A new study shows that issue congruency may be a factor that determines whether players behave consistently or engage in moral licensing and moral cleansing after committing a moral or immoral behavior in a video game. The findings by Yu-Hao Lee, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Media Production, Management, and Technology (MPMT) associate professor and UFCJC Center for Public Interest Communications research director, and doctoral students Mo Chen and Sunny Qing Xu were featured in “Moral Balancing in Video Games: The Moderating Role of Issue Congruency” published in Communication Research on Aug. 29.

The authors examined whether players engage in moral licensing or moral cleansing behaviors within and after video game moral scenarios. They questioned if being moral in a video game makes people more or less moral right after their gameplay. Or can being immoral in a video game make people more moral?

A second study, on virtual influencers, found that the most popular virtual influencers do not seem to leverage their flexible gender identity, but often present themselves according to gender stereotypes and receive corresponding comments based on their gender. The findings by Lee and National Taiwan Normal University Associate Professor Chien Wen (Tina) Yuan, were featured in “I’m Not a Puppet, I’m a Real Boy! Gender Presentations by Virtual Influencers and How They Are Received” published in Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 149, December 2023.

The study examined how virtual social media influencers, which are computer-generated characters, present their gender identity/stereotypes and how their followers respond to them.

According to the authors, “Without biological sex, virtual influencers offer new opportunities to explore more fluid gender identities. The gender-stereotypical performance by the virtual influencers may prompt the followers to employ correspondent gendered responses when interacting with the virtual influencers.”

Posted: September 6, 2023
Category: AI at CJC News, Center for Public Interest Communications, College News, Student News
Tagged as: Gender Identity, Media Production Management and Technology, Mo Chen, Sunny Qing Xu, video games, Virtual Influencers, Yu-Hao Lee