Abstract
Due to the concerns over the effects of video game play, this study investigated adolescents’ moral development and their video game play. 166 adolescents aged 11–18 years (M = 13.08, SD = 1.91) attending an English school completed an online survey, which included a measure of moral development and questions regarding video game play. In contrast to previous research, male participants were found to have significantly (p = 0.02) higher moral reasoning scores than females. The results also suggested a transition in moral development, which takes place between the ages of 12–14. The results of moral development and video game played suggested both positive and negative relationships. Regression analysis suggested that there was a significant positive relationship between the more types of game genres played and higher moral scores. Although not significant, the results suggested a trend for the following variables; years playing video games, mature content, engagement, moral narrative, Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and length of time playing video games which all had a negative relationship with moral scores. The implications of these results are discussed with regards to moral education and the variables involved in video game play, including the role of video game content.
Highlights
Playing video games is a popular pastime, with 26% of under 18 year olds playing video games and the video games industry worth a total of $23.5 billion (Entertainment Software Association [ESA], 2016)
The results suggested that only Fairness/Reciprocity, Purity/Sanctity and Harm/Care foundations were correlated with the decisions made in the video games and only care predicted moral decisions
This study aims to examine the relationships between moral development, video game play and moral scores (SRM) (Hodge et al, 2015)
Summary
Playing video games is a popular pastime, with 26% of under 18 year olds playing video games and the video games industry worth a total of $23.5 billion (statistics from the United States) (Entertainment Software Association [ESA], 2016). Research on video games began, in part, due to violent content increasingly being used and the increasing popularity of video games. The media in the 1990s started to portray video games as a threat due to vulnerable children and adolescents having access to and playing early video games (McKernan, 2013). The frequent use of excessive violence in video games has become controversial and as such became the focus of research for the next. Recent research has started to examine the positive potential influences and relationships that video games may have, such as skill acquisition (Boyle et al, 2016)
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