The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming

Cale J. Passmore; Max V. Birk; Regan L. Mandryk

doi:10.1145/3173574.3173957

The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming

Cale J. Passmore
, Max V. Birk
, Regan L. Mandryk

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

People of color comprise a large proportion of the US player base, yet are systematically and grossly underrepresented in digital games. We constructed a survey to assess if players perceive this underrepresentation, how they experience these representations, and sample their beliefs about diversity and gaming. Mixed-methods analyses show significant differences between players of color and White players on perception of racial norms in gaming, effects on behavior, emotions, player satisfaction, engagement, and beliefs stemming from a lack of diversity. Players from all races-ethnicities overwhelmingly expressed a desire for greater diversity. We discuss reasons why our methodology shows higher dissatisfaction than previous research and discuss our findings in the context of industry's challenge to meet audience demands for greater racial diversity in games.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI '18 : Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Number of pages	19
ISBN (Print)	978-1-4503-5620-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173957
Publication status	Published - 2018
Externally published	Yes
Event	2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018 - Montreal, Canada, Montreal, Canada Duration: 21 Apr 2018 → 26 Apr 2018 Conference number: 36 http://chi2018.acm.org

Conference

Conference	2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018
Abbreviated title	CHI 2018
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Montreal
Period	21/04/18 → 26/04/18
Internet address	http://chi2018.acm.org

Keywords

Digital games
Diversity
Ethnicity
Identification
Immersion
Norms
Race
Racialized experiences
Representation

Access to Document

10.1145/3173574.3173957

Cite this

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title = "The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming",

abstract = "People of color comprise a large proportion of the US player base, yet are systematically and grossly underrepresented in digital games. We constructed a survey to assess if players perceive this underrepresentation, how they experience these representations, and sample their beliefs about diversity and gaming. Mixed-methods analyses show significant differences between players of color and White players on perception of racial norms in gaming, effects on behavior, emotions, player satisfaction, engagement, and beliefs stemming from a lack of diversity. Players from all races-ethnicities overwhelmingly expressed a desire for greater diversity. We discuss reasons why our methodology shows higher dissatisfaction than previous research and discuss our findings in the context of industry's challenge to meet audience demands for greater racial diversity in games.",

keywords = "Digital games, Diversity, Ethnicity, Identification, Immersion, Norms, Race, Racialized experiences, Representation",

author = "Passmore, \{Cale J.\} and Birk, \{Max V.\} and Mandryk, \{Regan L.\}",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.1145/3173574.3173957",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-1-4503-5620-6",

booktitle = "CHI '18 : Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.",

address = "United States",

note = "2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018, CHI 2018 ; Conference date: 21-04-2018 Through 26-04-2018",

url = "http://chi2018.acm.org",

}

Passmore, CJ, Birk, MV & Mandryk, RL 2018, The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming. in CHI '18 : Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 383, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., New York, 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018, Montreal, Canada, 21/04/18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173957

The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming. / Passmore, Cale J.; Birk, Max V.; Mandryk, Regan L.
CHI '18 : Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., 2018. 383.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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T1 - The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming

AU - Passmore, Cale J.

AU - Birk, Max V.

AU - Mandryk, Regan L.

N1 - Conference code: 36

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - People of color comprise a large proportion of the US player base, yet are systematically and grossly underrepresented in digital games. We constructed a survey to assess if players perceive this underrepresentation, how they experience these representations, and sample their beliefs about diversity and gaming. Mixed-methods analyses show significant differences between players of color and White players on perception of racial norms in gaming, effects on behavior, emotions, player satisfaction, engagement, and beliefs stemming from a lack of diversity. Players from all races-ethnicities overwhelmingly expressed a desire for greater diversity. We discuss reasons why our methodology shows higher dissatisfaction than previous research and discuss our findings in the context of industry's challenge to meet audience demands for greater racial diversity in games.

AB - People of color comprise a large proportion of the US player base, yet are systematically and grossly underrepresented in digital games. We constructed a survey to assess if players perceive this underrepresentation, how they experience these representations, and sample their beliefs about diversity and gaming. Mixed-methods analyses show significant differences between players of color and White players on perception of racial norms in gaming, effects on behavior, emotions, player satisfaction, engagement, and beliefs stemming from a lack of diversity. Players from all races-ethnicities overwhelmingly expressed a desire for greater diversity. We discuss reasons why our methodology shows higher dissatisfaction than previous research and discuss our findings in the context of industry's challenge to meet audience demands for greater racial diversity in games.

KW - Digital games

KW - Diversity

KW - Ethnicity

KW - Identification

KW - Immersion

KW - Norms

KW - Race

KW - Racialized experiences

KW - Representation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85046966830

U2 - 10.1145/3173574.3173957

DO - 10.1145/3173574.3173957

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-1-4503-5620-6

BT - CHI '18 : Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

CY - New York

T2 - 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018

Y2 - 21 April 2018 through 26 April 2018

ER -

The privilege of immersion: racial and ethnic experiences, perceptions, and beliefs in digital gaming

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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Cite this