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BackgroundThis longitudinal mixed methods experimental study aimed to better understand the interplay between digital technology exposure over time, self-efficacy, and prosocial behavior in everyday contexts.Methods66 psychology students tracked their daily prosocial behavior over three weeks. Additionally, half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive access to an online platform, which made personalized suggestions for prosocial actions to complete. Qualitative post-study interviews complemented quantitative measures.ResultsPlatform exposure had no measurable impact beyond that of tracking over time on either prosocial behavior or self-efficacy. Tracking increased self-efficacy to perform everyday prosocial actions, but did not affect self-efficacy to impact change. Prosocial behavior was predicted by self-efficacy to impact change. Enjoyment of the platform predicted completing higher numbers of suggested prosocial actions and was related to a higher likelihood to continue using the platform in the future. Avenues for increasing platform effectiveness include context-specific action personalization, an effective reminder system, and better support for the development of self-efficacy to impact change through meaningful actions.ConclusionTechnology for prosocial behavior should be enjoyable, capable of being seamlessly integrated into everyday life, and ensure that suggested actions are perceived as meaningful in order to support the sustainable development of self-efficacy and prosocial behavior over time.

Abstract. Interactive narratives offer interesting opportunities for the study of the impact of media on behavior. A growing amount of research on games advocating social change, including those focusing on interactive narratives, has highlighted their potential for attitudinal and behavioral impact. In this study, we examine the relationship between interactivity and prosocial behavior, as well as potential underlying processes. A yoked study design with 634 participants compared an interactive with a noninteractive narrative. Structural equation modeling revealed no significant differences in prosocial behavior between the interactive and noninteractive condition. However, support for the importance of appreciation for and engagement with a narrative on subsequent prosocial behavior was observed. In summary, while results shed light on processes underlying the relationship between both noninteractive and interactive narratives and prosocial behavior, they also highlight interactivity as a multifaceted concept worth examining in further detail.

The potential of narrative-rich games to impact emotions, attitudes, and behavior brings with it exciting opportunities and implications within both entertainment and serious game contexts. However, effects are not always consistent, potentially due to game choices not always being perceived as meaningful by the players. To examine these perceptual variations, we used a mixed-method approach. A qualitative study first investigated meaningful game choices from the players' perspectives. Building on the themes developed in this first study, a quantitative study experimentally examined the effect of meaningful game choices on player experiences of appreciation, enjoyment, and narrative engagement. Results highlight the importance of moral, social, and consequential characteristics in creating meaningful game choices, which positively affected appreciation. Meaningfulness of game choices may therefore be crucial for narrative-rich games and interactive narratives to impact players.

The purpose of this work's larger project is to investigate if users' basic psychological needs within Self-Determination Theory are satisfied through game design elements over time and if this influences user retention. It is also to be investigated if there is a specific order of satisfaction of these needs. As a preliminary work, 47 participants filled out a survey on their use of gamified fitness- and tracking apps. They were asked about their enjoyment of use, duration and satisfaction of their basic needs. Results showed that users' need for competence seemed to be satisfied in the starting phase, which was also what kept them using it. However, they would eventually quit for reasons unrelated to the apps. Directions for the upcoming diary study are outlined.

Playing digital games can confront the player with choices that are emotional, morally ambivalent and highly personally meaningful. Past research suggests that meaningful choices have the potential to positively affect prosocial behavior. Up to now however, it is unclear what specific characteristics make in-game choices meaningful. The goal of this work-in-progress was therefore to shed light on this topic. Coding qualitative answers to a preliminary online survey found that meaningful choices were often characterized by a combination of different options from which the player had to choose one: moral, strategic or emotional. Being able to choose between these types of options and knowing that these choices would have consequences lead to choices that were experienced as meaningful. Crucially, almost all choices reported also contained a social component. Steps for future research based on these findings are discussed.

People play games for the experience, and one of the aims of player experience research is to understand what constitutes and contributes to positive gaming experiences. Emotionally challenging and uncomfortable game play experiences have been largely neglected, as they are seemingly at odds with the field's focus on fun and positive affect. We argue that the positively-biased perspective on desirable emotions in games misses out on opportunities that the interplay between positive and negative emotions offers. A previous workshop at CHI PLAY 2015 covered this missed opportunity by focusing on the false dichotomy between positive and negative affect, and identified a number of factors, both personal and contextual, which determine when players will value emotional game experiences that go beyond the purely positive. The present workshop is a continuation of this effort, putting the spotlight on the complexity of emotional experience and how it evolves throughout game play. Crucially, a central aspect of this workshop is to get participants thinking more about the design and evaluation of these types of experiences, by allowing hands-on game design exercise for the examined emotional experiences.

To date the impact of game outcome on prosocial behavior and attitude change has went unexamined. Especially in the context of games trying to increase prosocial behavior and attitude change, understanding this connection may hold great potential. Therefore, the goal of this work-in-progress is to lay out the theoretical background to understanding this question, as well as presenting preliminary results from a pilot study, describing their implications, and outlining further research to come.

Games for change have attracted the interest of humanitarian aid organizations and researchers alike. However, their effectiveness to promote behavior such as donating remains unclear. Furthermore, little is known about how key game properties interactivity and presentation mode impact the effectiveness of these games, or how player attitudes and experiences relate to the interplay between game properties and donating behavior. In this study, experimental conditions were systematically varied in their interactivity and presentation mode. Thereby, 234 participants played, watched, or read through one of six variations of the narrative of the game Darfur is Dying. Following this, they were asked to choose the percentage of an unexpected bonus to donate to a charity. While interactivity increased donating by an average of 12%, presentation mode had no significant impact on the percentage donated. Thus, between presentation mode and interactivity, interactivity was found to be the more impactful game property. Moreover, appreciation fully mediated the relationship between interactivity and donating, hinting at its relevance for the evaluation of the effectiveness of games for change.