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Alex Fisher is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. One of his research interests concerns videogames. Specifically, in this conversation, we talk about whether people who play games might experience imaginative contagion, a process by which thoughts, attitudes and emotions which people take on imaginatively while playing games might bleed through into their real life. Alex considers the evidence that this is something that happens and the question of whether it's something we should be worried about.
Alex's article on imaginative contagion:
Fisher, A. (2025) Imaginative contagion and moral corruption. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 111, 999–1017. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.70056
Mentioned in the episode:
American Psychological Association Resolution on Violent Video Games
Yee, N. and Bailenson, J. (2007) The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior. Human Communication Research, 33: 271-290. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x
Angelica Ortiz de Gortari's work on "game transfer phenomena".
Gualeni, S. Vella, D. Harrington, J. (2017) De-Roling from Experiences and Identities in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, 10 (2). https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v10i2.7268
Concerns about videogame "lootboxes" and connection to gambling.
Concerns about child grooming in online games.
Further reading:
Chris Bartel, Why Video Game Violence Isn't Innocent.
Eliya Cohen, The House Never Loses: How Microtransactions Exploit Video Game Players.
For more philosophical questions about videogames:
Alex Fisher, Videogames and Philosophy.
Ethics Untangled is produced by IDEA, The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds.
As well as the podcast, Ethics Untangled is also the name for the long-form online presence of IDEA.
Bluesky: @ethicsuntangled.bluesky.social
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/idea-ethics-centre/
