The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games

Gianluca Guglielmo; Michał Klincewicz

doi:10.1145/3472538.3472582

The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games

Gianluca Guglielmo, Michał Klincewicz

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper, we report on an experiment with The Walking Dead
(TWD), which is a narrative-driven adventure game with morally
charged decisions set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. This study aimed to identify physiological markers of moral
decisions and non-moral decisions using infrared thermal imaging
(ITI). ITI is a non-invasive tool used to capture thermal variations
due to blood flow in specific body regions that might be caused
by sympathetic activity. Results show that moral decisions seem
to elicit a significant decrease in temperature in the chin region
20 seconds after participants are presented with a moral decision.
However, given the small sample involved, and the lack of significance in other regions, future studies might be needed to confirm
the results obtained in this work.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021
Editors	Allan Fowler, Johanna Pirker, Alesandro Alessandro Canossa, Ali Ali Arya, Casper Harteveld
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Pages	1-4
Number of pages	4
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450384223
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3472538.3472582
Publication status	Published - 4 Aug 2021
Event	Foundation of Digital Games 2021 - Online, Montreal, Canada Duration: 2 Aug 2021 → 6 Aug 2021 http://fdg2021.org/

Publication series

Name	ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference	Foundation of Digital Games 2021
Abbreviated title	FDG
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Montreal
Period	2/08/21 → 6/08/21
Internet address	http://fdg2021.org/

Keywords

Decision-Making
Moral Decision-Making
Infrared Thermal Imaging
Video Games
Moral Psychology
physiological markers

Access to Document

10.1145/3472538.3472582

Cite this

Guglielmo, G., & Klincewicz, M. (2021). The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games. In A. Fowler, J. Pirker, A. A. Canossa, A. A. Arya, & C. Harteveld (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021 (pp. 1-4). Article 3472582 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3472538.3472582

Guglielmo, Gianluca ; Klincewicz, Michał. / The Temperature of Morality : A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021. editor / Allan Fowler ; Johanna Pirker ; Alesandro Alessandro Canossa ; Ali Ali Arya ; Casper Harteveld. Association for Computing Machinery, 2021. pp. 1-4 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

@inproceedings{3c83c27a4db442f2add0e51c50f052f6,

title = "The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games",

abstract = "In this paper, we report on an experiment with The Walking Dead(TWD), which is a narrative-driven adventure game with morallycharged decisions set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. This study aimed to identify physiological markers of moraldecisions and non-moral decisions using infrared thermal imaging(ITI). ITI is a non-invasive tool used to capture thermal variationsdue to blood flow in specific body regions that might be causedby sympathetic activity. Results show that moral decisions seemto elicit a significant decrease in temperature in the chin region20 seconds after participants are presented with a moral decision.However, given the small sample involved, and the lack of significance in other regions, future studies might be needed to confirmthe results obtained in this work.",

keywords = "Decision-Making, Moral Decision-Making, Infrared Thermal Imaging, Video Games, Moral Psychology, physiological markers",

author = "Gianluca Guglielmo and Micha{\l} Klincewicz",

note = "Funding Information: The research reported in this study is funded by the MasterMinds project, part of the RegionDeal Mid-and West-Brabant, and is co-funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Region Hart van Brabant, REWIN, Region West-Brabant, Midpoint Brabant, Municipality of Breda and Municipality of Tilburg. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Owner/Author.; Foundation of Digital Games 2021, FDG ; Conference date: 02-08-2021 Through 06-08-2021",

year = "2021",

month = aug,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1145/3472538.3472582",

language = "English",

series = "ACM International Conference Proceeding Series",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

pages = "1--4",

editor = "Allan Fowler and Johanna Pirker and Canossa, {Alesandro Alessandro} and Arya, {Ali Ali} and Casper Harteveld",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021",

address = "United States",

url = "http://fdg2021.org/",

}

Guglielmo, G & Klincewicz, M 2021, The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games. in A Fowler, J Pirker, AA Canossa, AA Arya & C Harteveld (eds), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021., 3472582, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 1-4, Foundation of Digital Games 2021, Montreal, Canada, 2/08/21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3472538.3472582

The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games. / Guglielmo, Gianluca ; Klincewicz, Michał.
Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021. ed. / Allan Fowler; Johanna Pirker; Alesandro Alessandro Canossa; Ali Ali Arya; Casper Harteveld. Association for Computing Machinery, 2021. p. 1-4 3472582 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - The Temperature of Morality

T2 - Foundation of Digital Games 2021

AU - Guglielmo, Gianluca

AU - Klincewicz, Michał

N1 - Funding Information: The research reported in this study is funded by the MasterMinds project, part of the RegionDeal Mid-and West-Brabant, and is co-funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Region Hart van Brabant, REWIN, Region West-Brabant, Midpoint Brabant, Municipality of Breda and Municipality of Tilburg. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Owner/Author.

PY - 2021/8/4

Y1 - 2021/8/4

N2 - In this paper, we report on an experiment with The Walking Dead(TWD), which is a narrative-driven adventure game with morallycharged decisions set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. This study aimed to identify physiological markers of moraldecisions and non-moral decisions using infrared thermal imaging(ITI). ITI is a non-invasive tool used to capture thermal variationsdue to blood flow in specific body regions that might be causedby sympathetic activity. Results show that moral decisions seemto elicit a significant decrease in temperature in the chin region20 seconds after participants are presented with a moral decision.However, given the small sample involved, and the lack of significance in other regions, future studies might be needed to confirmthe results obtained in this work.

AB - In this paper, we report on an experiment with The Walking Dead(TWD), which is a narrative-driven adventure game with morallycharged decisions set in a post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies. This study aimed to identify physiological markers of moraldecisions and non-moral decisions using infrared thermal imaging(ITI). ITI is a non-invasive tool used to capture thermal variationsdue to blood flow in specific body regions that might be causedby sympathetic activity. Results show that moral decisions seemto elicit a significant decrease in temperature in the chin region20 seconds after participants are presented with a moral decision.However, given the small sample involved, and the lack of significance in other regions, future studies might be needed to confirmthe results obtained in this work.

KW - Decision-Making

KW - Moral Decision-Making

KW - Infrared Thermal Imaging

KW - Video Games

KW - Moral Psychology

KW - physiological markers

U2 - 10.1145/3472538.3472582

DO - 10.1145/3472538.3472582

M3 - Conference contribution

T3 - ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

SP - 1

EP - 4

BT - Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021

A2 - Fowler, Allan

A2 - Pirker, Johanna

A2 - Canossa, Alesandro Alessandro

A2 - Arya, Ali Ali

A2 - Harteveld, Casper

PB - Association for Computing Machinery

Y2 - 2 August 2021 through 6 August 2021

ER -

Guglielmo G , Klincewicz M. The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games. In Fowler A, Pirker J, Canossa AA, Arya AA, Harteveld C, editors, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games, FDG 2021. Association for Computing Machinery. 2021. p. 1-4. 3472582. (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). doi: 10.1145/3472538.3472582

The Temperature of Morality: A Behavioral Study Concerning the Effect of Moral Decisions on Facial Thermal Variations in Video Games

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this