New Survey Reveals Social Videogame Cheats Are Three Times More Likely to Be Dishonest in Real Life
A new survey from PopCap Games (Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies) has revealed that nearly 50% of people who cheat at social videogames also cheat in real life – ranging from not paying the correct taxes to cheating on their spouses.
According to the recent survey, more than 1,200 adult consumers (48%) who admitted to cheat in social videogames also admitted to cheating in real life – compared to just 14% of those who don’t cheat in social videogames.
The results, which look at a whole range of crazy criteria like stealing hotel towels to cheating on their taxes, showed that social videogame cheaters are nearly three and a half times more likely to be dishonest in real life.
Professor Clay Routledge of North Dakota State University’s Deparment of Psychology added:
How we behave in virtual space and interact with others in social games often mirrors how we act in the real world…with more than 100 million people playing social games regularly, we can expect to see the full range of psychological characteristics represented in the social gaming population – even cheating.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mia Consalvo of Concordia University stated how this sort of behaviour wasn’t too surprising in today’s online world:
It’s not surprising that online cheating parallels real-world cheating, even if people are just experimenting with the possibilities…with more of our daily systems and processes moving online, and being divorced from human contact (downloading music, filing taxes online) the risks either appear to be lesser, or they don’t feel like crimes.
The full report, which was carried out by Information Solutions Group, is available to download at 2011 PopCap Social Gaming Cheaters vs. Non-Cheaters Research.
Interesting Facts Surfaced in the Report
Cheating across the pond: Apparently, 11% of people who play social games in the UK cheat, compared to just 7% of players in the US (the North American Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming team will no doubt be rubbing that last one in our faces!).
The most obvious one: Men are more likely to cheat than women. This one doesn’t surprise us, funnily enough! Although the total number of women playing social games is greater than men (55% to 45%), men are still more likely to cheat in social games (54% to 46%). And here was I thinking we were making progress as a gender! In addition to think, 72% of cheaters are under the age of 40, a statistic that will hopefully never make its way into a government report on youth culture!
Key Findings:
- 53% of people who cheat in social games report cheating on tests at school
- UK cheaters are significantly more likely to cheat on their taxes than US cheaters (58% versus 33%)
- Overall, 51% of people who cheat at social games report stealing towels, cups or other items from hotels (compared to just 14% of those who said they don’t cheat at social games). In the UK that rises to 60%
- 51% of people who cheat at social games report parking in handicap spaces despite not being eligible (compared to only 12% of those who don’t cheat in social games). In the UK, 48% of cheating respondents would take the handicapped space.
- Overall, 49% of people who cheat at social games report cheating on a committed relationship. In the UK, that figure increases to 51%
- 47% of people who cheat at social games report stealing packets of sugar, butter or jam from a restaurant
- 43% of people who cheat at social games report stealing magazines from a waiting room
If you want more information about the survey, read the full report on the Info Solutions Group website.
