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27 January 2014

Gaming Morals vs. Real-World Morals

Keywords: games, moral, teens, North America, Western Europe, decision making, gaming, survey,

A study in Media Psychology investigates whether morality in real life is linked to moral decisions in video games. The study shows that real-world morality is indeed associated with players’ decisions in video games. Players with a high morality in real life make fewer moral violations during game play.

Take aways

  • In line with earlier research, this study shows that real-world morality influences players’ moral decision in video games:
    • High morality in real life is associated with fewer moral violations during game play.
    • Low morality is associated with making random moral decisions in video games.
  • This is the case across countries (German and Americans) and age (teens and adults), except for American teens.
  • American teens do not link their own morality to moral decisions in video games.
  • Social marketers and educators should know that moral video games could be a promising tool for educating people about making the right choices.

Study information

  • The question?

    Does morality in real life predict moral decision in video games?

  • Who?

    301 American and German teens and adults (46% male). Teens were between the ages of 12 and 15 years and adults between 49 and 86 years

  • Where?

    United States and Germany

  • How?

    Participants played a video game in which they interacted with virtual non-player characters. At the beginning of the game the participants were allowed to choose a male or female avatar. There were a total of six scenarios during game play in which the player had to a make moral decision (violate or maintain morality). After game play, the participants completed a questionnaire about their game experience and morality in real life (the Moral Foundations Questionnaire).

Facts and findings

  • Players with a high morality in real life made fewer decisions to commit moral violations during game play than those with a low morality.
  • In contrast, players with a low morality in real life made their moral decision at random.
  • These findings were consistent across countries and age, except for American teens.
  • American teens’ moral decisions during game play were not linked to their morality in real life.
  • An explanation for this finding is that American teens felt more present in the game environment and therefore did not make moral decisions in the game based on their own morality.