A recent study of how political extremists use video games to find new members suggests that while recruitment attempts do occur, they are relatively rare. This study provides evidence that encountering far-right or far-left messages in gaming spaces can influence hostile attitudes and aggression in a variety of ways. These findings were published in the journal Psychology of popular media.
With the rise of digital media, political extremist groups have increasingly turned to online platforms to spread their ideology. Video games provide an immersive and interactive environment in which users can communicate privately. Some games will allow players to create custom modifications that introduce a specific political narrative. This environment has raised concerns that gaming communities will become prime sites for the radicalization of young people.
Sanjuram Premjit Kangamba, chair of the Human Factors Concentration Research Group and professor of human-system interaction at the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, noticed this dynamic firsthand. “My interest in this topic stemmed from my own experience with multiplayer games,” Kangamba said.
He pointed out that players sometimes bring up sensitive topics. “On several occasions, I have encountered players within gaming teams discussing political ideology, asking about party affiliation, and engaging in conversations that touch on extremist viewpoints,” Kangamba explained. “Because communication in these gaming spaces is often so fluid and socially sensitive, we began to wonder whether such environments could potentially facilitate extremist exposure and recruitment. This led to the beginning of the current research.”
Much of the existing research on this topic tends to focus almost entirely on far-right groups within Western countries. Far-right extremism typically involves a strong belief in cultural or national superiority and often targets marginalized groups. In India, this often takes the form of religious nationalism, which seeks to establish a state rooted in the dominance of a particular religion.
On the other hand, far-left extremism in India often involves radical communist movements. These movements sometimes use coercion and violence to oppose state policies and defend marginalized classes. The potential impact of far-left ideology in the digital space has received less attention, as academic focus has been heavily biased towards the political right.
To address this imbalance, the research team designed a study to explore both political dimensions within the Indian gaming community. The project was co-authored by lead author Ananta Ubarakka, assistant professor and associate dean of doctoral programs at OP Jindal Global University’s Jindal Global Law School in India, and Christopher J. Ferguson, professor and co-chair of the Department of Psychology at Stetson University. The authors wanted to understand whether everyday gamers actually encounter these recruitment efforts. They also wanted to see how exposure to such messages interacts with a person’s psychological characteristics to shape aggressive or prejudiced behavior.
In particular, the authors focused on authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is a psychological trait in which a person has a strong preference for strict obedience to authority and social rules. People with these traits often see the world as dangerous and unpredictable. This perception creates a strong desire to enforce the traditional social order and can lead to prejudice against those who appear to threaten its stability.
Although authoritarianism is often associated with conservative politics, it can appear on both the political right and the political left. Left-wing authoritarianism contains a similar desire for tight control and moral absolutism. However, it is oriented toward challenging existing hierarchies and traditions rather than maintaining them. The researchers wanted to know whether pre-existing authoritarian traits made people more susceptible to extremist messages in video games.
To explore these questions, the authors surveyed 395 active video gamers in India. The average age of participants was approximately 21 years old. This group was mostly male, making up about 87 percent of the sample, and women made up about 13 percent. Participants represented a geographically diverse group hailing from 29 states of India.
Participants completed a survey asking how often they experienced solicitations from far-right or far-left organizations while playing video games. We also asked how often they actually agreed to participate in these groups. Responses were recorded on a simple 4-point rating scale ranging from not at all to most of the time.
The researchers also used specific scales to measure participants’ levels of right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism. These surveys asked participants to rate their level of agreement with various statements about obedience, social class, and the distribution of wealth. In addition to political characteristics, the survey also measured hostile sexism and adherence to traditional male role norms.
Hostile sexism refers to overtly negative or hostile beliefs about women, especially those who challenge traditional gender roles. Traditional male role norms include the belief that men should behave in certain ways, such as hiding their emotions or acting dominant. The study also included short-form questionnaires to measure general physical and verbal aggression.
The findings showed that extremist recruitment in video games is not as widespread as some media reports suggest. Only about 34% of gamers reported having experienced recruitment efforts by far-right groups. Similarly, about 31% reported encountering far-left recruiting efforts. Most participants said they had rarely or never seen such attempts, and few actually agreed to join these groups.
“One surprising finding was the relatively small number of participants who reported being exposed to extremist ideology in gaming spaces,” Kangamba said. “We initially expected this type of damage to occur more frequently.”
When researchers looked at how these encounters affected players’ attitudes, they found a clear difference between the two political extremes. Exposure to far-right messages in video games directly predicted higher levels of hostile sexism. We also predicted stronger support for traditional male role norms and increased overall aggression.
Interestingly, this occurred largely regardless of whether the player already had the right-wing authoritarian personality trait. Researchers suggest that far-right discourse often aligns with culturally ingrained patriarchal values. Because these underlying cultural biases already exist, far-right messages in video games can directly reinforce sexist attitudes without the need for strict authoritarian personalities as bridges.
The effects of far-left exposure followed a different pattern. Encounters with far-left extremism in video games did not directly lead to increased sexism or aggression. Rather, this exposure predicted these negative attitudes only if the players already had high levels of left-wing authoritarianism.
“Another unexpected finding emerged when we examined the relationship between exposure to extremism and authoritarian attitudes,” Kangamba said. “In particular, we observed notable associations related to left-wing authoritarianism (LWA). Much of the existing literature has historically focused more on right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), so our findings contribute a new perspective by suggesting that LWA may also play an important role when extremist exposure occurs.”
This suggests that far-left messages primarily resonate with individuals who already hold strict beliefs in line with left-wing ideology. If you don’t have this psychological predisposition, you probably won’t react in a hostile manner when you encounter a far-left solicitation in a video game. The authors propose that far-left content may only activate aggressive tendencies in people who already support punishing ideological opponents.
Despite these differences, this study showed that authoritarianism itself is a strong predictor of hostility. Both right-wing and left-wing authoritarian traits were associated with increases in aggression and sexist attitudes. This challenges the common assumption that authoritarianism exists only on the political right and shows that extreme rigidity at both ends of the spectrum can foster prejudice.
“Our findings did not fully match our initial expectations,” Kangamba said. “Although this research suggests that gamers may inadvertently encounter ideological extremism within the gaming space, this issue does not appear to be at a worrying level at this time.”
Kangamba elaborated that current data does not support exaggerated fears. “At this time, there is no strong evidence of widespread panic regarding extremist recruitment through video games,” he added. “However, caution is still warranted, and further longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether these patterns evolve over time.”
He stressed that this study casts doubt on the idea that video games are a huge radicalization engine. “This paper does not support the alarming reports surrounding extremism in video games,” Kangamba said. “Our findings challenge the assumption that video games are a major factor in extremist recruitment. At the same time, these results should be interpreted with caution as they may represent only an initial or baseline trend.”
The authors also hope that the findings will encourage a more balanced view of political extremism. “This study also argues against viewing extremism solely through the lens of far-right ideology,” Kangamba pointed out. “If extremist recruitment in gaming spaces does occur, this finding suggests that the ideological influence of both the far right and far left should be examined with critical attention alike.”
As with all research, this study has some limitations. For example, this study relied on a cross-sectional design. This means that the data was collected at a single point in time. Therefore, the authors cannot prove that exposure to extremist content directly causes increases in aggression over time.
Kangamba also cautioned against misinterpreting the study’s balanced approach as a specific political position. “Misinterpretations can occur if readers focus solely on literature introductions and reviews without considering the research findings in their full context,” he said. “At first glance, some readers may think that this paper takes a position in opposition to a particular political ideology.”
“However, the broader argument of this paper is not to promote anti-establishment discourse or ideological bias,” Kangamba explained. “Rather, this study examines far-right and far-left extremism with equal scrutiny and seeks to present the results as objectively as possible while avoiding favoritism.”
In the future, the authors plan to expand their research. “Our next step is to conduct longitudinal and cross-cultural studies to determine whether these trends are stable over time and across different sociocultural contexts,” Kangamba said.
The study, “Video Games as Conduits to Radicalization: The Effects of Extremist Recruitment and Exposure to Authoritarianism on Sexist Attitudes and Aggression,” was authored by Ananta Ubarakka, Christopher J. Ferguson, and Sanjuram Premjit Kangamba.
