Hey, gamers: next time someone is badmouthing your favorite hobby as an express path to crippling loneliness and your very own TLC special called “My Incredibly Fat Legs,” now you can shut them up with science. According to a study by researchers at the University of Munster in Germany, taking up gaming does not turn you into an unkempt basement blob like pop culture might have you believe.
Researchers surveyed 4,500 video game players over 14 for the study, publishing their findings in a paper called “Unpopular, Overweight, and Socially Inept: Reconsidering the Stereotype of Online Gamers.” The researchers discovered the gamers they interviewed acted less like Comic Book Guy and more like normal human beings that enjoy a popular activity. “The results indicate that the stereotype of online gamers is not fully supported empirically,” the paper abstract reads.
Take that, mom.