The current study explores variance in perceptions of age-appropriateness and overall evaluations of a video game manipulated to contain sexually or violently explicit content as a function of national culture and moral foundations. Purity/Sanctity concerns were the strongest predictor of higher age-appropriateness ratings for sexually explicit (expected) and violent (unexpected) games. US players evaluated the violent game more favorably than Germans. Both evaluated the sexually explicit game similarly, although Germans preferred it to the violent game; US audiences preferred the violent game.

1. Interaction Lab
#ixlab
Whatever it is,
it’s too dirty for the kids
A cross-comparison of German and US
gamers’ differential reactions to an
explicitly sexual or violent video game
Bowman (USA)
Kowert (USA)
Breuer (DE)
Elson (DE)
Kieslich (DE)
Kneer (NL)
Quandt (DE)
Lange, A. (USA)
Lange, R. (USA)

2. ANTISOCIAL GAMING
“Thus, rather than simply
consuming the media,
individuals must dynamically
negotiate within it to remain
entertained and progress
through the game. It is this key
difference that is believed to
magnify the impact of the
content portrayed in video
games and potentially influence
the user in negative ways.”

3. ANTISOCIAL GAMING
“Concerns are legitimated in that
even if the influence of media
content on audiences might be a
comparatively small effect, these
small effects can be easily
reduced by at least assigning
age-appropriateness ratings and
labels on or at most legally
restricting access to content.”

4. ANTISOCIAL GAMING
Violence in Video Games
• 68 to 80% of games
• Varying definitions
• Effects vary by age and
experience with games
• Subjective > Objective
Sex in Video Games
• 12% of M/AO games
• Hyper-sexualized female
characters
• Misogynistic/sexual
language in chats
• Objectification effects
• Findings similar to that of
other media

5. GAME RATINGS
ESRB (US)
• Violent games can be
found at lower rating
categories
• Sexual content will bump
a game rating (“Sims); no
common ground
PEGI (DE)
• Violence is a core
consideration
• War games nearly always
classify as 18+
• Kissing and partial nudity
found at lower ratings

6. CULTURE AND CONTENT
German
• Place more weight on
considerations of
Harm/Care
• Represented in:
– Media content lower in
violence
– Preference for news and
documentary film
US
• Place more weight on
considerations of
Purity/Sanctity
• Represented in:
– Media content lower in
sexuality
– Preference for action and
sports content
Studies based
on MIME

7. HYPOTHESES/RESEARCH ?S
Cultural Differences:
H1: German > US, age ratings of violent game
H2: US > German, age ratings of sexual game
RQ1: Will US v. German impact post-play evaluation?
Moral Foundations:
H3: + “Care/Harm”  + Age Rating (violent game)
H4: +“Purity/Sanctity”  + Age Ratings (sexual game)
RQ2: Will “Care/Harm” or “Purity/Sanctity” impact their
post-play evaluation?

8. METHOD
• N = 267
– 140 from US
– ~150 males
– Germans (M = 23.6) older than US (M = 20.3)
– Germans (M = 1.36 hrs/day) played more
video games than US (M = .581)
Focal measures included:
• Age-appropriateness (M = 16.42, SD = 1.75)
• Evaluations of game (M = 5.85, SD = 2.01)
• Moral foundations (MFQ)
• Care/Harm (M = 3.49, SD = .67)
• Purity/Sanctity (M = 2.00, SD = .97)*
*Lower for Germans than for US

9. METHOD
Manipulation check showed:
• Violent game as more violent (M = 4.92,
SD = 1.45 v. M = 2.47, SD = 1.57; d = 1.64)
• Sexual game as more sexual (M = 5.94,
SD = 1.14 v M = 1.38, SD = .915, d = 4.39)

10. RESULTS (H1,H2, RQ1)
F(1,250) = 11.66, p < .001,
eta-squared = .045
F(1,250) = 13.72, p < .001,
eta-squared = .052

11. RESULTS (H3,H4, RQ2)
Violent GameSexual Game
No impact of MFT on
evaluations of game quality!

12. DISCUSSION
“Purity/Sanctity concerns seem to be
the strongest predictor of the
assignment of higher age ratings,
regardless of either the participant’s
nationality (and other demographic
variables) or the violent or sexual
nature of the video game mission.”
One alternative explanation? “Senseless violent acts and killing” (DE)
and “graphic word choice” (US) might have represented purity
expectancy violations.

13. IMPLICATIONS+FUTURE WORK
• Sexual game was far more sexual than the
violent game as violent (“control”?)
• Violence is more than graphicness
• Impact of player performance not considered
• Expansion to other cultures in progress

14. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Nick Bowman, Ph.D. [CV]
Twitter (@bowmanspartan)
Skype (nicholasdbowman)
nicholas.bowman@mail.wvu.edu
http://comm.wvu.edu
/fs/research/lab
Interaction Lab
(#ixlab)