Roleplaying Games influence on the Bleed Effect

Dissertation submitted as a requirement for the degree of BSc (Hons)

Psychology Applied to Information Technology, Dun Laoghaire Institute
of Art, Design & Technology, 2018.

Student: Liam Devereux (N00131996)

Supervisor: Eily Coghlan

Declaration
I declare that this submission is my own work. Where I have read,
consulted, and used the
work of others I have acknowledged this in the text.
Signed: __________________________
Liam Devereux
Date: 18th March, 2018
Word Count: 4,982
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Acknowledgements

The list of those who deserve thanks for their contributions to my thesis is extensive below is my meagre attempt at
giving those amazing individuals who supported me proper credit.

First I wish to thank my supervisors DR. Grainne Kirwan for her help with the literature review and designing the
study and Eily Coghlan for helping me to conduct and write up the study.

I also wish to thank DR. Christine Horn and Josh Moran for their assistance with the statistical analysis for my thesis.

To all my lecturers over the years thank you for teaching me the skills required to complete a thesis.

I wish to thank Rob MCgloughlin for his assistance in deciphering how to score the moral competence test.

To my classmates I would not have made it through the four years without their help and support. Thank you for
making the past four years enjoyable as well as educational.

To my family who take part in the pilot study and who’s support enabled me to go to college for four years thank
you.

Finally, to my participants who gave up their precious time to help me with my study, thank you without you, it
would not have been possible.

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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1Role Playing Games and the Bleed Effect ..................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 The Proteus Effect ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Moral Competence ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Heroes Verses Villains ................................................................................................................................................ 5
1.5 Research Questions .................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.Method ........................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Design .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Participants .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
2.3 Materials ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.4 Moral Competence Test ............................................................................................................................................. 7

2.5 Fable the Lost Chapters .............................................................................................................................................. 7
2.6 Tetris ............................................................................................................................................................................ 7
2.7 Documents ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

2.8 Procedure .................................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.9 Tetris ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8
3.Results ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9
3.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................................................................... 9

3.3 Inferential Statistics .................................................................................................................................................. 10
4.Discussion ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
4.1 Overview of Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 11

4.2 Strengths ................................................................................................................................................................... 11

4.3Limitations .................................................................................................................................................................. 12
4.4 Suggestions for Future Research ............................................................................................................................... 12
4.5 Implications of Findings ........................................................................................................................................... 13

4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 13

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5.Refrences ...................................................................................................................................................................... 14
6.Appendicies ................................................................................................................................................................. 16
6.1 Appendix A: Ethical Approval Form .......................................................................................................................... 16

6.2 Appendix B: Moral Competence Test ........................................................................................................................ 23

6.3 Appendix C : Moral Competence Test Scoring Sheet .............................................................................................. 25

6.4 Appendix D:Quetionairre ......................................................................................................................................... 26

6.5Appendix E : Information Sheet ................................................................................................................................. 27

6.6 Appendix F : Consent Form........................................................................................................................................ 29

6.7Appendix G : Debrief .................................................................................................................................................. 30

6.8 Appendix H: Evidence of Dissemination ................................................................................................................... 30

6.9 Appendix I: SPSS Output ........................................................................................................................................... 31

Abstract

While video games have been studied extensively, a large amount of this research has focused on the
negative influence of video games, for example, violence and its link to aggression, which has led to a gap in
the literature in relation to the benefits of video game play (Adachi & Willoughby, 2017). Part of the
potential benefits lie in learned behaviour that is transferred from within game to real life. Yee and Benison
(2007) described this effect in relation to online avatars as the Proteus effect, a similar concept exists in
relation to video games. Patterson (2015) refers to this as the ‘Bleed’ effect which according to Patterson
occurs when the personalities encouraged in character begin to influence the player’s decisions in real life
and vice versa. The current study examined whether the ‘Bleed’ effect and the amount of moral decisions
encountered within Roleplaying influence the moral competence scores (MCS) of participants. The study
also examines whether there is a difference for participants based on playing as a hero or as a villain. No
significant results were observed, the implications for these findings to the theory and its real world
application are discussed.

1.Introduction

The growing popularity of video games (VG) has led to an ever-increasing body of research aiming to
address questions relating to their impact upon society. As Boyle, Connolly and Hainey (2011) state,
psychologists are uniquely suited to provide the multidisciplinary approach required to properly address this

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question owing to their “extensive knowledge base about attitudes, behaviours, cognitions and emotions as
well as expertise in a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies”(p. 69). While VG have been
studied extensively, much of this research has focused on the negative influence of VG, i.e., violence and its
link to aggression, which has led to a gap in the literature in relation to the benefits of VG play (Adachi &
Willoughby, 2017). The current study shall investigate these aspects in relation to their influence on moral
competence(MC).As Muñoz and El –Hani (2012) describe VG as an important method of disseminating
information relevant to moral decision making (MDM) available in modern times (p,912) and cannot
therefore be seen as mere entertainment. MC refers to the ability to resolve conflicts with the use of rational
discussion rather than over powering the opposition (Lind,2015,P4). What makes Role Playing
Games(RPG’s) ideally suited to examine MC is that often the players character is more powerful than those
they interact with so the use of power is the fastest means to achieve their goals. This however is often not
their only option, the manner in which these choices affect the MC of participants is examined within the
current study.

1.1Role Playing Games and the Bleed Effect.

RPGs are defined by Cornillie, Clarebout and Desmet (2012, P49) as “digital games that strongly emphasize
narrative, alternating action with episodes of exploration and dialogue, and with intricate reward
mechanisms. ”

Interactions differ depending on the player’s decisions, heavily influencing the plot and that player’s odds of
in-game success by allocating increased in-game resources in the form of experience points or more
powerful items. Both experience point awarding and item granting reward systems are described by Wang
and Sun (2011) as the most common reward systems in RPGs , these systems increase the players odds of
in-game success and therefore make the actions that lead to their attainment be viewed as the correct choice.
This system lends itself to the development of what Bandura (1999) describes under his social cognitive
theory as ‘knowledge’ which he defines as representing the “models, rules and strategies of effective action
which serve as cognitive guides for the construction of complex patterns of behaviour” (p24).

If players acquire the knowledge that in-game, certain moral decisions may have better outcomes than
others, might making decisions using the style of an in-game character yield similar results in the real world?
Patterson (2015) refers to this phenomenon as the ‘Bleed effect’(BE) which according to Patterson occurs
when the personalities encouraged in character begin to influence the players decisions in real life and vice
versa. Waern (2011) expands upon the BE stating that it is used to both establish and weaken the divide
between player and character in order to cause the player to better share the emotional experience of their
character. This can be seen in the work of Weaver and Lewis (2012) whose results showed 68 percent of
players felt that their decisions in the game Fallout Three reflected those they would have made in real life.
The question then becomes whether the decisions players made were moral or immoral, 61.3 percent of
participants did not make a single immoral decision.
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The next factor to be considered is what influences the likelihood of the BE occurring. The impact virtual
worlds have on our real life behavioural changes has been shown by Mcleod, Liu and Axline (2014), in an
investigation of Second Life, to be greatly mediated by the player’s emotional engagement, absorption, and
resemblance to the avatar.

The strong emphasis on narrative and rewards described by Cornille, Clarbout and Desmot above is
inherently built into RPGs combined with the customisable appearance of player’s characters within RPGs
like Mass Effect which allows players to customise a player’s gender and physical appearance make them
ideal platforms for testing the BE.

Schrier (2017), using Fable 3, discusses four principles which should be empirically studied in regards to
designing games for ethical thinking. Firstly, enable the cultivation of relationships: Shrier points to the
increased difficulty of choosing between sacrificing a character one has spent ten in-game hours with for the
good of many as opposed to a character one is told to have had a pre-existing romantic relationship at the
start of the game but has spent little actual game time with. Secondly, enable the exchange of ideas and
perspectives: Schrier states that by having characters in-game argue different points of view players are
forced to more thoroughly examine the potential costs, benefits, and consequences of their actions which
was observed to lead to some participants seeking ethical advice. Thirdly, provide appropriate meaningful
feedback; 35% of participants indicated that they considered factors not present in the game when making
decisions in-game, 25% of participants commented that the limited reactions of the game meant ethical
decisions became too ’black and white’ and therefore unrealistic . Finally, enable iteration: Shrier’s final
principle is that players should be able to explore multiple perspectives by enabling players to reattempt the
game as the opposite moral play style to their previous iteration, experiencing the consequences of both
decisions in a manner that is not afford by real life. Shrier’s study shall be used to explain the choice and
relevance of the game chosen for the present study in the method section. A limitation of this study is that
its sample size was relatively small N =20 potentially impacting the likelihood of a second study replicating
the results, further study of Shrier’s four principles is required to determine if they are reliable across
multiple studies or if they are cultural or gender specific as Shrier only tested males from New York City.

1.2The Proteus effect

The Proteus effect (PE) described by Yee and Balienson (2007) occurs when individuals are de-
individualised by the online environment and begin to adopt behaviours relevant to the expectations of the
traits associated with their online avatars. Building on the work of Yee and Balienson(2007), Messinger,
Ge,Stroulia, Lyons, Smirnov and Bone (2008) examined the PE with avatars participants had made
themselves for, the online game second life. Their findings indicated that the majority of participants kept
their avatars similar to themselves but with slight physical enhancements. It is possible that these
enhancements, coupled with the anonymity offered by online play enabled players to perform more outgoing
behaviours then they would permit themselves offline.
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Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development which shall be viewed as Wass and Golding
(2014,P672) proposed; ‘with the assistance of a more experienced teacher students are able to perform to a
more advanced degree than they could by themselves’ should also be considered in regards to the PE. If the
online (more experienced avatar) who performs the more socially desirable behaviour teaches this to the
offline (less experienced self) then the potential for adaptive applications of the PE described by Yee and
Balienson (2007) and Yee and Ducheneaut (2009) can be seen as a product of this tutelage. With the PE
occurring for avatars both personalised and assigned, might a similar effect occur for the BE result from
continued exposure to particular VG characters, if true the same therapeutic benefits may apply. However, it
is also important to consider that negative effects of the PE have also been observed (Fox, Ballienson and
Tricase 2012) observed that female participants who had sexualised avatars self-objectified more than
participants with none sexualized avatars as well as increased rape myth acceptance. Both the PE and BE
may have positive or negative effects on players.

It is important therefore to examine the factors which may influence whether these effects occur before
determining if we should be attempting to promote or reduce the likelihood of their occurrence.

1.3Moral Competence

It is important in society that certain positions i.e. Doctors, be filled by individuals who act in a moral
manner.. In order to place trust in the judgement of such individuals in regards to decision making they must
be viewed as exhibiting moral expertise: defined by Driver (2013) as a person who can make more correct
moral judgements than others. Nay and Zagal (2017) state that players should face smaller seemingly less
consequential choices than the choices which will convey obvious in-game advantages in order to promote
players to perform more thorough cost benefit analysis before making decisions. This ambiguity in regards
to the ‘correct’ choice of this kind of choice may help to develop players’ moral judgement. In order to
determine the quality of an individual’s thought process in regards to morality there must be a suitable
measure, the measure the present study shall use is MC.

MC is defined by Lind (2015) as the “ability to solve dilemmas and conflicts on the basis of universal moral
ideals through thinking and discussion rather than through violence, deceit and power” (P4). VG and in
particular RPG’s incorporate a mixture of features associated with negative traits (such as violence) and
those associated with positive prosocial traits (such as helping those in need), both of these may contribute to
an individual’s MC as Muñoz and El –Hani (2012) write VG, regardless of their potential issues and
shortcomings, are capable of providing powerful environments for the players to engage in experiences in
which they test their moral values.

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However, the influence of these factors may not be equal. Greitemeyer and Mügge (2014) reviewed data
from 98 independent studies with a combined total of 36965 participants and found that prosocial effects
(decreased aggression and increased helping behaviour) are more pronounced than the negative (links to
increased aggressive behaviour) effects. The study only looks at research conducted over a five year period
as they wished to keep the focus within the same ‘gaming generation’ and on studies published in either
German or English which excludes research conducted on many gaming markets, furthermore an
unaddressed weakness of the meta-analysis is that the studies included within the meta-analysis were not
required to investigate comparison of prosocial and negative effects of VG but merely to have examined one
of these areas this impacts the validity of the study’s findings.

1.4Heroes versus Villains

In the game ‘Fable the Lost Chapters’( FTLC) there is potential for the player to become a hero or villain
and still be considered successful in terms of the game. Players are often encouraged to pursue an extremist
stance on morality in-game as this lends itself to more powerful in-game items or better dialogue options
(Heron and Belford ,2014). The importance of the roles we choose to play can be seen in the work of Yoon
and Vargas (2014) who state that playing as a hero or villain causes people to perform the corresponding
behaviours. Happ, Melzer and Seteffgen (2013) who found that players who played as Superman rather than
the Joker showed increased helping behaviour.

If an evil role is selected however it may still lead to increased MC as research conducted by Golwitzer and
Melzer (2012) found that participants who engaged in gaming behaviour that was morally distressing (i.e.
Participants assigned to the villain condition) were more likely to select a hygienic reward then compared to
a control group who played a non-distressing game. They referred to the desire to physically clean one’s self
in order to remove the stain of one’s immoral deeds as the Macbeth effect. This aversion to playing against
ones moral code can be seen in the research of Lange (2014) whose survey of gaming attitudes revealed that
>10% of gamers choose to play as “evil“ for the first play through. Lange also reports when players
complete a game twice, evil is chosen as a secondary option motivated by curiosity after the first “correct“
good play through is completed. A possible cause for players’ view of the heroic path as the “correct” path
is that in-game non-player characters (NPCs) will begin to react differently to the player based on their
previous choices, positive responses from NPCs may be viewed as affirmation that one’s choices are in fact
the correct ones and serve to reinforce this belief. Barnett and Sharp (2015) refer to this in relation to
Infamous 2 where a rebel faction’s morality is questionable but as the police in-game will attack the player if
they side against the rebels, the game world is informing you that the rebels are the “correct” choice.

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1.5 Research Questions

Research centring around the PE has primarily focused on the effect of avatar manipulation particularly in
RPG based games on participant’s identity, while this information is highly desirable to research it fails to
address the question of where other areas of behavioural transference may occur between the online and
offline worlds (Sherrieck ,Hoewe and Waddell,2014). There is a gap in the current literature in regards to the
BE affect on MC this study aims to address this gap.

Khoo (2012) discusses the potential for VG to serve as moral educators and highlights the long term
benefits of extended VG over a child’s development, highlighting in particular the positive social traits
gained such as improved empathy. The current study contributes to the literature by addressing a gap that
Khoo (2012) raises in regards to how VG benefit society. The current study does so by addressing the
following research questions, does playing `a heroic or villainous role affect MCS and does the amount of
moral dilemmas encountered (MDE) while playing a RPG affect MCS?

The researchers assume that the increased amount of MDE will result in a greater change in MC. This
assumption was based on the work of Driver (2013) who suggest that practicing MDM leads to improved
MDM and Shrier’s (2017) four principles which indicate that increased playtime of FTLC should also
impact participants. Therefore the primary hypothesis states there shall be a difference for the participants in
their moral competence scores based on the number of moral dilemma’s encountered.

There will be a difference for the participants in their moral competence score based on which role they
were assigned (hero or villain). A direction was not chosen for this hypothesis as while Yoon and Vargas’s
(2014) and Happ, Melzer and Seteffgen’s (2013) studies both support behavioural changes to conform to
the assigned roles, Golwitzer and Melzer (2012) suggests the desire to atone for villainous actions may cause
improvement in MC.

There will be an interaction effect for the participants in their moral competence score based on the number
of moral dilemma’s encountered and the role played. The interaction effect is predicted based on the
assumption that the above hypotheses are correct.

2 Method

2.1Design

The study featured a 2x3 quasi experimental design. There were 2 independent variables; Iv N1 Number of
MDE during RPG play, ordinal, 3 levels, Medium 3 MD, Low 1 MD and control participants who
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encountered no MD and played Tetris. IV N2 Playing as a hero or villain nominal, 2 levels: Hero and villain.
Participants were grouped based on dice rolls this was changed to assignment in sequential order to ensure
even participant allocation across all conditions. There was a single dependent variable; DV N1 change in
MC score. An exclusion criteria was applied for participants who had played FTLC previously.

2.2Participants

N 65 Irish third level students were recruited. Participants were volunteers, recruited from an Irish third
level institution. 5 Participants data was spoiled, 2 were unable to participate as they met exclusion criteria.
The majority of participants were aged between 18-30, and comprised of a mixed gender 30 female and 30
males. All participants were treated in accordance with the ethical standards of the Psychological Society of
Ireland. The study was submitted for and received approval from the Department of Technology and
Psychology Ethics Committee (Appendix A). Participants were briefed on the project and asked to sign a
consent form.

2.3Materials

2.4Moral Competence Test

The measure used for this study was the Moral Competence Test English (MCT) (stylistic revision of 2013)
(Appendix B). The MCT was developed by Lind (2014) based on his previous test the Moral Judgement
Test, the MCT as developed in Germany and translated into English by Lind. The test presents two separate
MD and asks participants to score a Likert scale response from -4 strongly disagree to 4 strongly agree on
the 28 questions that comprise the MCT. Scoring was conducted based on the sheet provided by Lind
(Appendix C).

2.5Fable the Lost Chapters

FTLC: Was published in 2004 by Lion Head Studios and was purchased and run on the gaming platform
Steam. This game was selected partially due to (Schrier 2014) who comments on the games suitability for
studying VG influence on ethical thinking., FTLC had a fixed pattern of responses depending on player
decisions which helped to ensure consistency in participant experience. FTLC also reacts to the player’s
choices in the form of verbal feedback from none player characters.

2.6Tetris

A free online version of Tetris was administered to participants as part of the study.

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2.7Documents

A questionnaire was designed to gather demographic information on participants as well as determining their
eligibility for the study (Appendix D).

An information sheet(Appendix E) and consent form (Appendix F) were designed based on Keele
Universities template. .A debrief sheet was also written and given to participant upon completion of the
study (Appendix G).

2.8Procedure

Participants were asked to complete a brief questionnaire determining their suitability for the study.

Participants were briefed on the study and asked to sign a consent form. The exclusion criteria were applied
for participants who felt unable to answer questions on Sensitive topics of Cancer and Euthanasia and for
participants who had played FTLC previously. Participants who were excluded from the study were thanked
for their interest and time and informed of why they were unsuitable for the study. If suitable all participants
completed the MCT as a pre-test. All participants were assigned to 1 of 3 dilemma groupings: medium, low
and control initial by dice roll, this was later changed to sequential order to ensure even group allocation.
Participants assigned to the medium and low conditions were sub-divided into the hero and villain conditions
initially by dice role (1-3 hero and 4-6 villain) this was also changed to sequential order. Participants
assigned to the control group played Tetris for 15 minutes. Participants not in the control condition played
FTLC until they had encountered and resolved the assigned amount of moral dilemmas(MD) (1 MD short
condition and 3 MD for the long condition). A script was developed during the pilot study which was used
to keep responses homogeneous to participants questions during testing. All participants completed the MCT
as post-test. Participants assigned to the villain condition were given the option to play as a hero after
completing the MCT post-test in order to “prevent potential priming towards villainous actions as a result of
the study. Prior to debriefing all participants were given the opportunity to play Tetris regardless of
grouping in order to prevent potential harm from the sensitive nature of the MCT. After playing Tetris or
declining participants were thanked for their time and given the debrief sheet.

2.9Tetris

The participants assigned to the control group played a free online version of Tetris for 15 minutes, after
the post-test , participants who were assigned to the villain conditions also played Tetris in order to
counteract possible priming effects.

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 3. Results

3.1Overview

Two Anova’s,3x2 between within Anovas and one 3x3 Between Anova were conducted using IBM SPSS
24 (IBM,2016). The alpha value for all analysis conducted was .05. The independent variables were:

Iv1: The amount of MDE (K=3): control (0), small (1), large (3).

Iv2: The role played (K=3) control, villain and hero. (right it out as full analysis of variance)

The dependent variable was the participant’s MCS.

3.2Descriptive statistics

Initial analysis of the dependent MC for the control group, in relation to the independent variable, amount of
MDE shows similar mean scores pre and post-test. This may be seen below in Table 1. Further analysis was
conducted to ensure that, there was no significant difference between the testing occasions.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for control group’s pre and post-test MCS.

Moral competence Control N Mean SD

Pre-test 11 18.39 10.03

Post-test 11 15.10 8.19

Initial analysis of the dependent MC for the 1 dilemma group, in relation to the independent variable,
amount of MDE shows similar mean scores pre and post-test. This may be seen below in Table 2. Further
analysis was conducted to ensure that there was no significant difference between the testing occasions.

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for 1 dilemma group’s pre and post-test MCS.

Moral competence 1 dilemma N Mean SD

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 Pre-test 25 16.56 9.34

Post-test 25 14.08 10.01

Initial analysis of the dependent MC for the 3 dilemma group, in relation to the independent variable,
amount of MDE shows similar mean scores pre and post-test. This may be seen below in Table 3. Further
analysis was conducted to ensure that there was no significant difference between the testing occasions.

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics for 3 dilemma’s pre and post-test MCS.

Moral competence 3 dilemma’s N Mean SD

Pre-test 23 16.02 8.67

Post-test 23 18.25 12.31

3.3Inferential Statistics

The data was normally distributed, as assessed by Shapiro-Wilk's test of normality (p > .05). There was
homogeneity of variances (p > .05) and covariance (p > .05), as assessed by Levene's test of homogeneity of
variances. Mauchly's test of Sphericity indicated that the assumption of Sphericity was met for the two-way
interaction, χ2(2) = .000, p = .005. The first Analysis conducted was a 3x 2 between within Anova
examining the effect the amount of moral decisions encountered impacts MCS.

Hypothesis 1 which stated that there would be a difference for the participants in their MCS based on the
number of MDE, was not supported. F(1,58)=1.813,P=.>.005(Partial Eta Squared = 0.11).

Hypothesis 2 which stated that there would be a difference for the participants in their MCS based on which
role they were assigned (hero or villain) was not supported F(1,58) =.582,P>.005 (Partial Eta Squared =
0.11).

Hypothesis 3 stated that there would be an interaction effect for the participants in their MCS based on the
number of MDE and the role played, was not supported F (1,59)=.118,P=>.005(Partial Eta Squared = .002).

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 4.Discussion

4.1Overview of Findings

The primary research question for this study was whether RPG’s affected the MC of college students in
order to add to the body of knowledge in an under researched area. The study also wished to determine
whether the amount of MDE during RPG play or the manner in which they were resolved impacted MCS.

Hypothesis one stated that there will be a difference for the participants in their MCS based on the number of
MDE. This was not supported by the study. It is possible that the difference in MDE between the three
conditions was too slight to impact the participant’s MC. Alternatively, it is possible that the ‘black and
white nature’ of the dilemmas participants encountered like those described in Shriers (2017) article made
the task too simplistic and denied participants the opportunity to practice their MC skills when compared
with the more ambiguous ethical dilemmas posed by the MCT (Lind ,2014).

Hypothesis two stated there would be a difference for the participants in their MCS based on which role they
were assigned (hero or villain). This was not supported by the study. This contradicts the findings of Yoon
and Vargas (2014) who state that players take on similar traits to the role they play. Yoon and Vargas
however had players allocate a certain amount of chilli sauce to another participant and used this for the
bases of their claims. The difference in findings between the two study’s, may show that while a short term
change in morality is achieved immediately after playing as a hero or villain, the overall MC remains
unaffected.

Hypothesis three stated that there would be an interaction effect for the participants in their MCS based on
the number of MDE and the role played. This was not supported. Given the lack of significance for the
previous two hypotheses it is unsurprising that there was no interaction effect between the variables.

4.2Strengths

The current study addressed a gap in the literature in regards to VG influence on MC, which influences a
broad range of decision making. Participants were all adults, a gap present in the literature due to many
studies focusing exclusively on adolescents. The study had an evenly distributed mixed gender allocation of
participants across all conditions.

The quasi experimental design of this study allowed for direct manipulation of the independent variables. By
ensuring participants performed the correct actions for their group and the required number of actions
researchers were able to remove participants who failed to make the choices associated with their condition.

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FTLC enabled a standardised condition to be maintained across all participants as well as providing instant
feedback based on the choices participants made, helped to reinforce the roles the participants were playing.
A script was utilised to keep responses to participant’s questions about how they should behave while
playing FTLC as homogeneous as possible.

There is no way to fail the tutorial of FTLC which the participants played this eliminated player skill from
impacting on decision making. Unlike in other study’s such as Yoon and Vargas (2014) participants were
tested on a valid psychometric test to determine if the intervention had an effect on MC.

4.3Limitations

The difference in the amount of MDE between groups was small, the difference between the high group and
the control only being 3. This may have been too small to lead to a significant impact on over all MCS.

Participants were told which role to play in order to ensure equal grouping, this may have affected the
likelihood of the BE occurring. Previous studies such as Schrier (2017) examined the effect of games as
moral educators across the course of the game the current study was unable to do this due to lacking both the
time (study had to be conducted over a one-month period) and funding required to issue each participant a
copy of the game. Certain participants struggled to perform immoral actions required in order to meet the
criteria of their grouping variable.

Practice effects were a covariate and may have impacted the results of the study as the test was constant for
the pre and post-test. In order to ensure participants were playing according to their role a researcher was
required to watch the screen while playing, this may have led to a diffusion of responsibility for their actions
which may have impacted on their MCS.

The choices offered in the early stage of the game are relatively minor when compared to the MD offered
by the MCT this may have desensitised participants to the choices reducing their impact.

Conformity may have impacted on the villain condition as some participants commented upon completing
the study that they didn’t feel bad about performing the villainous tasks as they were only doing ‘as
instructed’ by the researcher.

4.4Suggestions for Future Research

Future research may benefit from allowing participants to play the chosen game for longer (ideally to
completion), this will increase the likelihood participants encounter the consequences of their actions. The
current study was entirely comprised of adult college students, it may be worth examining whether
participants age affects RPG’s influence on MC, adults, children and adolescents, would serve as suitable
12
initial age groupings. Care should be taken when selecting the game to ensure that it is age appropriate for
the youngest grouping. A second valid measure of the MCT would greatly help to reduce possible practice
effects in using the measure for pre and post testing.

Finally, future research should compare a game with more difficult MD to one that offers a simple method
of distinguishing the good and bad moral decisions. In order to determine if the difficulty of the choice
affects MC.

4.5Implications of Finding’s

The current study found there was no difference for the participants based upon the number of MDE, the
implication of these findings is that when designing a VG as a tool for developing MC, the amount of MDE
may not be as important as the dilemma itself. The study’s findings on the role they played, indicate that
even through performing villainous actions, a participant’s MC remains unchanged. This indicates that
studies such as Delisi, Vaughn, Gentile, Anderson and Shook (2012) who suggest VG play leads to violence
may be missing a key factor, such as MC , the means of solving problems without resorting to power and
violence remains unaffected by VG play.

4.6Conclusion

This study was the first to examine RPG’s impact upon MC. The current study found no significant
difference for the participants in their MCS based on either the role played or the amount of MDE , Schrier’s
(2017) four principles of ethical game design should be considered when reflecting upon these findings. The
first principle stresses the importance of time with characters involved in MD’s, participants spent very brief
periods of time with characters in FTLC before making their decision. Schriers second principle that
perspectives and ideas are exchanged was provided with every MD being described before a participant
could make a choice. The third principle provision of feedback was met in changes in game dialogue, the
fourth principle highlights the importance of replaying the game to see the impact of multiple choices this
was not possible in the current study due to the time constraints. Therefore, it is important to highlight that
participants only experienced the prologue of FTLC and which may have influenced the outcome of the
study as in order to fully examine the impact of an RPG the game must be played to completion.

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 5. References

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Barnett, M., & Sharp, C. (2015). The moral choice of inFAMOUS: law and

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Boyle, E., Connolly, T. M., & Hainey, T. (2011). The role of psychology in understanding the impact of computer

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6.Appendices

6.1 Appendix A : Ethical Approval Form

DEPARTMENT OF TECHNOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY

ETHICAL APPROVAL FORM B*

Three printed copies of this form should be submitted to the chair of the ethics committee

Title of project: Morality Transference in RPG players and the affect of playing as a hero or a villain.

Name of researcher Liam Devereux

Email contact [email protected]

Name of supervisor Grainne Kirwan

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 Yes No N/A

1 Will you describe the main research procedures to participants in

advance, so that they are informed about what to expect?
x
2 Will you tell participants that their participation is voluntary?
x
3 Will you obtain written consent for participation (through a signed or x
‘ticked’ consent form)?

4 If the research is observational, will you ask participants for their consent
to being observed?
x
5 Will you tell participants that they may withdraw from the research at
any time and for any reason?
x
6 With questionnaires, will you give participants the option of omitting
questions they do not want to answer?
x
7 Will you tell participants that their data will be treated with full confidentiality
and that, if published, it will not be identifiable as theirs?
x
8 Will you debrief participants at the end of their participation (i.e., give x
them a brief explanation of the study)?

9 If your study involves people between 16 and 18 years, will you ensure x
that passive consent is obtained from parents/guardians, with active
consent obtained from both the child and their school/organization?

10 If your study involves people under 16 years, will you ensure that active x
consent is obtained from parents/guardians and that a parent/guardian
or their nominee (such as a teacher) will be present throughout the data
collection period?

11 Will your project involve deliberately misleading participants in any way? x

12 Is there any realistic risk of any participants experiencing either physical x

or psychological distress or discomfort?

13 Does your project involve work with animals? x

14 Do you plan to give individual feedback to participants regarding their x

scores on any task or scale?

15 Does your study examine any sensitive topics (such as, but not limited to, x
religion, sexuality, alcohol, crime, drugs, mental health, physical health)

16 Is your study designed to change the mental state of participants in any x

negative way (such as inducing aggression, frustration, etc.?)

17 Does your study involve an external agency (e.g. for recruitment)? x

18 Do participants fall into any of the People with learning or x

following special groups? communication difficulties

Patients (either inpatient or x

outpatient)

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 People in custody x

If you have ticked No to any of questions 1 to 10, or Yes to any of questions 11 to 18 you should refer to the PSI Code
of Professional Ethics and BPS Guidelines. There is an obligation on the lead researcher to bring to the attention of the
Department of Technology and Psychology Ethics Committee (DTPEC) any issues with ethical implications not clearly
covered by the above checklist.

* This Ethics B form should be completed by researchers whose studies involve any ethically questionable practices.

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I consider that this project may have ethical implications that should be brought before the x
DTPEC.

Please provide all the further information listed below, adhering closely to the
suggested word counts.

1. Purpose of project with very clear and specific justification for the study [its potential
benefits], given the acknowledged sensitivity of the topic of study or the methods
used (approximately 100 words)
The purpose of this project is to examine whether the duration of RPG play and taking on the
role of either hero or villain affects an individual’s moral competency scores. As Cragoe 2015
states RPG’s play a similar role to myths in that through engaging narrative they morally
instruct this makes them ideal for developing moral competence which as Lind 2015 states
will help solve conflict through discussion rather than violence. The current study shall help to
address this issue. The study of RPG’s impact of in real life moral competence is greatly under
developed at present this makes steps towards rectifying the situation.

2. Proposed methodology (approximately 300 words). This must include:

a. Participants: recruitment methods, number, age, gender, exclusion/inclusion
criteria.
b. Brief description of methods and measurements.
A. Participants: Participants shall be volunteers recruited from the IADT campus in
January 2018.
Number and age.

The number of participants required for the present study is 60. All participants must
be over the age of 18 to partake in the study.

Gender

The study shall be heterogeneous in regards to gender.

Exclusion Criteria

An exclusion criteria shall be applied in regards to participants who have played

fable the lost chapters before and those participants who are distressed by the topic
of euthanasia shall also be excluded. Excluded participants shall be thanked for their
interest in the study and informed that they cannot participate.

B. Method
The proposed study shall feature an experimental design. Participants shall be asked to
complete a brief questionnaire (attached) determining their suitability for the study. If
suitable all participants who do not fit exclusion criteria shall be assigned to one of 3 dilemma
groupings: medium, low and control by dice role (1-2 medium, 3-4 short, and 5-6 control).
Participants assigned to the medium and low conditions shall be sub divided into the hero and
villain conditions again by dice role (1-3 hero, 4-6 villain). Participants assigned to the villain
condition shall after post testing shall play as hero. The control group shall play Tetris
between tests. All participants shall complete the moral competence test pre and post
intervention (attached). After completing the MCT participants shall be offered the chance to

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play Tetris. Participants shall be thanked for their time and debriefed. Data shall be scored
and analysed using 2x3 between-subjects ANCOVA.

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 3. A clear but concise statement of the ethical considerations raised by the project and
how you intend to deal with them (approximately 100 words).

The topic is related to moral competence

Some participants may be asked to play against their moral character which could cause some distress.
These participants shall be given the opportunity to play as a hero (in keeping with their morality)

A situation they will be examined on in the MCT deals with euthanasia.

Information shall be provided for a number of services which participants may contact if they need to
discuss the issues raised in this study.

Participants shall be informed before taking part in the study that one question deals with the topic of
euthanasia and exclusion criteria is applied for those too distressed by the idea and all participants shall
be offered the chance to play Tetris to recover from the euthanasia questions.

Participants shall be informed they may with draw at any time without explanation prior to the 12th of
February.

Participants shall be offered the chance to play Tetris as a task to recover from the sensitive
topics discussed.

4. Copies of all materials to be used in your study should be attached to this form. This
must include consent and participant information arrangements and debrief forms. It
should also include copies of all standardized and/or non-standardized questionnaires
and instruments, as well as any interventions and/or audio-visual materials which will
be used. Please note that these materials will not be returned to you, so you should
ensure that you retain a copy for your own records. All loose materials (such as DVDs,
handouts etc.) should be clearly labeled with your name. There is no word count limit
on appendices, but no appendices should be included that will not be used as
materials in your study.

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 Three copies of this form, along with all materials to be used in your study, should be
submitted to the DTPEC for consideration.

If any of the above information is missing, your application will not be considered at the
DTPEC meeting, and your research may be significantly delayed.

I am familiar with the PSI Code of Professional Ethics and BPS Guidelines (and have discussed them with the other
researchers involved in the project). I have read and understood the specific guidelines for completion of Ethics
Application Forms.

Signed Print Name Liam Devereux Date

Applicant

Signed Print Name Graine Kirwan Date

Supervisor

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6.2 Appendix B : Moral Competence Test

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6.3 Appendix C: Moral Competence Scoring Sheet

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6.4 Appendix D: Questionnaire

Questionnaire
1. What is your age?

2. Have you ever played Fable the lost chapters before? YES or NO.

3. Estimate how many hours a week you play Role playing video games.

4. Have you ever taken the moral competence test before? YES or NO

5. Are you comfortable answering questions related to the topics of Euthanasia and Cancer? (Indicate with a
tick if yes or x if no )

6. What is your gender?

Please create a 6 digit participant code with the first 2 letters of your favourite colour, the last 2 letters of your
middle name and the last 2 digits of your phone number.

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6.5 Appendix E : Information Sheet

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6.6 Appendix F : Consent Form

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6.7 Appendix G : Debrief

6.8Appendix H : Evidence of dissemination

This project shall be disseminated at the PSI Student Conference

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6.9 Appendix I: SPSS Output

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