New Books in Sociology Heather Shay, "Identity Building Among Role-Playing Gamers: Slaying Goblins in the Real World" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Apr 27, 2026
Heather Shay, Assistant Professor of Sociology and author of Identity Building Among Role‑Playing Gamers, shares findings from 19 months of fieldwork. She explores how tabletop role‑playing helps people craft moral, meaningful identities. Short takes cover what makes a "good gamer," how privilege shapes status, risks of deep immersion, group sanctions, and how play practices build social and emotional skills.
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Step Into Undesirable Roles To Signal Selflessness
- Show selflessness by taking on burdens: serve as GM, act as party leader, or play needed but disliked archetypes like healers.
- These roles require extra time, social labor, or personal compromise yet gain group respect.
Solve Creatively Within Game Logic
- Demonstrate intelligence by solving problems without defaulting to violence and justifying actions within the game's internal logic.
- Shay recounts a player who avoided capture by inventing a character-consistent rationale, earning GM praise.
Creativity Valued When It Fits Game Mechanics
- Creativity and intelligence are linked but distinct; the most admired moves combine originality with logical fit to mechanics and world.
- Examples include inventing new weapons or repurposing spells in unexpected yet plausible ways.
