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It's Okay to Shoot a Character: Moral Disengagement in Violent Video Games
Open accessAbstract
What makes virtual violence enjoyable rather than aversive? Two 2×2 experiments tested the assumption that moral disengagement cues provided by a violent video game's narrative and game play lessen users' guilt and negative affect, which would otherwise undermine players' enjoyment of the game. Experiment 1 found that users' familiarity with the violent game reduced guilt and negative affect, and enhanced enjoyment, whereas opponents' nonhuman outer appearance and blameworthiness had no effect. Experiment 2 found that fighting for a just purpose, perceiving less mayhem, and framing the overall situation as “just a game” or “just an experiment” reduced guilt and negative affect, whereas the distorted portrayal of consequences did not. Effects on game enjoyment were mixed and suggest that moral disengagement cues may both foster and diminish game enjoyment.
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“This is evidenced by the research of Heberlein and Adolphs [22], Morrison and Ziemke [34], Yee et al. [48] pointing to the fact that players would perceive game characters not as objects but as social entities with morality.”
From “I Don’t Want To Shoot The Android”: Players Translate Real-Life Moral Intuitions to In-Game Decisions in Detroit: Become Human (2022) · cites this paper as [22]
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“Enjoyment was measured with five items taken from Hartmann and Vorderer (2010).”
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“When virtual violence was framed as morally justified, participants felt less guilt and experienced fewer negative emotions after playing, suggesting that the availability of cues to morally disengage influences individuals’ affective reactions to violent behavior [52].”
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“In-game justification of the digital violence also seems to matter, as participants in the study of Hartmann, Toz, and Brandon (2010) felt guiltier when their violent actions were presented as unjus-tified (see also Hartmann & Vorderer, 2010).”
BackgroundThe Guilty Couch Potato: The Role of Ego Depletion in Reducing Recovery Through Media Use
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“Prior research suggests that feelings of guilt reduce media enjoyment (Hartmann & Vorderer, 2010; Lin, 2011).”
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Hartmann, T., & Vorderer, P.
- Affiliations
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- ORCID
- Hartmann, Tilo
- Venue
- Journal of Communication
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 94-119
- ISSN
- 0021-9916 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2466
- OpenAlex
- W2131583517
- Semantic Scholar
- da821a39ea4bbbb7a2206d8bf3f24f6f49c80b94
- Cited by
- 251
- References
- 96
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 49.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Communication (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- MADOC (University of Mannheim) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Games and Media
- Social Sciences › Communication › Media Influence and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- moral disengagement, violent video games, game enjoyment, guilt, negative affect, game narrative, culpability, perceived consequences
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