Finding Identity through Role-playing : A Case Study of the Pouflons Community

Abstract: “Playing pretend” is often regarded as childish, but many people continue to role-play wellinto adulthood. Existing literature has reported instances of bleed between character andplayer identity, but usually in an autoethnographic report, small study, or only in theory. Inmy study, I attempt to establish links between primary identities, self-discovery,self-acceptance, and role-play. My findings may help in development of serious and appliedgames, as well as role-play’s use in therapeutic settings. I surveyed players online from aspecific Art Role-Playing Game (ARPG) community, Pouflons, to find out how theircharacters’ personas and identities spill over and bleed-out into the player’s primary identity,what effects this had, and if players were able to notice these effects.