Despite the growing popularity of eSports, the poor representation of women players points to a need to understand the experiences of female players during competitive gaming online. The present study focuses on female gamers’ experiences with positive and negative feedback and sexual harassment in the male-dominated space of eSports. In Study 1, gender differences were analyzed in online gamers’ experience with feedback from other players and spectators during online play. In Study 2, gender differences were analyzed in observations of real gameplay that focused on the types of comments spectators directed toward female and male gamers on Twitch (a popular video game streaming website). The findings suggest a mixed experience for women that includes more sexual harassment in online gaming compared with men.

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The difficulties with public stigma are widespread and infiltrate all life and vocational domains, including athletic participation and performance. The current study attempted to assess the general public's interest in a hypothetical player and the impact psychological concerns had on (a) likelihood of signing and (b) initial monetary contract offers. Overall, findings suggest the derogation of athletes with mental health concerns, as these individuals were least likely to be signed and offered less financial compensation when compared to healthy counterparts. These results are concerning as they likely foster decreased treatment seeking behaviors and increased symptom concealment. Findings do suggest the potential diminishment of public stigma toward sport psychological treatment; however, significant work remains in decreasing public stigma toward other forms of psychological treatment for athletes.