ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the results of a small-n exploratory study in which a roleplaying game was used in a political theory class. The hypotheses tested whether playing a character that differed from a student with regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status affected whether students would be more knowledgeable and sympathetic to those groups after the treatment. Results showed slight increases in knowledge and sympathy for both privileged and less privileged demographic groups, although most results were not statistically significant. In particular, after the game, students perceived more discrimination against Asian-Americans. They also felt more knowledgeable about African-Americans, Asian-Americans, high socioeconomic status (SES) individuals and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) community. Finally, they felt more sympathy toward women, Asian-Americans, Caucasians, high SES individuals and the LGBT community. The chapter concludes with suggestions on future iterations of the game, including a larger n, a more diverse sample, and different methods of collecting data.
