UM  > Faculty of Social Sciences
Residential Collegefalse
Status即將出版Forthcoming
Sympathy for the Devil: Serial Mediation Models for Toxicity, Community, and Retention
Liu, Mingxuan1; Tang, Jack Lipei2; Williams, Dmitri3
2025-01-06
Source PublicationMedia and Communication
ISSN2183-2439
Volume13
Abstract

Disruptive behaviors in online gaming communities are a growing concern, affecting player experience, retention, and well‐being. While previous research has primarily focused on the victims’ experiences, this study examines the psychological mechanisms underlying the attitudinal and behavioral responses to both encountering disruptive behaviors and being flagged for such behaviors, as well as the effects on retention. The study retrieved longitudinal telemetry records of player reporting and gameplay data from the North American server of a popular competitive player vs. player multiplayer online game, coupled with a psychometric survey of a randomly selected sample of 1,217 players. Based on the rejection‐disidentification model, this research identifies a shared pathway for both reporting and being reported for disruptive behavior. Our findings support a serial mediation model where both experiences are linked to decreased player engagement. This reduced engagement, reflected in diminished participation in game battles over time, is mediated by perceived discrimination and a reduced sense of community. Moreover, drawing on the concept of procedural justice from the group engagement model, the study delineates unique pathways for the disengagement process for reporters and those reported. Being flagged for disruptive behavior leads to a significant drop in sustained engagement through a decreased sense of community, which is not the case for reporting disruptive behavior. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

KeywordDisruptive Gaming Behavior Gaming Toxicity Online Gaming Community Online Video Games Player Engagement Procedural Justice Sense Of Community
DOI10.17645/mac.8676
URLView the original
Language英語English
Scopus ID2-s2.0-85208488966
Fulltext Access
Citation statistics
Document TypeJournal article
CollectionFaculty of Social Sciences
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION
Corresponding AuthorLiu, Mingxuan
Affiliation1.Department of Communication, University of Macau, China
2.Department of Advertising and Public Relations, The University of Alabama, United States
3.Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, United States
First Author AffilicationUniversity of Macau
Corresponding Author AffilicationUniversity of Macau
Recommended Citation
GB/T 7714
Liu, Mingxuan,Tang, Jack Lipei,Williams, Dmitri. Sympathy for the Devil: Serial Mediation Models for Toxicity, Community, and Retention[J]. Media and Communication, 2025, 13.
APA Liu, Mingxuan., Tang, Jack Lipei., & Williams, Dmitri (2025). Sympathy for the Devil: Serial Mediation Models for Toxicity, Community, and Retention. Media and Communication, 13.
MLA Liu, Mingxuan,et al."Sympathy for the Devil: Serial Mediation Models for Toxicity, Community, and Retention".Media and Communication 13(2025).
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Related Services
Recommend this item
Bookmark
Usage statistics
Export to Endnote
Google Scholar
Similar articles in Google Scholar
[Liu, Mingxuan]'s Articles
[Tang, Jack Lipei]'s Articles
[Williams, Dmitri]'s Articles
Baidu academic
Similar articles in Baidu academic
[Liu, Mingxuan]'s Articles
[Tang, Jack Lipei]'s Articles
[Williams, Dmitri]'s Articles
Bing Scholar
Similar articles in Bing Scholar
[Liu, Mingxuan]'s Articles
[Tang, Jack Lipei]'s Articles
[Williams, Dmitri]'s Articles
Terms of Use
No data!
Social Bookmark/Share
All comments (0)
No comment.
 

Items in the repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.