Moral decision‐making in video games: A focus group study on player perceptions

• Published in: Human behavior and emerging technologies Vol. 2; no. 3; pp. 278 - 287
• Main Authors: Holl, Elisabeth, Bernard, Steve, Melzer, André
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2020; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Computer & video games; content analysis; Decision making; Disengagement; focus group; Focus groups; gamer; interactivity; meaningful play; moral (dis)engagement; Moral dilemmas; morality; Motivation; Perceptions; qualitative data; video games
• ISSN: 2578-1863; 2578-1863
• DOI: 10.1002/hbe2.189

Moral dilemmas have become increasingly popular in single player video games, although it is still widely unknown why players find them pleasurable, how they process dilemmas, and which variables affect the processing. Therefore, three different focus groups sessions with experienced players (N = 16) were conducted. Player perceptions of meaningful and morally relevant decision situations in video games were grouped for topics and contextualized with theoretical background (e.g., moral disengagement theory). Our findings support the notion that moral decision‐making in video games is a dynamic interplay between game and user‐dependent variables. Results show that in addition to interactivity, which reflects the inherent property of video games, statements can be broadly grouped into factors that describe player motivation (i.e., why they morally engage or disengage) and influencing factors that shape the moral interaction itself. In summary, the present findings provide insights into players' processing of moral dilemmas in video games.