Is video games' effect on attitudes universal? Results from an empirical study comparing video games' impact on the attitude change of players with different backgrounds

Abstract

Existing studies confirm that some video games can change players' attitudes. However, since we do not know the specific elements responsible for attitude change, the potential of video games to achieve desired educational or behavioural outcomes often remains unfulfilled. To fill the research gap, our study examined whether the perspective-taking game mechanic in the serious game Czechoslovakia 38-89: Borderlands, which had previously been shown to affect attitudes, would have the same effect on another sample of players with different characteristics.We have assessed the effect of a historical video game using a perspective-taking mechanic on players' explicit and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitude changes were measured at a general level, meaning a broad evaluation of a depicted historical event, and at a specific level, meaning a more detailed evaluation of specific aspects of the event. Simultaneously, we measured the effect of players' perceived attitude importance on attitude change. The study used a sample of 137 young adults. This study's results indicate a significant pretest-posttest explicit attitude change on the general level and on a specific level in comparison to the control group. Perspective-taking game mechanics is particularly important for explicit attitude change. No change was found in implicit attitudes. The effect of the perceived attitude importance on attitude change was not confirmed. As one of the first to focus on the effects of specific game mechanics on attitudes, this study confirmed that perspective-taking has stable, short-term effects on attitude change even across different research samples.