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Article History

Received: 28 May 2024

Accepted: 9 December 2024

First Online: 10 February 2025

Declarations

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: The Research Ethics Committee of the University of Lyon was only established recently in January 2022. By this date, we had already developed our protocol and consent forms for participants, and the requirement for approval from this committee was not yet instituted in our practices. Nevertheless, our approach is in compliance with the fundamental principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki concerning research involving human beings, as well as the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA). We ensured that our research adhered to these principles by providing complete and transparent information to participants, guaranteeing their right to confidentiality and anonymity, and implementing mechanisms to minimize any potential risk associated with their participation. The Data Protection Officer, affiliated with the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (ENS), supervised the creation and administration of the consent forms, thereby complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ensuring that all participants were fully informed about the nature of the study and gave their informed consent. Our study did not involve any invasive procedures since we only collected interaction traces and questionnaires. All collected data were fully anonymized to protect the identity and confidentiality of the participants, and they were free to opt-out of data collection if they wished. The participants’ interaction with the study was limited to playing a non-violent, collaborative game designed to be played in turns, without any visual effects that could induce discomfort or disorders in individuals with certain sensitivities. The study’s conditions were explained in advance, and participants were free to withdraw at any time. Considering these elements, we have acted responsibly and in accordance with current ethical expectations, ensuring the protection of participants and respecting their consent and anonymity. We hope this explanation provides reviewers and readers with a clear understanding of the measures we have taken to guarantee the ethical integrity of our research.