[3.5] The Effects of Roleplay Outside the Game

[balistafreak]

... this is the part where I disappoint you all when I DON'T have an articulate, backed-by-research dissertation. Or whatever it is you call it.

I am, however, attempting to research this topic. We're all aware of the stereotypical "lives-in-his-mother's-basement" roleplayer, who usually goes one of two ways:

1. Is the coolest guy ever at the gaming table, but becomes withdrawn away from it. Sir AwesomeMcCoolName at the table, a classic withdrawn geek away.
2. Is socially-retarded both at and away from the table. The only reason he's tolerated is that he can play the game. Mr. "My Elf Cleric has 18 Charisma".

But I'm looking deeper than that. On a fundamental level, how does roleplay affect the human mind? We have a great deal of evidence about (admittedly successful) actors - they can clearly separate the show and their personal lives. But when you create an idealized avatar of yourself onto a character sheet and live out your fantasies on the gaming table, what does it do for you? Is it mere catharsis? Does it trap you in your own delusions? Is it merely a mental exercise?

This is a topic loaded with questions, and I'm attempting to find formal studies on it - statistics, not anecdotal evidence. Feel free to leave your own commentary and even "derail" with discussions, but I will personally kiss the feet of anyone who can provide me with research papers, books, or even mere articles written on the subject.

On a last note, I am now perusing the Alexandrian for any help with this.

[dsmiles]

But I'm looking deeper than that. On a fundamental level, how does roleplay affect the human mind? We have a great deal of evidence about (admittedly successful) actors - they can clearly separate the show and their personal lives. But when you create an idealized avatar of yourself onto a character sheet and live out your fantasies on the gaming table, what does it do for you? Is it mere catharsis? Does it trap you in your own delusions? Is it merely a mental exercise?

I have no evidence, but IME, roleplaying teaches younger children to 'think outside the box' as opposed to just learning what's in their schoolbooks. They will also have a propensity to think more and question more, to sate their (now super-sized) curiosity. Also, MATHS!

[Knaight]

But when you create an idealized avatar of yourself onto a character sheet and live out your fantasies on the gaming table, what does it do for you?

The core assumption here is incorrect in many cases. If you restrict roleplay to idealized avatar of yourself then you get different results for when including people playing flawed characters distinct from themselves, for which I have numerous anecdotes claiming it is the more common method. That said, I lack hard data as well.

[Callista]

I am autistic. For me, role-playing is a good form of safe social interaction with people who are often just as eccentric as I am; plus, the numbers and detailed stats on everything in the game world really appeal to me.

[AslanCross]

I'm going through my master's degree in education. I've done some research on the subject, though in a different context.

Roleplaying (ie, drama, or acting out--I'm not just referring to games) in general is a very important part of human psychosocial development. That's why it's very rare for a child to NOT play pretend. Many educational theorists have recognized this, which is why some of them have recommended that roleplaying be integrated more into lessons, especially for younger children, but even for teens/adults (foreign language learners, for example).

Roleplaying provides a far richer context for learning than textbook/lecture/test models of education. It develops critical thinking, creative thinking, learning cause-and-effect relationships, and pretty much the entire spectrum of thinking skills.

On the topic of games, though: I agree with the above poster that playing an RPG is not necessarily creating an idealized version of yourself (I've created numerous characters, though not necessarily played all of them; only one of them is a self-insert).

In my experience, (I've mostly been a DM), it has helped me in my people-managing skills (I'm also a teacher, so I guess there's a synergy there), both my planning and improvisational skills, my creativity, and even my mental math (I'm really awful at math).

While I would not like to elaborate on it more due to forum rules, one of my players has actually told me that after her first time playing (she played a cleric), she felt more interested in her RL religion and begin to seek it out more passionately. I guess it gave her a more concrete framework with which to apply her beliefs.

OP: You will have to look for studies on "drama," not on "roleplaying." "Drama" is the general act of acting out; "roleplaying" is only an application thereof. You'll be able to find many of these studies done on younger children.

[Callista]

Yeah, you get past self-inserts after your first couple of characters. It's kind of boring to always play essentially the same character every time. No, scratch that, it's absolutely boring. My characters all have some element of me in them (my current one shares my love of children, for example, and the one before that was just as freaked out by the undead as I am; and I play mostly Good because I don't really enjoy playing selfish characters)... but they're very diverse fictional people. It's almost like I've met them in my imagination, interacted with them, and know them as separate individuals from myself. And running a game... well, when that happens you have to keep a whole world in your head, economics and politics and major powers and all!

Role-playing has an effect not unlike storytelling, acting, or writing fiction. You learn about how people interact, how a fictional world works, how cause-and-effect and problem-solving work. There's also a great deal of logic and math involved, especially in building characters, choosing spells, and using good battle strategy. Not to mention diplomacy, teamwork, and humor... and a tendency to quote Monty Python for no good reason.

[dsmiles]

... and a tendency to quote Monty Python for no good reason.

There's always a good reason to quote Monty Python. There just isn't a quote that fits every single situation. The Tick, on the other hand...

[dgnslyr]

There's always a good reason to quote Monty Python. There just isn't a quote that fits every single situation. The Tick, on the other hand...

The Monty Python Paradox: It is an impossibility to maintain a serious atmosphere with the presence of Monty Python quotes, but it is an equal impossibility for players to refrain from Monty Python quotes.

[arguskos]

The Monty Python Paradox: It is an impossibility to maintain a serious atmosphere with the presence of Monty Python quotes, but it is an equal impossibility for players to refrain from Monty Python quotes keep on topic when someone mentions Monty Python.

Sorry, had to correct you there buddy. Hope ya don't mind.

On the subject at hand, I have no hard evidence nor scientific studies about the topic. However, I can relate that in my time as a psych major, I can recall discussing this topic and it being mentioned that no such studies had been performed to the best of the instructor's knowledge. Now, this was several years ago (about 3 now), so keep that in mind, but I'm unaware of any such studies having been performed.

In my own personal experience, for what little it is worth, I've discovered that through RP I have begun the lengthy but highly rewarding process of really understanding people. See, to understand a character I have to understand them as a person. This means I am more and more looking at the basis of why they are the kind of person that they are, and I can use that ability on people in real life. Roleplaying has increased my ability to empathize, to deal with difficult or angry people, to make friends, to win over people, and to maneuver through the society I inhabit at arm's length. It's a fantastically valuable skill, though I think the bigger part of it is the thinking critically.

[Lyra Reynolds]

In my experience, (I've mostly been a DM), it has helped me in my people-managing skills (I'm also a teacher, so I guess there's a synergy there), both my planning and improvisational skills, my creativity, and even my mental math (I'm really awful at math).

This. DMing made me realise that I'm actually not at all bad at managing a group, and it helped me come out of my shell and speak up. :)

In my own personal experience, for what little it is worth, I've discovered that through RP I have begun the lengthy but highly rewarding process of really understanding people. See, to understand a character I have to understand them as a person. This means I am more and more looking at the basis of why they are the kind of person that they are, and I can use that ability on people in real life. Roleplaying has increased my ability to empathize, to deal with difficult or angry people, to make friends, to win over people, and to maneuver through the society I inhabit at arm's length. It's a fantastically valuable skill, though I think the bigger part of it is the thinking critically.

And this. RPGs are a safe playground to learn social skills, I've found. As long as everybody realises there's a difference between in-game and out-of-game...

[Tyndmyr]

But I'm looking deeper than that. On a fundamental level, how does roleplay affect the human mind? We have a great deal of evidence about (admittedly successful) actors - they can clearly separate the show and their personal lives. But when you create an idealized avatar of yourself onto a character sheet and live out your fantasies on the gaming table, what does it do for you? Is it mere catharsis? Does it trap you in your own delusions? Is it merely a mental exercise?

Psh, idealized avatar. Plenty of people play very different characters. Playing the "character thats essentially me" does happen, but it's hardly what everyone does.

And what Im playing out may not be my fantasies as well. You need to understand the activity before you can ask meaningful questions about it.

That said, people have been acting in roles for thousands of years. I somehow doubt that the act of doing it with pen and paper character sheets makes it dramatically different than any other form of it that's arisen yet.

[2-HeadedGiraffe]

I find it's a wonderful way to socialize, especially with people I might not otherwise have met. The closest I've played to self-insert character was a bard who would frequently speak in rhyming couplets or making puns. Not that I normally speak in rhyme or anything, but he shared my sense of humor and could make a lot of the jokes I normally would in-character.

[Knaight]

Psh, idealized avatar. Plenty of people play very different characters. Playing the "character thats essentially me" does happen, but it's hardly what everyone does.

And what Im playing out may not be my fantasies as well. You need to understand the activity before you can ask meaningful questions about it.

That said, people have been acting in roles for thousands of years. I somehow doubt that the act of doing it with pen and paper character sheets makes it dramatically different than any other form of it that's arisen yet.

Everything stated here is just about accurate, this post should be taken to heart.

[Chambers]

You might want to look into developmental psychology journals, especially articles that talk about pretend play and developing theory of mind in children. Here's a random article google found for me.

The Role of Pretend Play in Children's Cognitive Development.

[balistafreak]

Agreed with all of the above. I suppose I didn't make the question clear enough.

I'm aware that not every character is a self-insert. In fact, most characters aren't. I was asking that when a character is a self-insert, what are the effects?

In a similar vein, are there any published cases of actors getting confused with their own characters?

[Callista]

I did play self-inserts at first, when I was very new. They weren't self-inserts for long, though; it was kind of like they were who I would've been given an alternate history--and some of that was very different from me indeed. I don't live in a world where magical healing can grow back a lost limb or where evil necromancers can march an army of the undead against my hometown. My characters, though, do; and that means that even if they start out similar, they'll end up different.

[Galsiah]

Not a published example, mind you, but there is an episode of the TV series Monk in which an actor who is playing Monk in a movie becomes confused as to who he is. It's a good watch even if it's only marginally related to what you were asking.

[Pollen]

For psychologists and academics, Tabletop RPGs are a subset of play and active learning Roleplaying and active learning have been studied by psychologists for ages, (particularly through modern psychodynamics and social psychology).

As a result, there's a vast amount of relevant literature on the psychological processes involved in TRPGs, but very little of it is specific to TRPGs and even less to TRPGs with a strong focus on tactical combat simulation.

In other words, while there's interest in the spectrum of skills involved in exploring, collaborating, planning, problem/case-based learning, using critical thinking skills, building shared methodological narratives, scaffolding the 'learning' of new players . . . there's not so much academic interest in rule sets that concentrate gameplay around a small subset of all those skills. Particularly when most combat-focused, 800 page+ rule sets are very difficult to evaluate.

What is pretty clear from the available data is that design games, (aka in TRPG terms: player choice, in and out-game co-design, challenge-focused rewards, a single core mechanic, exploration, investigation and . . . is consistent with the delivery of high quality active learning.

Combat-focused rule sets often blend in a lot of these elements alongside the tactics, but this simply makes it harder to collect useful data. Classic Traveller is a good example of an easier system to evaluate, as its modular structure and co-design emphasis lends itself to a match between the rule set and the full spectrum of TRPG skills.

There's a stack of material on this over at Thistle Games' blog, including a page linking to some games research and a quite recent post on design games.

You might also want to check out a modern, experimental design game. Treasure presents as a full but standard fantasy RPG. The underlying structure forms a cognitive modelling system with semantic and visual language systems, modular components, attenuation, emergent properties . . .

We're able to use this approach to rapidly framework dynamic settings and scenarios, which set out to engage/ 'spark' design game activities - and can be measured. Regardless of any system preferences, the game's design is maybe worth 'unpacking' from a 'learning and skills' perspective.

HTH

[Jornophelanthas]

Check out the work of MIT professor Sherry Turkle. I believe she wrote multiple books and articles about roleplaying (mostly online, but also offline). I'm not sure if she uses statistics, though. I've only read an article or two on the subject myself.

An overview of her work can be found here: http://web.mit.edu/sturkle/www/publications.html

[Gabe the Bard]

You should take a look at The Fantasy Role-playing Game by Daniel Mackay. It's an interesting study of the aesthetics of fantasy roleplaying games as a performance art.

[SamsDisciple]

Before I say this I must preface with the fact that this is hearsay but I have heard of actors who play villains that end up emotionally distraught after filming because it is something so far outside of their personality so much so that you have cases like Heath Ledger (may he rest in peace) overdosed trying to sleep without nightmares of the joker. On the other hand when a person plays something good or closer to their personality it gives the person a safe environment to explore what they would like to be and moves them towards self actualization.
Though most people play something very different from themselves they still have something of themselves in each character (ex. I am a 23 yr old white male economics student currently playing a young female asian mindbender who has started a corporation by magically charming her investors and initial employees. Different? Vastly. Similar? Very.)

[Janus]

Before I say this I must preface with the fact that this is hearsay but I have heard of actors who play villains that end up emotionally distraught after filming because it is something so far outside of their personality so much so that you have cases like Heath Ledger (may he rest in peace) overdosed trying to sleep without nightmares of the joker. On the other hand when a person plays something good or closer to their personality it gives the person a safe environment to explore what they would like to be and moves them towards self actualization.

From what I hear, a lot of actors try to really get into the minds of their characters, which can really throw you off when trying to play a nutcase like the Joker.
I think it's part of why Christian Bale flipped out on the set of Terminator: Salvation- he was playing a very heated scene, was emotionally invested in his character, so the smallest things could set him off (still makes for an entertaining story, though).

[dsmiles]

I guess I should play nothing but villains, then.

[bokodasu]

I'm trying to think how you'd develop a meaningful study on this. What would your control be? Do you set up groups playing GURPS, FUDGE, and D&D & see how they differ? What's your control group? Or do you just do surveys and try to see how they differ from the general population, and do a metric asston of work trying to split out the variables that make someone roleplay vs. the results of that roleplaying?

Also, I want to be a subject in this study, especially if it's the kind where you get paid. "Sorry, honey, gotta go be a part of this important research. Not going to gaming night at all, no siree."

Also also, you may want to look at that famous LARP study, the Stanford Prison Experiment.

[Rixx]

I got too into roleplaying once. Started seeing Gorvils all over the place.

[Psyx]

I started gaming at nine, and I'm now thirty*coughsomethingcough*. Now; I was always a very clever child, but RPGs really did help hyper-develop some skills.

To a small degree it's good for the vocabulary. 'Ethereal' is not a word that most young people understand, unless they game. I'm sure many examples will spring to your own mind as well.

It's excellent for mathematical skills and mental arithmetic. I literally don't even have to think in order to do simple maths, because I spent my youth working out to-hit modifiers and adding dice up. On a more complex level it helped me a lot in the field of probabilities and statistics. Slightly tangentially; you get used to looking at tables and pulling out the data that you need.

Most critically it helped my problem solving skills. Because gaming is all about 'what if' situations, you get used to coming up with answers to bizarre problems. The old 'you have a ten foot pole and three bits of rope, cross the pond' style puzzles start to become very easy to experienced gamers. In addition to the lateral thinking involved, you get used to having many pre-formed mental 'tools' at your disposal. Ask a person off the street to find an invisible person in the kitchen and they'll need to think about it. An experienced gamer already knows to reach for the flour. RPGs also provide a 'safe' environment to practice such skills without risk of real failure, which builds confidence in the area.
I can say with certainty that RPGs made me what I am when it comes to this facet. Having scored ridiculously well in many such exercises I've actually been dragged aside and undergone some in-depth profiling. The main difference between me and others - who in some cases were smarter than I - was that I roleplayed and they didn't!

[dsmiles]

I'm trying to think how you'd develop a meaningful study on this. What would your control be? Do you set up groups playing GURPS, FUDGE, and D&D & see how they differ? What's your control group? Or do you just do surveys and try to see how they differ from the general population, and do a metric asston of work trying to split out the variables that make someone roleplay vs. the results of that roleplaying?

Also, I want to be a subject in this study, especially if it's the kind where you get paid. "Sorry, honey, gotta go be a part of this important research. Not going to gaming night at all, no siree."

Also also, you may want to look at that famous LARP study, the Stanford Prison Experiment.

I want in, too.

And for a control group, you could have a bunch of non-gamers sitting around watching football.

[bokodasu]

To a small degree it's good for the vocabulary. 'Ethereal' is not a word that most young people understand, unless they game.

Oh no doubt. My daughter's seven, and we just got their halloween stories - hers ended with a zombie ghost (or ghost zombie, I forget) laughing at a character's attack and saying, "Silly humans, don't you know ghosts are both invisible and incorporeal?"

(She had been playing a half-ghost in a GURPS campaign that fizzled out. TOTALLY WORTH IT for "incorporeal" while other kids are writing "The gost sed boo!")

[Chess435]

I am autistic. For me, role-playing is a good form of safe social interaction with people who are often just as eccentric as I am; plus, the numbers and detailed stats on everything in the game world really appeal to me.

As am I. I'd have to agree with you in everything posted here. It's a great way to keep my mind, which is usually in a constant frenzy, in check and focused, at least a little on something. It's actually kind of a coping mechanism for me.

[Frenchy147]

I actually found a thing that said it actually improves social behaviors and problem solving skill. (I assume that this study assumes you don't play a sociopathic murder.)