GAMERS' BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS ON ‘AMONG US’

AN ANALYSIS PAPER

BY GROUP 6:

1. AHMAD HANIF NAUFAL (B0322004)

2. AZZAHRA LUTHFY SAYYIDINA (B0322024)
3. FAWWAZA LATHIFAH ANWII (B0322038)
4. ITA FEBRIANI (B0322043)
5. ORISA SATIVA HAPSARI (B0322059)
6. SAFIRA RATIH NADAYU (B0322069)
7. TIA INDAH FATIKA PUTRI (B0322076)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCES
UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET
2023
 INTRODUCTION

Game is an entertainment facility with electronic games where users or players make
decisions by manipulating game objects for certain goals. A variety of game genres, such as
maze, board, card, battle card, quiz, puzzle, shooting, first-person shooter, side scrolling,
fighting, racing, simulation, strategy, survival, role-playing, and adventure games, have seen
significant growth in the game industry.
One of them is Among Us which is a survival game that makes each player have their
own role, either being crewmates or impostors. In one team, there will be crewmates and
impostors who blend in among them, the impostors will be chosen 1 to 3 players. The one
who will be a crewmate, they should recognize then kill the impostor, and complete tasks
around the map. While the impostor should kill the crewmate without being noticed by
anyone. The player of this game should be careful.
For instance, a player plays a role as crewmate, but later on, this player who is a
crewmate sees one player being dead and another player sees you both in the same room, you
will be suspected and will be labeled as an impostor. Or if there are two players who find one
dead player and the other player shows up, the two players will slander each other, and
depending on the impact, one of the players will disappear or be killed. It may lead the
gamers who play this game to feel hurt and there is a possibility for them to defeat the other
crewmate. This can be analyzed with three theories: the social cognitive theory (SCT), which
is the behavior of gamers will follow their environment; for example, if the gamers'
environment in the game is good, then they will behave well; the second is the theory of
planned behavior (TPB), which is the behavior of gamers are developed by their own
intention; and the last is the online disinhibition effect (ODE), which is how gamers
communicate with another gamers.
 LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Among Us
Among Us is an online multiplayer science-fiction/social deduction murder
mystery game created by Innersloth and it was first released on June 15, 2018. This
game gained popularity in 2020 due to famous Twitch streamers and YouTubers
playing it. The details of the game will be explained by the following points.
1. How to Play
Among Us take place either in a spaceship named "The Skeld," the
headquarters of the company MIRA, a research base on the planet Polus, or an
Airship. Among the players, one to three players will be randomly chosen as
Impostors, who need to blend in (disguise as a crew) and kill the Crewmates.

1.1.1

1.1.2
 1.1.3

1.1.4

2. Crewmates
The Crewmates' goal is to complete tasks in the form of mini-games,
such as fixing wiring, emptying garbage, or swiping an ID card, all the while
having the goal of finding out who the Impostors are and voting them out. The
details of the Crewmates' tasks are explained by the picture below.

1.2
 3. Impostor
The Impostors' goal is to kill off enough Crewmates for an equal number
of Impostors and Crewmates to be left, which results in a win for the
Impostors as they theoretically could not be voted out. Impostors can cause
several problems which are inconvenient to the Crew. The details of
Impostor's tasks are explained by the picture below.

1.3

B. Theory of Planned Behavior

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predicts that planned behaviors are
determined by behavioral intentions which are largely influenced by an individual’s
attitude toward a behavior, the subjective norms encasing the execution of the behavior,
and the individual’s perception of their control over the behavior (Ajzen, 1975).
Theory of planned behavior (TPB) is an extension of the theory of reasoned
action (Ajsen, 1991). Both models were designed to examine thoroughly on
information and motivation that influences behavior, these models also can be
considered as deliberative processing models, as they imply that individuals make
behavioral decisions based on careful consideration of available information (Conner &
Armitage, 1998).
 2.1
From the figure above, it is known that intention is the central factor to perform a
behavior. Intention represents a person’s motivation in the sense of their conscious plan
or decision to exert effort to perform the behavior. Intentions and behaviors are strongly
related at the same level of specificity in relation to the action, target, context, and time
frame (Conner & Armitage, 1998).

C. Online Disinhibition Effect

Online disinhibition is a phenomenon where individuals in cyberspace do or say
things that they would not say or do in “real-life” situations as they feel less restrained
and able to express themselves more freely (Suler, 2004).
The online disinhibition effect (ODE) occurs when we fail to regulate our
impulses, feel less restrained, and feel more open to self-expression because of the
anonymity and distance the internet provides. Online personas are different from real-
world personas because the internet offers anonymity and psychological distance that
allows us to lower our filters, increase impulsivity and aggression, and drop inhibitions.
Hiding behind the screen, we feel we can do things with fewer consequences & lesser
judgment.
The term ‘disinhibition’ refers to a lack of restraint or disregard of social
conventions. If a person is disinhibited, they may act without forethought and without
regard to risk. The term disinhibition effect in online therapy was first coined by
psychologist John Suler in his 2004 paper ‘The Online Disinhibition Effect’. There are
two types of this theory.
1. Toxic disinhibition
The ODE has positive consequences like easier self-expression and
negative consequences like cyberbullying. The negative effects of online
disinhibition like hate-speech are often called Toxic Disinhibition, when you
 have a tendency to act meaner than you would in real life. You might say
things that are more hostile or hurtful than you would in person.
2. Benign disinhibition
Sometimes it simply affects how people reveal themselves online called
Benign Disinhibition, when people open up and share more than they normally
would. This can help them connect to others and create a more positive online
experience.

D. Social Cognitive Theory

According to (Bandura, 2000), human behavior is significantly influenced by
the ability to anticipate and plan ahead. This involves expecting certain outcomes
when taking specific actions. This theory highlights several important factors
affecting behavior. The first is self-efficacy, one's ability to accomplish a task to
achieve a desired result. Another crucial aspect involves people's beliefs about the
potential consequences of their actions. Besides these, the theory also considers goals,
obstacles, and factors that aid in understanding how these elements interact in the
process of behavior change, as shown in this figure:

3.1

RESEARCH METHODS

The aim of this research was to examine whether Among Us influences the gamers'
behavior based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Online Disinhibition Effect
(ODE), and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). This research was conducted by using
qualitative methods. This qualitative method used the techniques of distributing
questionnaires to delve into people's experiences while playing Among Us games. The data
were summarized and organized into descriptive data. The questions were given to measure
the data accurately, while the questionnaires consisted of 9 questions regarding to:
1. Have they ever bought an item in 'Among Us'?
 2.Did it make them consumptive?
3.Have they ever gotten an insult or harsh words from their teammates?
4.Have they ever done an insult to their teammates and what is the reason?
5.Have they ever experienced racism?
6.Have they ever had difficulty communicating with foreign teammates?
7.Did it make them frustrated?
8.Have they ever found a player who is rioting in-game?
9.Did they get some positive impacts on playing ‘Among Us’ and what kind of positive
impacts did they get?
Moreover, the source of data for this questionnaire were college students who have
played Among Us and limited only to English Literature students in UNS.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

1. Consumptive behavior when purchasing items in the Among Us game.

Among Us is a game that can be played on both smartphones and PCs, but for the
PC version, we have to pay a certain amount to purchase the game on Steam. In the
game, we can also buy items such as skins, hats, and also pets. Those items cannot be
used to enhance gaming performance but only serve to beautify the character's
appearance.

4.1.1 skins

4.1.2 hats
 4.1.3 pets

As in the questionnaires that have been distributed before, results show that only
four from twenty one respondents answered that they have purchased items from
Among Us. Then, only one from the respondents were being consumptive when
purchasing items from this game.
Consumptive behavior when purchasing in-game items as mentioned above,
aligns with the Theory of Planned Behavior, which states that a person's motivation in
the sense of their conscious plan or decision underlies the behavior.

2. Rude and offensive behavior

Like other online games, Among Us requires interaction with other players
during the game. Interaction with many players with different personalities causes the
responses obtained while playing Among Us to be varied. One of which is rude and
offensive behavior, for example: cursing, scolding, or making fun of teammates when
discussing who is the Imposter in the game, or when playing against opponents who
play carelessly and just rioting in-game (this was experienced by seventeen from
twenty one respondents of the questionnaires).
Fourteen from twenty one respondents of the questionnaires answered that they
have experienced rude behavior from other teammates, and eleven from twenty one
respondents claimed that they have expressed rude behavior to their teammates. This
behavior aligns with the Social Cognitive Theory, which emphasizes that people are
active agents who can both influence and are influenced by their environment. by
frequently witnessing rude behavior from teammates or receiving similar treatment
from teammates triggers oneself to do the same to other people.

3. Racism behavior
Racism behavior, such as using racial slurs, making discriminatory comments
based on someone's ethnicity, or targeting and harassing players because of their race,
was experienced by two from twenty one respondents of the questionnaires. This
racism behavior can be explained by Online Disinhibition Effect which emphasizes
that the internet offers anonymity and psychological distance that allows us to lower
our filters, increase impulsivity and aggression, and drop inhibition.

4. Interaction with foreign people.

One of the characteristics from playing online games is that we can play the
game with a lot of people, not only from our country but also from foreign countries.
 By playing with people from foreign countries, we can gain many benefits, such as
learning a new language and its slang, expanding friendship networks, and, of course,
having fun, as stated by seventeen from twenty one respondents of the questionnaires.
Therefore this characteristic can turn into difficulty, for example: when both of the
sides are having a difficult time communicating with each other because of the
language barrier. This was experienced by eleven of twenty one respondents of the
questionnaires, they answered that they experienced hard time communicating with
foreign teammates, eight of them even felt frustrated.
Online Disinhibition Effect can be applied in this behavior, since ODE makes
people feel less restrained by real life so they could express themselves and interact
with each other more freely.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of the research that we conducted through questionnaires, it can be
concluded that this game has both negative and positive impacts on the players. The negative
side is that it leads to toxic behavior such as speaking harshly, expressing emotions
uncontrollably, and becoming frustrated. However, this game also has positive impacts such
as practicing language learning, increasing friendships, and training motor skills.
Apart from that, from the questionnaire analysis we can conclude that the game is
related to three theories, namely Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), posits that intentions
lead to behavior; However, intentions do not always guarantee behavior. Second theory is
Online disinhibition (ODE), it is a phenomenon where individuals in cyberspace do or say
things that they would not say or do in “real-life” situations as they feel less restrained and
able to express themselves more freely. Third, Social Cognitive Behavior (SCT), this theory
describes the influence of individual experiences, the actions of others, and environmental
factors on individual health behaviors.
All games have their negative and positive sides, but it should be noted that being
rude and racist is a bad thing, therefore it would be good for players to maintain their
behavior in order to create good relationships between people from different countries.
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