Toxic Behaviours in Esport: A Review of Data-Collection Methods Applied in Studying Toxic In-Gaming Behaviours

Online competitive multiplayer games (esports), although enabling positive social interactions and skillset growth, are notoriously known for their prevalence of toxic behaviours. Seeking to develop greater understandings and explanations of such behaviours, researchers have used a range of empirical data-collecting techniques, encompassing self-reports, log data, and observational methodologies. The objective of this article is to review the current research literature and its application of these methodological approaches for studying toxic behaviours in esports. Following systematic review procedures, 54 empirical research articles were reviewed. Based on this review, it is demonstrated that knowledge of toxic behaviours is typically based on self-reported accounts (e.g., through surveys and interviews), while lessestablished methodological techniques available for capturing naturalistic behaviours of toxic encounters stand under-used. Drawing on recent developments in video-based research on violence and bystander interventions, an argument is made that online video-based behavioural analysis holds promising potential to address this research gap.