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How do we make the virtual world a better place? Social discrimination in online gaming, sense of community, and well-being

2021; Elsevier BV; Volume: 66; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.tele.2021.101747

1879-324X

Sarah Hoan Nguyen, Qiusi Sun, Dmitri Williams,

Media Influence and Health

This study investigates the experience of social discrimination and its potential influences on users’ psychological well-being and sense of community in the context of online gaming. A survey of 890 players of World of Tanks, a team-based massively multiplayer online vehicle combat game, found evidence of social discrimination experienced by gamers. Specifically, the players were treated differently based on their group membership whereby low-ranked and young people were likely to be discriminated against in game. Additionally, personal traits such as neuroticism and low agreeableness were significantly positively associated with experienced discrimination, suggesting the role of individual differences in predicting the likelihood of one experiencing discrimination. Encountering online discrimination was further associated with gamers’ lowered feelings of belonging to the online community, however no significant effect of discrimination on sociopsychological well-being was found. The theoretical and empirical contributions of the study are discussed, including possible antecedents and consequences of online discrimination in gaming and beyond.