New survey findings show more women own game consoles than men

The results of a new Pew Research Center survey on the demographics of technology ownership reveal an interesting statistic: Of those polled, a higher percentage of console owners were women.

42 percent of the study's respondents who had game systems — such as "Xboxes and PlayStations," the report says —identified as female. A slightly lower number of men claimed to have their own consoles — 37 percent.

Four in ten Americans were found to own home consoles overall, a number that remains unchanged since 2010, when this survey was last conducted.

These numbers differ from portable gaming ownership. Only 14 percent of those surveyed indicated that they had a handheld console, although Research Center's definition of what constitutes a handheld is ... odd, to say the least, naming PlayStation Portable and "Sega Genesis players" as examples. Regardless, portables boast an even split of male and female gamers.

The data for both categories also goes into the age, race, educational and economic status of the average adult gamer.

Interestingly, the demographics represented in the Pew Research Center's report differ from those found by the Electronic Software Association, shared earlier this year. The ESA's survey showed a gender disparity skewing toward men, with 59 percent of its male respondents calling themselves gamers as opposed to 41 percent of women polled.

This could be attributed to the broader range of ages represented by the ESA's report, however. The Pew findings exclusively reveal data regarding technology owners over the age of 18, while the ESA's numbers present a picture of gamers young and old.