Sexual harassment, incitement to racial hatred, threats of violence, doxing (publishing other people's personal information), spamming, flaming (for example, criticizing someone's gaming performance in an offensive way) and griefing (intentionally sabotaging one's own team) are all examples of what the research community calls toxic behavior in online games.
Younger men
The perpetrators tend to be impulsive younger men or boys, according to Rabindra Ratan, an associate professor and researcher in media psychology at Michigan State University.
He believes that part of the problem is that there is too much acceptance of toxic behaviors in the gaming world.
"Unfortunately, we are often exposed to antisocial norms in games, and far too few speak up. Then it's easy for others to imitate the toxic behaviours," he says.
May be harmful
Over 80 percent of adults ages 18-45 who play online games have recently been subjected to some form of abusive behavior, according to a study by the Anti-Defamation League in which 1000,11 Americans participated. Of the victims, <> percent reported that they had depressive or suicidal thoughts as a result of the harassment.
Many gaming companies have launched tools to address the problem. This includes moderation tools for voice chats and features to report misbehaving players.
"Looked away – don't be a fool!"
At the same time, researcher Rabindra Ratan wants to see more players who actively stand up against toxic behaviors.
He points to a study in which three out of four respondents said that they should speak out against racist, sexist or homophobic comments. At the same time, less than a fifth of them said they actually do.
"I want to encourage your viewers to speak up – not be a fool," he says.
Can toxic behaviors be contagious? Are competitive games worse than others? In the clip, Rabindra Ratan goes through what is true and false about abusive behavior in online games.