Games and morality: how do players relate to the moral content of games?

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Electronic games have become a fundamental part of a society marked by the use of technology and the virtualization of human relationships. Considered as a product of a recent technological consumer culture, games have several contradictory opinions about them, mainly those referring to their moral content and their supposed influences. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to analyze how players relate to the moral content present in electronic games. METHODOLOGY: This is a quantitative and qualitative study involving 30 players. Semi-structured interviews were used with the presentation of virtual dilemmas based on electronic games. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of content analysis and descriptive statistics, and the results were discussed in the light of moral theories. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The results show that the majority of players consider the virtual environment as a space of permissiveness, satisfaction of desires and free from any sanctions, presenting a much larger number of utilitarian responses to video-dilemmas. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that moral action in the virtual environment can be seen as an independent construct for moral judgment.