Playing At Being Human: Finding Leadership and Empathy Through Digital Games

Abstract

The current article presents examples of video games that specifically seek to enable their players to rethink their ideological assumptions and to develop empathy, critical components of both understanding and practicing leadership. Through these examples, the article suggests that video games are uniquely effective in this capacity because of their emphasis on interactivity and imaginative identification, as well as the wide distribution of games as a medium. Taken together, games' effectiveness at persuasion, ability to develop empathy, and popularity make them particularly well-suited to prepare players for engagement with leadership as both leaders and (critical) followers.