Exploring the Variables of Empathy in Gamers: A Comprehensive Survey

The aim of this paper is to present the design, validation, and dissemination strategy of an inductively structured survey aimed at comprehending the factors influencing the development of empathetic relationships between gamers and playable characters in digital games. The survey encompasses six distinct sections, including gamers’ personal characterization, socio-economic reality, digital playing habits, preferred gaming activities, empathy assessment utilizing the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and personality assessment through the Big Five Inventory (BFI-2-S). Additionally, it evaluates empathy in specific digital games for identifiable playable characters, adapting the IRI structure for the digital gaming context. Twenty participants were involved in the survey’s structure validation, selected through convenience sampling, in three focus group sessions, namely, two with field experts in Human-Computer Interaction and one with gamers. The number of sessions was determined inductively, addressing identified complexities until a comprehensive resolution was achieved. The iterative sessions dynamically approached relevant issues, with a focus on Gender and Religious Beliefs being the most discussed topics. As a result, three questions in the final survey were reformulated to address Gender Identity, Ethnic Groups, and the preferred gaming platform. Following validation, the survey was disseminated within private gamer online Discord, Reddit, and Facebook communities. These social platforms were chosen to capture the diverse gamer population comprehensively. The dissemination aimed to gather insights from a broad spectrum of gamers and identify the key elements to understanding empathy in digital games.