That's not my fault: Excuses given by players exhibiting in-game intra-team aggressive behavior in online games

Abstract

Social interaction acts as a key motivation for playing online games; however, some players engage in in-game intra-group aggressive behavior, such as swearing, ignoring, and sabotaging their teammates. This study uses the motivation theory and techniques of the neutralization theory to understand this phenomenon in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. A partial least squares analysis conducted on the data collected from 221 League of Legends players revealed three types of aggressive acts: psychological, passive, and active. Psychological acts have the least negative impact on victory, while passive and active acts have the greatest negative impact. Players’ achievement, immersion, and social motivations have limited contribution to aggressive acts. Those engaging in psychological acts deploy many neutralization techniques to justify their actions, while players who only engage in active acts employ a very limited set of neutralization techniques. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of the phenomenon that deviates from the MOBA norm of intra-team co-operation and cohesion through the techniques of the neutralization theory.