Abstract

Video games are a uniquely social form of media since their inception, original arcade games might have two or more players compete or cooperate on the same screen, a practice which was maintained across the move to home consoles and computers, and with the addition of internet connectivity, remote play has become the standard mode of multiplayer interaction. The role of genre, Competitiveness at an individual and community level, experiences of anti-social behavior (commonly referred to as toxicity), and reciprocation of cyberbullying behaviors were measured to assess multiple aspects of the social interactions which occur in team-based multiplayer Esports games. A factor analysis was conducted, and genre-based variables correlated with differing negative constructs. Findings showed links between all hypothesized constructs, save for the reciprocation of cyberbullying behavior, suggesting that that which players say and do to each other is of equal importance to the influences of games on players.

Advisor

Wilhelms, Evan

Department

Psychology

Disciplines

Social Psychology

Keywords

team-based multiplayer online games, Esports, First-Person Shooter, toxicity, Sociability in Multiplayer Online Games scale (SMOG), competitiveness, cyberbullying, aggression

Publication Date

2022

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2022 Ethan Brunetti Sayer