By understanding how social contagion works, developers can take active steps to encourage healthier communities and minimize harmful trends.
- Social contagion is the spread of behaviors, emotions, or ideas through a group of people.
- Be mindful of what is being modeled — attitudes, emotions, and ideas will naturally spread throughout a player community.
- By mapping out the impacts or causes, you can be intentional in mitigating those effects through design, policy, or marketing.
- Be intentional in helping set authentic examples of prosocial behavior to increase the likelihood that those are emulated.
What is “social contagion?”
Social contagion is the spread of behaviors, emotions, or ideas through a group of people. It’s a phenomenon where individuals are influenced by the actions, attitudes, or feelings of those around them, often unconsciously mimicking or adopting these behaviors.
Key characteristics of social contagion include:
- Spontaneous and unintentional — The spread of behaviors or emotions often occurs naturally and without deliberate intent.
- Group or network-based — Social contagion happens within social groups or networks, where individuals are connected and influence each other.
- Various forms — Social contagion can involve the spread of emotions (emotional contagion), behaviors (behavioral contagion), or even physical conditions.
In everyday life, social contagion can manifest in laughter spreading through a group of friends, panic spreading through a crowd, or the adoption of new trends or fashion.
There are several recognized mechanisms of social contagion:
- Imitation — Individuals naturally imitate the behaviors of others they observe.
- Conformity — People tend to conform to the norms and behaviors of their social group.
- Social norms — Shared expectations and rules within a group can influence individual behavior.
- Mirror neurons — These specialized brain cells fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action, which some researchers surmise play a role in empathy, understanding intentions, and language acquisition.
Channels of influence
Understanding social contagion is important because it can have both positive and negative consequences. It can help explain how social movements gain momentum, how trends become popular, and how positive emotions can spread within groups. However, it can also contribute to the spread of harmful behaviors and misinformation.
Video games hold incredible potential to connect players, but they can also amplify both positive and negative trends. While these dynamics may seem overwhelming, understanding the factors that drive them empowers us to shape our communities for the better. By strategically guiding these channels of influence, we can create gaming spaces where healthy behaviors and attitudes flourish.
People
- Players — Your community’s culture is contagious. Newcomers quickly internalize the norms they witness. Foster a positive environment with a friendly onboarding process and a clearly defined code of conduct. Enforce these guidelines consistently to establish healthy expectations that shape a welcoming experience for everyone.
- Influencers — Influencer actions typically speak louder than your words. Hold popular players and streamers to the same standards as everyone else to avoid undermining your community values. Proactively partner with influencers who model the behaviors you want to see to amplify their impact.
Design
- Game design — Your choices shape player behavior. Think of how a strict leaderboard fosters competition vs. a system that rewards collaboration. Even your narratives and characters offer implicit models for how players might act. Critically examine how your design might unintentionally fuel social contagion by endorsing harmful ideas or stereotypes.
- UI and UX design — Your interface shapes player emotions. Color palettes, fonts, and even sound effects subtly influence the player experience, rewarding or encouraging certain actions. Consider methodologies like biophilic or salutogenic design to create interfaces and experiences that promote well-being and a healthy mindset.
External
- External factors — World events can significantly impact player behavior. Keep your support team informed about potential repercussions, like increased harassment or attempts to use your game for activism. Have clear policies on what types of expression are acceptable within your game and empower your team to enforce them. By anticipating how external events might shape your community, you can proactively manage disruptions and maintain a positive environment. Early awareness will provide a strategic advantage in addressing these issues effectively and maintaining a healthy gaming environment.
- Marketing — How you promote your game sets the tone for your community and who is welcome in the game. Move beyond demographic stereotypes and focus your marketing on the experiences and interests your game offers. This will draw in a wider range of players who genuinely love your game and foster a more inclusive and welcoming community.
Developer considerations
When designing for thriving, it is important to consider:
- Rapid spread of influence — Both positive and negative behaviors can swiftly spread through a community, emphasizing the importance of monitoring and guiding these influences.
- Promotion of prosocial behavior — By amplifying desirable actions and minimizing harmful ones, healthy behaviors become the norm, encouraging players to adopt and further propagate these patterns.
- Community resilience — Communities with high resilience offer resistance to unhealthy contagions, lessening the spread of harmful behaviors. Members of such communities are often empowered to speak up against harm.
- Snowball effect — Establish healthy dynamics early on to prevent negative patterns from taking root. This requires a systemic approach, ensuring consistency across the entire ecosystem.
Quick and easy checks for prosocial behaviors you may want to support in your game.
Now what?
To more deeply understand the mechanisms behind social contagion, explore psychological theories such as conformity theory, social learning theory, operant conditioning, and planned behavior. This will offer deeper insights into predicting and understanding player interactions in various gaming environments and empower you to design gaming environments that promote prosocial behavior.
See related content below for more!
References
- Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior.
- Hatfield, E. et al. (1994). Emotional Contagion.
- Hatfield, E. et al. (2009). Emotional contagion and empathy. In J. Decety & W. Ickes (Eds.), The Social Neuroscience of Empathy.
- Le Bon, G. (1895). The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind.
