An Exploration of Emotional Resilience Developed Through Tabletop Role-Play

This study aims to expand on the research into tabletop role-play and social and emotional development, focusing on emotional resilience. 109 participants responded to a survey inquiring about their experiences with long-term, multiplayer tabletop role-play, including characters that were meaningful to them and six factors of emotional resilience: comfort with challenges, ability to problem solve, emotional expression, ability to handle criticism, social connection, and self-perception. Out of these 109 participants, three were chosen to expand on their answers from the survey and were interviewed. The participants included players, game masters, and those who did both, and included participants from diverse backgrounds. A phenomenological approach was taken while the data was coded for themes using NVivo software. 26 key themes were identified that linked tabletop role-play to the development of emotional resilience. The themes were put into four categories: trends found in characters, dramatic rehearsal, social development, and emotional development. The study found that these themes aligned with the three areas of skill development needed to grow emotional resilience (Barry 2018), as well as therapeutic powers of play (Pliske, Stauffer, and Werner-Lin 2021), and beneficial forces of group therapy (Yalom and Leszcz 2020). The results of this study can be applied to make home-games more safe, rewarding, and meaningful, but can also guide practitioners wishing to use therapeutically applied role-playing games in their practices.