'Dungeons & Dragons’ and identity : a sociological investigation

Abstract

This researcher asks the question as to how an individual's identity development is affected by playing the game Dungeons & Dragons and similar tabletop roleplaying games, as well as asks ancillary questions related to questions of the interplay between the Characters participants create in game and their out of game persona’s, Escapism, the role of gender as well as the nature of reality, all within the context of the game Dungeons & Dragons. The researcher conducted a series of 8 interviews with participants whom he plays the game with in a number of organized game sessions both before and during the course of this research. The Researcher finds that effects to one's identity do not extend to the participants personalities, but are mainly focused on their behavioral and emotional development. The researcher also found that there was a spectrum of different types of characters created by players, ranging from those that were reflections or embodiments of certain aspects of their personality to create new identities or those who create completely new identities, much in line with research conducted by Sherry Turkle on this topic. The researcher also finds that the game can act as a means of gender empowerment should the participant take part in a game group that is encouraging in that manner. The researcher concludes by stating that while all effects to one's identity through playing Dungeons & Dragons would be dependant on a myriad of factors related to the game sessions that player participates in, noting that positive influences can be elicited through gameplay dependant on the nature of the game group. All in all the researcher notes that there is a myriad of avenues for further research within this topic.