explain why males are more attracted to, and more likely to become ‘hooked’ on video games than females,” the researchers wrote in their paper, recently published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research. The men reportedly appeared more motivated to gain terrain when playing the game, although both men and women did well.

“The females ‘got’ the game,” said Allan Reiss, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research at Stanford University. “They appeared motivated to succeed at the game. The males were just a lot more motivated to succeed.”

Acquiring as much territory in a computer game environment is more rewarding for men than for women, the study showed. Reiss wasn’t surprised: “I think it’s fair to say that males tend to be more intrinsically territorial. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who historically are the conquerors and tyrants of our species – they’re the males.”

Latest in Gaming
A close up of the PlayStation symbol at the top of a PS5 Slim console with a white brick background
Sony has dropped a new PS5 update, improving activities and adding more emoji support
Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo
Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo gets new update with more customizable features ahead of the Switch 2 Direct
inZOI.
inZOI early access is the most disappointed I’ve been with a game in years
A screenshot from The First Berserker: Khazan
I got absolutely destroyed by The First Berserker: Khazan’s bosses for hours on end and loved every second of it
A screenshot from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle showing Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle finally gets PS5 release date and I can't wait to don the fedora and crack the whip
A Minecraft sheep.
Minecraft developer rejects generative AI, 'it's important that it makes us feel happy to create as humans'
Latest in News
Samsung Galaxy S25 from the front
The Now Bar on Samsung One UI 7 is about to get a lot more useful – and could soon match Live Activities on iOS
Netflix Ads
Netflix adds HDR10+ support – great news for Samsung TV owners, but don't expect LG and Sony to do the same any time soon
Klipsch Klipschorn AK7 in a room with lots of dark wood furniture and a bare brick wall
Klipsch just updated two of its most iconic stereo speaker designs, keeping these beautiful retro icons on your most-wanted list
FiiO FX17 IEMs
Our favorite budget audiophile brand unveils wired earbuds with 26(!) drivers, electrostatic units, USB-C ultra-Hi-Res Audio, and a not-so-budget price
Nvidia RTX 5080 against a yellow TechRadar background
RTX 5080 24GB version teased by MSI - is it time to admit that 16GB isn't enough for 4K?
A close up of the PlayStation symbol at the top of a PS5 Slim console with a white brick background
Sony has dropped a new PS5 update, improving activities and adding more emoji support