The No-Effect of Player Role in Digital Games on Prosocial Behavior

• Main Authors: Mauricio Miranda Sarmet, Ronaldo Pilati
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia
• Series: Trends in Psychology
• Subjects: Comportamiento prosocial; videojuegos; Modelo General de Aprendizaje
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2358-18832017000401837&lng=en&tlng=en

Abstract In the past few years, several studies addressed the relation between game content and prosocial behavior. Although several evidences were found, the relation between those variables is not fully understood. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different roles played on prosocial behavior. In experiment 1, participants played either a violent or a prosocial role on the same game, and helping behavior and intention were measured. Results did not show the expected relation based on the evidence of the literature. In order to further investigate the evidence found, a second experiment was designed to test the effect of role played on both prosocial behavior and accessibility to prosocial thoughts. Again, results were not consistent with previous studies. Both experiments suggest the consideration of alternative interpretations, and raise questions about the relevance of the role played, game content and moderation variables on the explanation of this effect.