I could never do that in real life : an exploration of real world morality and moral decision-making in role-playing video games

Video games as a medium for play increase in popularity and participation every year. Around the world, video games are also constantly criticized for depicting violent, gratuitous, and potentially immoral material that consumers can engage in. Yet very little evidence exists suggesting a tangible connection between individuals\u27 real world thoughts and actions with their in-game experiences. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the potential relationship between individuals\u27 real world moral identities with their virtual decisions and actions in singleplayer role-playing video games. Fifty-one people completed an online survey containing qualitative and quantitative questions. Participants provided narrative accounts of in-game decisions and experiences they engaged in, as well as completed the Moral Foundations Questionnaire assessing their personal moral identities. Findings of this study showed that a relationship did exist between participants\u27 assessed moral identities and how they engaged with single-player role-playing video games. The findings also presented common themes throughout participants\u27 narratives such as self-consistency, it\u27s a game, resetting, and five moral foundations, as well as correlations between individuals\u27 assessed morality and preferred ingame moral play styles. This study concludes with implications for how these connections can be addressed in social work practice with individuals who actively engage in frequent video game play