The development and validation of the Grief Play Scale (GPS) in MMORPGs

•A scale measuring antisocial gaming tendencies of MMORPG players is developed.•The convergent and discriminant validity of the scale was supported.•Grief players were found to possess antisocial personality characteristics.•Grief players were less likely to suspend disbelief of the virtual environment.

A measurement of gamers' grief play behaviors in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) was developed and validated over three online studies (total N = 786). In the first study, exploratory factor analysis indicated that the modified Grief Play Scale (GPS) was unidimensional. In the second study, the convergent validity of the GPS was supported through associations of the scale with measurements of the antisocial personality characteristics, sadism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and sub-clinical psychopathy. As hypothesized, the GPS and altruism were uncorrelated in Study 2, supporting the discriminant validity of the GPS. Finally, Study 3 further supported the convergent validity with predicted correlations between the GPS, a measurement of aggressive and competitive play styles, and with a measurement of gamers' willingness to suspend disbelief of the virtual environment. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, grief players did not report feeling less responsibility for their characters' wellbeing in Study 3. Possible explanations for this finding are discussed. Overall, the GPS appears to be a valid measurement of gamers' tendencies to grief others in MMORPGs. Additionally, the present study was the first to compile a preliminary personality profile of the grief player.