Do Games Bring Out a ‘Worst Side’?

The Future Identity in the Virtual WorldsBy Emma Hepburn

CE502

Student Number: 1104237

Psychological Identity

What is Identity?

Psychologists say Mental states have no separate existence from the brain itself - The Identity theoryColeman, (2006, pp. 363)

Contextual Selves- We contain MultitudesWalt Witman (Psycology Today, 2013)

Performance- Body ProjectsPhoenix (2007, pp. 49 – 50)

Ideas around the meaning of identity:

Social Identity Theory

(Tajfel and Turner 1979, 1986)

Personality Identity – ‘Be my-self’

Social Identity – ‘Finding self’

Social Identity theory refers to the categorization of the social self and its concept. This is the ‘self concept’ derived in group membership.

The ‘ingroup’ ‘outgroup’ effect provides members a sense of who they are.

This effects behaviour, such as evaluating oneself and defining oneself.

Core Ideas:

- Have more than ‘one’ self

- Contextual identity and change

- Different situations forces individual to act based on own opinions and personality

- Many social identities

- Element of performance

- Technology of self

Multiple Identities

The Debate:Tensions between two aspects- ‘Be myself’ - ‘Finding True Self’

Product of personal biography (narrative self) Polkinghorne, (1991, pp. 135-153)

Seeking multiple identification to and a with others who share values, histories and interests.

Variations of self, due to social context.

Buckingham (2007, pp. 2-22)

Performance Identity and Technology of Self

Socially, identity can be used in a performance sense to project a certain desired side of oneself. This depends highly on the social context and relates to social desirability effect.

For some, bodies can become ‘projects’ to manipulate for the sake of presenting a certain identity to others. Altering ones body to create an identity as a ‘technology of self’.

How do these relate to our virtual selves in games?

Altering Perception, Mirroring Avatars and Narratologists

Altering Self Perception

A role-playing type of an interactive game can alter a players self perception.

Positively evaluated characters in the media are shown to evoke empathy where as those who are considered morally bad evoke counterempathy.

When playing a pro-social character in a game, a subject is more likely to display empathy.

When playing a socially undesirable character in a game, a subject is more likely to show little empathy.

In order to achieve their ideals and to maintain positive self image, a person may stay relatively pro-social, because of social desirability.

Sueng – A Annie Jin (2011, pp. 1175- 1185)

Mirroring Avatars

It has been argued that a virtual identity is a truer reflection of oneself.

Cooper, explored whether digital representations in virtual environments were a true echo of someone’s image in the real world.

Although some enjoy the anonymity of an Avatar, that virtual being becomes part of their life.

In virtual worlds, multiple identities are offered and a freer way to self-define.

An element of expressing a different side and escaping the social constraints of real life.

Avatars tend to self regulate – the more freedom you give the player the more the player restricts himself and mirrors own human behaviour.

‘Take Second Life. It's a place where you can get away from your first life but it ends up looking exactly like… my backyard.'

Chan (2007)

NarratologistsThe Sims - Game

Study games and their storytelling media.

The debate:There is an immediate conflict between the story, and the game and each of their demands.

The ability given to design own characters encourages players to create those that are emotionally significant.

This gives players a chance to rehearse scenarios and relationships with others.Experience avatars with emotional needs and learn from consequential actions.

Gibberish language in ‘The Sims’ allow for the mapping of our own ideas and meanings.

‘The Sims’ game leaves the player with some narrative satisfaction.

As we are always looking for the ‘meaningful whole’ we can project that onto the idea that a game always has a purpose.Jenkins (no date)

Negative effects in Virtual Environments

Overall

Youth Violence- School shootings - game

players.

- One risk factor – contributes to anti-social behaviour

- David Grossman - military games used for training, also brutalise young players.

- Early games - made for shooting anything that moved, the young person playing ill equipped for real world.

- Speculation of anti-social behaviour on heavy gamers lacking interest they show in their peers outside of virtual worlds.

- Heavy use has negative outcome in academic achievements, self-esteem and sociability.

- Preference for violent games are linked to poor achieving students.

Social Effects Health Effects- Reports of seizures occurring

in children whilst playing video games

- Long term decreased visual development.

- Game addiction can lead to severe heath problems. A Korean man for example made the news in collapsing and later dying after continuously playing ‘StarCraft’. He had little sleep and little nutrition during the marathon.

Lee and Peng (2006, pp. 327-345)

Aggression

Re-inforces:

- Aggression based cognitive structuring

- Perceptual Schemata

- Personal Scripts

More importantly:

Changes aggressive personality

Repeated Playing of Violent Video Games

The Research So FarLinking identity and Negative Gaming effects

Does this add up?

Looking at identity:

Social Identity Theory- More than one self- Depends highly on context

Performance Identity- See ourselves as something

to perform- Based on social context

Technology of self- Social desirability

Social perception- Altered with pro-social

characters and anti-social characters

- However, norms are to stay pro-social.

Mirroring Avatars- Self Regulation- The more freedom, the

more restriction

Narrative- Meaningful whole

Looking at Negative Research:Having more that one ‘self’ may be what we see changing in violent games; the appropriate contextual response is to be aggressive.

Because of this response to context, what people may show only short term aggression.

Some of the negative effects of games here do not link with the theories behind identity.Most identity research focus on how people stay pro-social.

So the Contrary!

Southwell and Doyle (2004, pp. 391-401)

Explore the possibility that critics often fail to understand different levels of analysis that express different variability's.

There can be a simultaneous existence of both positive and negative consequences of virtual environments.

Ferguson (2007, pp. 309-316)

Set out to explore the effects of violent videogames.

Findings showed publication bias hugely disrupted true results.

Once corrected, there was no correlation between violent video games and exhibiting an aggressive side.

Valadez and Ferguson (2012, pp. 608-616)

100 participants used

Findings:Randomized video game play had no effect on depression, hostility or visuospatioal cognition.

Length of time spent playing had no effect on depression, hostility or visuospatioal cognition.

Learning

Utility in Educational Games:

- For leaning disabilities educational games improve motivation.

- In military trainees these games improve memory retention.

- In general Motivation is improved

- Beneficial in teaching strategic management.

- Improvement in maths, solving problems, reading and comprehension.Lee and Peng (2006, pp. 327-345)

- Even using fantasy into education can facilitate focalization of attention.

- Emotionally appealing metaphor or use of fantasy engages the subjects.

- Virtual environments increase positivity, and reduce anxiety when learning

Whener, Gump and Downey (2011, pp. 277-289)

Myths Revealed

An Interesting Article shows common myths about what people may think about gaming, gamers and the effects of.

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Do Games Bring Out a ‘Worst Side’?

Psychological Identity

According to psychological identity, the research is mixed.

Social Identity Theory – suggests pro-social behaviour is more likely to be practiced due to being an ‘ideal self’ or having a desire to perform socially desirable behaviour.

Mirroring – shows that subjects tend to use their avatars as a tool to escape life-like bounderies. If the subject has underlining aggression issues or anti-social behaviour, it may show itself in gaming.

Learning – educational games however improves mental abilities in many people, including those with learning difficulties.

Games overall do not seem to bring out a ‘Worst Side’.According to Psychological Identity

Future research next…

Due to the literature - the idea that games have been known to produce aggressive responses, - it may be worth looking types of people prone to act upon this aggression outside of the virtual world.

Another idea for future study could be: Do those who mirror aggressive behaviours in their avatar, have aggressive behaviour themselves?

For example, this article expresses that restrictions must me made for those who are mentally unstable.

This article states the media is blamed many times for ludicrous acts such as massacres.

For example, the ‘Rise of the Dark Knight’ film provoked a Jame’s Holmes to commit a mass shooting, because allegedly he was ‘Acting like a character from the movie.

The numbers of those who saw this movie but did not act aggressively, massively outweigh the one who did.This shows there may be an underlining problem within the individual.

The article touches on whether there should be restrictions to those who have underlining mental health issues.

Final future proposal:‘Should those with mental health problems, have restrictions on games and the media?’

This may need to be investigated as the majority of those playing games have positive effects.

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That’s it from me

Presentation By Emma Hepburn

Do Games Bring Out a ‘Worst Side’?

Betts, J. (2012). Don’t Just See the Lion. Be the Lion. [Online] Available at: http://diariesofanexistentialist.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/five-creative-writing-lessons-from-video-games/ (Accessed: 11/05/2013)

Buckingham, D. (2007). Introducing Identity. Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. 1 (23), pp. 2-22.

Chan, J. M. (2007). Identity in a Virtual World. [Online] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/06/07/virtual_identity/. (Accessed: 14/05/2013)

Coleman, A. M. (2006). Dictionary of Psychology. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 363

Ferguson. (2007). The good, the bad and the ugly: A meta-analytic review of positive and negative effects of violent video games. Psychiatric Quarterly. 78 (4), pp. 309-316. PsycARTICLES [Online] Available at: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=16&sid=cbedbebe-913b-4470-9be8-99f1ecc25ee9%40sessionmgr112&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=psyh&AN=2008-02140-009 (Accessed: 14/05/2013)

Jenkins, H. (no date). Game Design as Narrative Architecture. [Online] Available at: http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/games&narrative.html. (Accessed: 13/05/2013)

Lee, K. M., Peng, W. (2006). What do we know about social and psychological effects of computer games? A comprehensive review of the current literature. Playing video games: Motives, responses, and consequences, pp. 327-345. [Online] Available at: https://www.msu.edu/~pengwei/Lee%20Peng.pdf (Accessed: 14/05/2013)

Phoenix, A. (2007) Identities and diversities, in Miell, D., Phoenix, A. and Thomas, K. (eds) DSE212 Mapping Psychology Book 1, The Open University

Polkinghorne, D, E. (1991). Narrative and Self-Concept. Journal of Narrative and Life History. 1 (2-3), pp. 135-153 [Online] Available at: http://www.pasadena.edu/library/reserves/tfkeeler/engl1c/PolkinghorneNarrativeSelfConcept.pdf (Accessed: 11/05/2013)

Tajfel and Turner. (1979). Cited in University of Twente. (2013). Social Identity Theory. [Online] Available at: http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Interpersonal%20Communication%20and%20Relations/Social_Identity_Theory.doc/. (Accessed: 12/05/2013)

Tanvi Kejrival. (2013). Restrictions for the mentally unstable. [Online] Available at: http://sites.davidson.edu/medcomm/?p=1356. (Accessed 15/05/2013)

Wehner, A, K. Gump, A, W. Downey, S. (2011). The effects of Second Life on the motivation of undergraduate students learning a foreign language. . Computer Assisted Language Learning. 24 (3), pp. 277-289 PsycARTICLES [Online] Available at: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=16&sid=7b74c8e1-0940-4ea8-b3f7-6d0df0a87822%40sessionmgr113&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=61274762 (Accessed: 07/05/2013)