Why do teammates hurt me? Uncovering affective and cognitive mechanisms of intra-team toxic behavior in multiplayer online battle arena

Toxic behavior is pervasive in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) and poses a threat to building a civil online environment. While considerable scholarly attention has been devoted to understanding the factors that predict toxic behavior, there is a paucity of research that focuses on intra-team toxic behavior and comprehensively examines its psychological occurrence mechanism from affective and cognitive aspects. To address these gaps, the present research investigates the influence of affective empathy, character attachment, and moral disengagement on intra-team toxic behavior. Findings from a survey of 548 Chinese MOBA players indicated that the propensity to hurt teammates can be weakened by affective empathy but exacerbated by character attachment. Moreover, three mechanisms of moral disengagement mediate the relationships between affective empathy, character attachment, and intra-team toxic behavior. The research offered theoretical insights into toxic behavior and gameplay studies, while also suggesting design improvements for MOBA.