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Cathy Fers

Professor Gonzalez

ENC 1102

18 April 2023

Detroit: Become Human: An In-Depth Moral Analysis

Introduction

Over the past year or so, I stumbled upon an interactive story-telling video game called

Detroit: Become Human, and it completely fascinated me. Set in the year 2038, the game takes

place in a world where laborious tasks that humans don't wish to do are performed by androids.

As the player, you play as three different androids: Connor, Kara, and Markus. Throughout the

game, players are confronted with numerous choices, including several moral decisions.

Examples of these moral decisions include: being tasked with going against human orders,

deciding whether to kill or save someone, or peacefully or aggressively protesting for the liberty

of androids. While playing Detroit: Become Human, I realized that decision-making was a

crucial aspect of the game, and it demanded a great deal of thought. I became curious about the

factors that influenced the decisions I made in the game and wanted to delve deeper into

understanding and analyzing them. The decisions I made in the game had a profound impact on

the story's trajectory and the eventual outcome, which made playing the game all the more

compelling.

This study aims to investigate how people make moral decisions and what factors

influence their decision-making process in the context of interactive storytelling video games,

specifically in the case of Detroit: Become Human. Therefore, I propose two hypotheses: (1) that

my choices will be mainly influenced by empathy, meaning that I will tend to make decisions
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based on my feelings about certain characters or situations; and (2) that most of my choices will

be moral decisions, rather than immoral decisions.

Literature Review

As it turns out, my curiosity about the interactive storytelling video game, Detroit:

Become Human, and its moral decision-making aspects is shared by others. During my literature

review, I found that several key topics were commonly explored, including video games,

morality, and decision-making. To find relevant sources, I analyzed the Works Cited pages of

papers that had a similar inquiry as mine. I made sure that each source was recent and focused on

at least two of the key points I intended to discuss. The sources provided valuable insights into

how video games can serve as a platform for exploring ethical and moral questions, as well as

their potential impact on players' beliefs and behaviors.

The sources I’ve analyzed provide insights into players' decision-making processes in

Detroit: Become Human. They reveal that players often make moral choices (rather than

immoral decisions) in video games, especially if they are playing a heroic role, and that these

choices they make are influenced by their feelings of empathy or predictive feelings of guilt

(Consalvo et al. 232; Hartmann and Vorderer 113; Boyan et al. 49). I believe that their findings

can be seen in my gameplay, as a lot of the choices I made were mostly because I know I’d feel

like a bad person if I chose to make an immoral decision. The timed nature of the decisions also

affects players' choices (Holl and Melzer 295). This adds another stress factor, during my

gameplay it led me to almost make rash decisions. Environmental cues within the game, such as

public opinion or societal norms, often influence players' decisions (Tamborini et al. 576). An

example of this that can be tied with Detroit: Become Human is when it comes to the protesting I

previously mentioned. The only way for the public eye to support the android liberation
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movement was to be peaceful, instead of aggressive. Some players may experience moral

disengagement when making immoral decisions, this means they’re going against their morals.

However, if there isn’t any violence caused by their actions, they’re more likely to make immoral

choices (Hartmann and Vorderer 112-113) Some players also separate themselves from their

characters, leading to multiple playthroughs with different moral choices (Consalvo et al.

226-228). I have also done this with Detroit: Become Human, once I finished a full playthrough

of the game, I went back to see what the outcome would’ve been if I made the immoral decision.

An aspect of particular importance that I aimed to investigate is the underlying reasoning behind

my decisions, even if they were perceived as immoral. I will employ Clifford and colleagues’

influential Moral Foundations framework [see Table 1] to do so (1182). Clifford and colleagues

found that the Moral Foundations framework provides a useful and reliable means of assessing

moral decision-making (1195). Other researchers have also highlighted the importance of this

framework, with Holl and Melzer demonstrating that Moral Foundations are present in a

significant 73.21% of moral decisions in Detroit: Become Human (293).

There are a few key findings in the sources I have that connect strongly with my research.

The most important key findings I find to be the fact that most players usually tend to make

moral decisions and that societal morals are to blame. This can be either a conscious or a

subconscious decision, but regardless it has an effect. Another very important finding for my

research is the fact that empathy and predictive feelings of guilt have a strong effect on the moral

decision-making process. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It

involves the capacity to put oneself in someone else's shoes and feel what they feel. Predictive

feelings of guilt, on the other hand, involve anticipating the negative emotions that may arise

from making a particular decision. This also ties into the finding that most players tend to
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immerse themselves into the role of the character they’re playing, especially if it’s a heroic one.

Which in turn affects the decision made and how it aligns with the morals of the player and also

the character. My last key finding is that moral foundations are found in more than half of

Detroit: Become Human’s morally relevant decisions. Combining all of these findings and

applying them to my research, there will be a clearer explanation as to what factors (game

aspects, morals, etc.) seen during gameplay affect my decision-making process for moral

decisions.

Methods

To conduct my research, I played Detroit: Become Human until the end. This study aims

to explore the decision-making process involved in moral decisions, with a particular focus on

identifying the various factors that influence this process. To accomplish this goal, an

ethnographic research design was implemented and self-reported data was gathered.

Before I started playing the game, I created six different questions that would help me

break down my decision-making process:

Pre-Decision: Post-Decision:

1. What are the choices I have? 4. What choice did I make?

2. What’s the context of the decision? 5. What was the outcome?

3. What’s going on in my head? 6. How do I feel about my choice?

Upon completing the game, I employed the Moral Foundations outlined by Clifford and

colleagues in their research article (1182) to examine the decisions I made. Additionally, I

applied the Moral Foundations to questions 1-3, further enhancing my analysis of the game's

ethical themes. By utilizing this approach, I gained a more comprehensive understanding of the

moral frameworks and values that influenced my decision-making processes.

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Table 1: Moral Foundations with Examples

Foundation Clifford et al. examples (1182) Examples in Detroit: Become

Human

Harm/Care Unkindness, inflicting pain Violent protesting (Markus)

Fairness/Justice Cheating, reducing equality Stealing bus tickets (Kara)

Loyalty Betrayal Become a deviant (Connor)

Respecting Subversion, lack of respect for Choosing to spare the deviants

Authority tradition (Connor)

Purity Degrading, disgusting acts Allow Alice to see an android corpse

(Kara)

Freedom Bullying, dominating Leaving Zlatko’s androids trapped in

a cage (Kara)

Results

After analyzing the collected data, I observed that Kara's moral decisions accounted for

46.7% of the 15 different moral dilemmas prompted, while Connor and Markus had 26.7% each

in terms of their moral dilemmas. Further analysis of the 31 possible decisions revealed that a

significant proportion, 65.6%, involved breaking a moral foundation (MF) [see Table 1], in

contrast to the remaining 34.4% that did not.

The breakdown of MF violations showed that harm/care accounted for the largest

category at 47.6% of MF decisions, followed by respecting authority at 23.8%, and loyalty at

19%. While examining the context of the 15 prompted dilemmas, I found that half of the time

(50%), they involved MF. Of these MF violations, harm/care was the most common at 30% of

the time, followed by respecting authority at 30%. Purity was violated 20% of the time, while

loyalty and freedom were each violated 10% of the time.

When reviewing the frequency of MF violations in the decision-making process, it was

found that 73.3% of my decisions involved breaking a moral foundation, with empathy being the
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basis for 53.3% of my choices. The remaining 47.7% either went against my emotions or were

made without feeling empathy. Among the moral foundations, respecting authority was the most

frequently violated, accounting for 45.5% of instances. The next most frequently violated

foundation was harm/care at 27.3%, followed by fairness/justice at 18.2%, and loyalty at 9.1%.

Finally, upon evaluating the frequency of my overall regret for the choices made, it was

found that it occurred 26.7% of the time, while the remaining 73.3% of the time, I did not regret

my choices. Further analysis revealed that when considering only MF violations, regret occurred

in 36.4% of cases, while 63.6% of the time, I did not regret the MF violations.

Discussion

Some initial observations can be made upon examining my results. First and foremost,

Kara, the heroic character in my gameplay, was presented with more moral dilemmas compared

to both Connor and Markus. Additionally, over 50% of all the possible decisions I could have

made involved violating a moral foundation. Of these moral violations, harm/care was the most

commonly broken foundation. Furthermore, for half of the situations presented in the game, there

was a moral foundation at risk of being violated. When examining my decision-making process,

it became clear that I frequently made choices that violated moral foundations. Notably, my

decisions were often influenced by empathy, which is not surprising. Among the various moral

foundations, I most frequently violated the principle of respecting authority. Interestingly, I found

that I rarely regretted my decisions, regardless of whether a moral foundation was violated or

not.

My findings support hypothesis 1, which proposed that empathy would play a significant

role in shaping my decision-making process. This finding aligns with prior research by Consalvo

et al. (232), Hartmann and Vorder (113), and Boyan et al. (49), who found that emotions such as
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empathy and guilt can influence decision-making. Conversely, hypothesis 2, which posited that

the majority of my decisions would be moral rather than immoral, was contradicted by my

results. Notably, I discovered a positive correlation between making immoral decisions and not

regretting them, which challenges the findings of Consalvo et al., Hartmann and Vorder, and

Boyan et al. who suggest that players are more likely to make moral choices. In my specific case,

I believe that my decisions were influenced by a sense of justice or empathy for the character I

was playing, rather than the other characters or the game's moral framework.

The implications of my study have several implications for both theory and writing. The

new insights provided into the factors that influence decision-making can be attributed to moral

foundations observed in the context and options presented, as well as my thoughts on the matter.

These results can be applied to the design of interactive story-telling games and theoretical

frameworks that support the study of ethics and morality. Furthermore, my findings suggest that

emotional engagement is crucial to creating immersive gameplay experiences. Incorporating

these insights into writing reveals the potential for unique perspectives into human

decision-making processes and moral reasoning. The significance of recognizing the role of

emotions and empathy in decision-making, both in gaming and real-life scenarios, cannot be

understated. As such, students and writing studies researchers alike should take away from this

study the importance of considering the ethical implications of their writing and decision-making

processes, the influence of empathy and emotions on these processes, and the potential benefits

of utilizing interactive media, such as video games, to gain insights into these phenomena.

Conclusion

Based on my research, it can be concluded that the impact of empathy and the sense of

justice on decision-making is significant. Surprisingly, immoral choices were made more

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frequently, despite my initial expectations based on my morality. These findings hold significant

implications for the development and writing of interactive story-telling video games,

highlighting the power of emotional storytelling in influencing player decisions. While my

study's limitations, such as the subjectivity of morals and my pre-existing knowledge of the

game, are important to note, they provide a starting point for further research on the common

factors that affect decision-making in this context. In a world where everyday actions are

overlooked or taken for granted, Detroit: Become Human and my research data show that from

hugging a child to pulling the trigger, every decision counts. What role does your morality play

in shaping the course of your life, ultimately defining the person you become?
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Appendix A

Research Data
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Appendix B

Analysis Data
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Works Cited

Boyan, Andy, et al. “A massively moral game? Mass Effect as a case study to understand the

influence of players’ moral intuitions on adherence to hero or antihero play styles.”

Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 41-57.

Clifford, Scott, et al. “Moral foundations vignettes: a standardized stimulus database of scenarios

based on moral foundations theory.” Behavior Research Methods, vol. 47, 2015, pp.

1178-98.

Consalvo, Mia, et al. “Playing a Better Me: How Players Rehearse Their Ethos via Moral

Choices.” Games and Culture, vol. 14, no. 3, 2016, pp. 216-35.

Hartmann, Tilo, and Peter Vorderer. “It’s Okay to Shoot a Character: Moral Disengagement in

Violent Video Games.” Journal of Communication, vol. 60, 2010, pp. 94-119.

Holl, Elisabeth, and André Melzer. “Moral Minds in Gaming: A Quantitative Case Study of

Moral Decisions in Detroit: Become Human.” Journal of Media Psychology: Theories,

Methods, and Applications, vol. 34, no. 5, 2022, pp. 287-98.

Tamborini, Ron, and Nicholas D. Bowman. “The effect of moral intuitions on decisions in video

game play: The impact of chronic and temporary intuition accessibility.” new media &

society, vol. 20, no. 2, 2016, pp. 564-80.