Toxicity in Online Games: The Prevalence and Efficacy of Coping Strategies

Title of the Paper

Toxicity in Online Games: The Prevalence and Efficacy of Coping Strategies

Paper Information

• Research Domain: Toxic behaviors and coping strategies in online multiplayer games
• Keywords: Online games, toxic behaviors, coping strategies, esports, social computing

Research Background and Issues

• Issues or Challenges Identified by the Authors:

  • Toxic behaviors in online multiplayer games are widespread, including harassment, verbal abuse, flaming, intentional disruption, and more, posing significant threats to players' gaming experiences and mental health.
  • Although game developers and researchers have attempted to mitigate toxic behaviors through detection, blocking, and filtering methods, these issues persist.
  • Existing solutions primarily focus on preventing the spread of toxic behaviors but lack sufficient support for players to effectively cope after being exposed to such behaviors.

• Importance of the Research:

  • 83% of adult players have experienced harassment in online multiplayer games, indicating that toxic behaviors have become a pervasive phenomenon.
  • Toxic behaviors lead to psychological stress, emotional imbalance, and lowered self-esteem, negatively impacting gaming communities, individual players, and game developers.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • While some tools (e.g., reporting, blocking, and filtering) exist, it remains unclear which in-game coping strategies are most effective and how to design tools that support these strategies.
  • This study aims to provide guidance for designing integrated in-game tools to help players cope with toxic behaviors.

Solution

• Methods or Solutions:

  • The authors conducted a literature review to compile 20 methods players use to cope with toxic behaviors in games.
  • Using affinity mapping, they proposed five high-level coping strategy frameworks: blocking the source, accepting the issue, confronting the perpetrator, switching environments, and seeking support.
  • A survey study was conducted to analyze the usage and efficacy of these strategies among players and to explore the relationship between players' coping styles and strategies.

• Innovations:

  • Introduced a novel framework for coping with toxic behaviors in games and revealed the frequency and effectiveness of different strategies.
  • Investigated the relationship between the frequency of using in-game tools and their effectiveness, emphasizing the importance of tool availability.
  • Explored the association between individual coping styles (e.g., emotional, problem-focused, and avoidant) and specific strategies used in games.

• Implementation Steps and Techniques:

  • Literature review and coding: Extracted and organized coping methods from existing literature.
  • Survey study: Designed questionnaires to evaluate players' exposure to toxic behaviors, usage of coping strategies, and personal coping styles.
  • Data analysis: Conducted exploratory factor analysis to identify high-level strategy frameworks, along with regression and mediation analyses to study their effectiveness.

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:

  • Players employed a wide range of coping methods, with blocking the source being the most commonly used strategy, while seeking support was the least utilized.
  • Significant associations were found between different coping strategies and players' general coping styles, e.g., avoidant styles were more inclined to use switching environments, while emotional styles favored seeking support.
  • The availability of in-game tools significantly increased the frequency and effectiveness of coping strategies, with this relationship partially mediated by usage frequency.

• Advantages:

  • Provides a clear framework to assist game developers in designing tools to address toxic behaviors.
  • Highlights the need to tailor coping methods to individual player characteristics for more personalized support.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • The effectiveness of players' coping strategies against toxic behaviors was significantly related to their frequency of being targeted and the level of tool support.
  • Mediation analysis showed that tool availability not only enhanced effectiveness through increased usage frequency but also had a direct impact.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Limitations: The study sample included only players familiar with toxic behaviors, excluding those encountering such behaviors for the first time; relied on self-reported data; adjustments and validation of some strategies require further research.
  • Future Directions:
    1. Develop open-source tools to address toxic behaviors and support game developers.
    2. Conduct a systematic literature review to cover a broader range of coping mechanisms.
    3. Validate the scalability of the coping framework and design behavioral measurement methods.