
A Conceptual Critique of the Use of Moral Disengagement Theory in Research on Violent Video Games
Author(s) -
Jens KjeldgaardChristiansen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
eludamos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1866-6124
DOI - 10.7557/23.6180
Subject(s) - moral disengagement , psychology , video game , social psychology , misrepresentation , disengagement theory , sociology , computer science , law , multimedia , political science , gerontology , medicine
Moral disengagement refers to cognitive processes of misrepresenting immoral acts in order to justify them. Research on moral disengagement factors in violent video games assumes that the digital representation of violence in video games is meaningfully similar to the cognitive misrepresentation of immoral acts that defines moral disengagement. Thus, the story worlds of violent video games are thought to misrepresent violence as being justified in order that players may morally disengage from their violent actions. This article challenges the moral disengagement perspective on violent video games by demonstrating its empirical reliance on a conceptual misunderstanding: The story worlds of most video games are not representational; they do not deviously misrepresent an underlying reality against which players ought rightfully to judge their own in-game conduct. Rather, video games simply present a story world that is as real or unreal as the violence that occurs within it. Therefore, moral disengagement theory is not readily applicable to the story worlds of video games. The article proceeds to show how this misconception leads researchers to draw empirically false and topically fraught conclusions about how players perceive and respond to violence in video games. Thus, the article challenges the moral disengagement literature’s claim to meaningfully inform the pervasive debates surrounding violent video games.