2.0 Society Convergences: Coexistence, Otherness, Communication and Edutainment ^†

Abstract

The research finds justification given the incidence and magnitude they currently have in the human social sphere in the framework of the so-called Society 2.0. Derived from this framework, this approach must specially consider education as a vital social process. The same happens with information and communication technologies since they are frequently and increasingly used as mediation in educational contexts and because of their undeniable mediation in human interactions. Consequently, one of the most relevant questions tackled in this research refers to the disciplines required to provide a sufficiently broad theoretical and conceptual background for the scientific basis of the convergence between communication, edutainment, coexistence and otherness to effectively transform the last two concepts into measurable variables. The paper results from the content and a systemic analysis using ATLAS.ti software of published scientific documents for the last two decades about the phenomena of coexistence and otherness. As a main result, the researchers present a taxonomy that includes dimensions and indicators that enable the conversion of both constructs into measurable variables. Thus, a convergence to address the scientific study of coexistence and otherness from communication and edutainment emerged. The review also provides a theoretical basis for designing intervention models aimed at promoting coexistence. Edutainment is also incorporated as a novel tool to promote pro-social attitudes.

1. Introduction

Nowadays, mankind has been flooded by all kinds of technologies and computing and communication devices. All of them facilitate access to massive information and human interaction, even from remote locations; people just need the appropriate device. Despite the obvious advantages of the social bond, new problems also arise. Some of them could be eventual conflicts between minority populations, exacerbated nationalism or biased ideologies. This, among others, affects coexistence.

Due to this situation, it becomes relevant to question issues such as coexistence and the perception of otherness. Moreover, these questions must consider the advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), since there is a whole new phenomenon derived: the establishment of the so-called Society 2.0, a concept derived from the term web 2.0.

According to Canaza-Choque (2018), this society implies and unleashes an accumulation of modifications in the world order, related to fundamental issues such as identity and the social ties it produces. Those ties include both the deepest and the most trivial, but taking place on the virtual plane provided by the Internet, these relationships offer new bonding possibilities between individuals who are assumed or assume themselves to be vulnerable or marginalized.

Thus, people congregate in groups, communities and movements that find in this virtual reality the recognition, but also the security that they do not find in the offline reality, in which violence brings them fear and loneliness that exceeds them. Consequently, the construction of coexistence in the present century is inevitably compelled to conquer the new challenges and crossroads presented by the new society and the way people perceive otherness.

However, it is convenient to highlight a necessary condition for the development of situations of coexistence, otherness and even citizenship. As described by Palacios Oviedo (2022, p. 1), it is necessary to reduce the digital divide, which can be seen in the lack of literacy at the digital, informational and social levels. Failure to observe this condition leads to the configuration of a population at the service of false, misleading or defamatory contents and with flawed criteria for the satisfaction of particular interests of local and foreign political actors.

All of that mentioned above justifies coexistence and otherness as objects of study. However, addressing them implies perspectives derived from the disciplines that have traditionally approached them and consequently have provided theoretical and conceptual background to its understanding. So, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and psychology had to be taken as obligatory references. However, communication and education deserve special consideration.

Given the undeniable mediation of ICT advances in the human social sphere, communication must be included. However, being a social process in itself and being frequently and increasingly mediated by technology and communication theories, education appears as an exceptional reference for the understanding of current styles of social bonding. The emergence of edutainment and serious games as concepts and as contemporary educational tools reinforces this appreciation. Moreover, if we add the question of the usefulness of edutainment to favor the social bond, a very particular intersection is built that opens the possibilities of a major contribution to the social sciences.

At this point, it is important to accept that there is abundant scientific literature on each specific topic. However, the production concerning coexistence and otherness tends to be more qualitative in nature with a consequent interpretative scope. In this sense, the current research aimed at the generation of quantitative data for the development of research with explanatory rather than comprehensive scopes enhancing the possibilities of creating predictive models. Consequently, the following set of research questions emerges:

• What is required to bring the social phenomena of coexistence and otherness to the category of variables so they could be quantified and, consequently, be measurable?
• How can one effectively transform those concepts into measurable variables?
• Where lies the convergence between communication, edutainment, coexistence and otherness?
• Which disciplines are required to provide a sufficiently broad theoretical and conceptual background for the scientific basis of convergence between communication, edutainment, coexistence and otherness?

In this sense, as a thesis for the development of the research, it was established that the mediation of communication through serious games has an impact on the perception of otherness and therefore can have an influence on coexistence. Following this order of ideas, first, the study object was defined; it is coexistence and otherness. The researchers analyzed how they have been problematized in contemporary societies. This analysis produced a taxonomy that allows dimensioning both (Vaughn et al. 2017; Sanvicén-Torné et al. 2017; Polhuijs 2018; Markovich 2018; Kauff et al. 2020).

Second, elements related to communication directly were incorporated. In this regard, we sought data resulting from communication research into coexistence as a social phenomenon virtually immersed in all human interactions (Ramos and Perosanz 2014; Jenkins et al. 2018; Luhmann 2018; Altheide 2019). A third element refers to the field of edutainment, ranging from educational games to serious games which provide a relevant corpus for pro-social goals (Williamson et al. 2005; Sailer et al. 2017; Vesa et al. 2017; Yuan et al. 2017; Tabbaa et al. 2021).

In general terms, the current paper shows as a result a taxonomy that includes dimensions that the authors have been recognizing as characteristics of coexistence and otherness for more than 20 years. These, in turn, are associated with indicators that lead to ways of measuring these social phenomena. Finally, the convergences between concepts and disciplines are presented, making possible the creation of intervention models from communication and edutainment in the contemporary social context.

Schematically speaking, this paper presents a theoretical background that includes the variables related to the research work, i.e., coexistence, otherness, communication and edutainment, strictly related to the objective of the work. Then, the methodology and the procedure carried out are explained. It included both a systematic and a content analysis technique using ATLAS.ti software and the Excel program. Finally, the results are presented, the latter allowing to redefine the term convergence to represent an interdisciplinary theoretical construct.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Otherness and Coexistence

Contemporaneously, societies have suffered a series of events that affect coexistence and deepen the gaps that separate different social sectors. This forces one to think about, for example, collective welfare and the principles of justice, equity, housing possibilities and the use of public space (Bayón and Saraví 2019). A strong global tension arises from this. On the one hand, there are the processes of segregation, educational segmentation, health sector coverage and, with much more discrepancy, the issue of leisure and entertainment. Sometimes, the latter could be even found completely excluded in the less favored classes.

On the other hand, there is the trend towards urbanization, the expansion of social networks and the consumer society, which push towards massification and encounters with the other in an increasingly unconventional way. All this implies the particularities of coexistence. One of them is the constant movement that, at the same time, distances and brings people closer. This causes an aporia in relation to Bayón and Saraví’s (2019) definition of what it means to live with others, “Coexistence refers to respect, recognition, solidarity and empathy; to the ability to identify with others, to understand their points of view” (p. 302).

It is not always easy to comply with the terms of this definition. For example, in the case of identification with the other, cultural diversity usually represents a difficulty. It refers to the notion of the state and its peculiarities. According to Kymlicka (2006), multinational states are currently being configured, where the smallest cultures conform to national minorities. The division between thoughts, ideologies and regionalisms hinders the construction of coexistence. This situation is often worsened by manipulation at the convenience of the great powers that rule neoliberal politics, which extend to a large part of today’s world.

In general, the encounter between human groups is governed by confrontation and conflict, not by harmony. According to Said (2015) “in political economy, geography and anthropology each <<world>> is enclosed in itself, has its own borders and its specific territory” (p. 2). According to this author, this is valid for a global level and applies to the very structure of civilizations. It also suggests that each one has its “own psychology and scale of values” (p. 2). In this way, the issue of otherness forms a flashpoint in human relations. About this, it is convenient to recall the statement of Jahanbegloo (2022), which refers to the need of thinking about otherness, not only because of and in terms of human survival interests but on moral terms beyond its assumption as one more simple issue in the human moral catalog. It has to be so because, as long as we humans continue to consider the other only for survival, there will be no equity.

In this regard, some other authors think that the way out is dialogue as the way to accept differences. According to Kaul et al. (2022), accepting others implies knowing how to dialogue with them, accept otherness or place one foot in one’s own culture and the other in that of others. Through dialogue, if the word is heard and accepted with the right meaning given to it by the other, it is possible to be intercultural. Respect in dialogue does not mean simply accepting the voice of the interlocutors as it is presented; it also implies the possibility of a healthy criticism of the meanings given by all people involved and, as a consequence, mutual enrichment. Ideally, everyone should fill the basket of their subjective autonomy with the contribution of those who communicate the goods of their own subjectivity.

Thus, according to Džinović (2022), human interactions mediated by dialogue take place in social contexts, so that they are not trapped in the individual consciousness of each interlocutor. However, this social space does allow the individual consciousness to influence the dialogue. This happens through the subjective charges of the participants (religious or political ideologies, for example), which are mutually transformed.

Finally, in coherence with the previous developments, the relationship between the perception of otherness and coexistence becomes evident. From it follows the possibility of improving the latter by intervening in the former. This possibility would be substantially improved if there were some scales that would allow the measurement of these phenomena, implying at the same time the conversion of coexistence and otherness from a conceptual construct to a variable. However, despite the potential benefits, the social sciences do not so far have the dimensions and indicators for this purpose.

2.2. Technologies of Communication and the Social Bond: Mediation of Communication

A theme present in communication projects for development is precisely the transformative capacity of communication. The main concern is to determine whether the dialogue and its corresponding social interaction through messages and factors involved in the process could cause social transformation (Luhmann 2018; O’Sullivan and Carr 2018; Van Dijk 2019).

This topic produces new loops in the unfolding of new forms of social interaction related to the exponential growth of information technology, which makes it difficult to measure the impact produced. However, according to the findings of Yuan et al. (2017), there are new patterns of civic affiliation in the context of broad historical structural changes and the specific characteristics of contemporary forms of mediated socialization.

Yuan et al. (2017) pointed out that social networks, as mediating structures for civic engagement, produce disjunctive responses. Just as they may produce the intended effects, they may end, “in some case, exacerbating deeply ingrained social conflicts instead of providing viable long-term solutions” (p. 1). They also affirmed that at their best, “social networks potentially facilitate the negotiations of social movements and the civic commitment of their roles and realizations of their identities; […] the modes of civic association include groups that have to do with pacification, enlightenment, the development of production, the arts and sciences” (Yuan et al. 2017, p. 15).

The findings allow highlighting the fact that the difficulties are not really related to the digital platform or social networks. They are closely related to coexistence itself, a situation that is not new to humanity. Martín-Barbero (2000, p. 26) proposed that the difficulty’s core is mainly related to the approach and proximity to the other, i.e., otherness. According to this author, it turns around the mistrust and the uncertainty produced by the other; it also produces the growth of intolerance, making the so-called social pact impossible to reach. All this conduces to deep complications for people to recognize themselves in the difference of what the other thinks, likes or what the other has as a vital, aesthetic or political horizon.

Now, according to Aguaded Gómez and Caldeiro Pedreira (2017), the communication ecosystem justifies coexistence in the audiovisual context. For this acquisition, whole and fit moral personalities are necessary and appropriate to analyze the social reality that exists, i.e., thoughtful persons, able to assess the present situation and develop their own behavior as receivers that, daily and continuously, are exposing themselves to media information.

Consequently, the scope of coexistence with a high degree of media autonomy that would allow the adoption of independent and responsible positions has many obstacles. Because of this, it is a necessary intervention possibility also intended to allow a responsible dialogue. In this sense, it appears that digital media, networks and people’s exchange through those networks are especially important elements, which was called the culture of convergence by Jenkins et al. (2018).

All of the above requires an exchange channel that allows individuals to be impacted in a way that enables deep and critical thought on the massive information circulating on the networks. According to Scolari (2013), new uses of traditional media and other forms provided by the digital environment, such as transmedia narratives, allow content production to reach some interesting contexts of democratization while producing and broadcasting. In this regard, Altheide (2019) warned that the social order is increasingly a mediated one, and any serious attempt to understand contemporary life cannot avoid this fact and its implications.

2.3. Edutainment, Learning and the Transformation of Thought

The definition of gamification, according to AlMarshedi et al. (2015), refers to the use of game elements and game development mechanisms in non-game environments. It is a motivational tool that combines the principles of commitment, reward and incentives to encourage behavioral changes, motivate the learning of new skills, or increase participation.

Edutainment, on the other hand, can help achieve predetermined goals because of the element of enjoyment that it brings. Deriving from it comes the potential of behavioral change and the acquisition of capabilities. At the same time, fictional contexts are created in the form of narratives, graphics and music. These can promote interest in issues outside the game; for example, the story when used properly (Watson et al. 2011).

There are still many questions about the effectiveness of edutainment in education. However, most empirical studies indicate that it has had a positive effect on motivations and behaviors (Hamari et al. 2014; Sailer et al. 2017; Su and Cheng 2015; Koivisto and Hamari 2019; Lee et al. 2020). However, beyond edutainment, in serious games, there is a greater possibility of commitment and ability to connect with intrinsic motivation and produce a cognitive, emotional, and social benefit (Granic et al. 2014; Hamari and Keronen 2017; Vesa et al. 2017). In this same sense, Connolly (2012) presented a systematic review of the literature on learning based on serious games, focusing on the attainment of empirical evidence. The results emphasize the need for more rigorous testing of the effectiveness of the games and their real impact.

According to De-Marcos et al. (2014), video games are interactive activities that continually provide challenges and goals for players. This involves an active learning process to master the mechanics of the game. Busch et al. (2015) presented a detailed experiment in which games from a web platform were used for an e-learning experience and evaluated it. Conclusions include that the platform serves as a collaborative database with which students can create and answer questions, using it as an alternative means to study and review geography and math topics, among other content.

The results of the investigations generally conclude that games are almost always effective and, when the results of the application of edutainment are unexpected, this is usually attributed to failures of design and not the platform itself (Hamari and Keronen 2017; Koivisto and Hamari 2014; Hense et al. 2013; Su and Cheng 2015; Klock et al. 2021). Nonetheless, Jagušt et al. (2018); Lee et al. (2020) stated that, although edutainment is gaining popularity in educational context, there is still a lack of empirical evidence about the reasons for its success or either its failure.

Despite these discussions, the educational field is not removed from the use of video games and it should not; according to Orozco et al. (2011, p. 11), “the video game turned out to be a practice not only recurrent but constant in the interactivity of children with the screens {…} therefore, it is inevitable to consider the possibility of linking the two in the service of education”. In fact, in the same text, Orozco highlighted “the playful part of learning that boys pour into video games since they are able to remember sequences in controls, passwords, and tricks that allow them to improve their skills or remove obstacles in the video game”.

On the other hand, Orozco et al. (2011) emphasized that beyond whether a game is created to educate or not, by itself and because of the technology that supports it, it produces what he called unnoticed learning. However, for authors such as Buckley and Doyle (2017), the research so far into the effectiveness of edutainment in an educational context should be taken with prudent caution rather than with absolute optimism.

Using edutainment in education requires a complex study of the intervening variables and their characteristics. Some efforts in this regard include Scolari in Hipermediaciones (Scolari 2008), who conceptualized some characteristics as bases for educational maintenance today. Those characteristics include digitization, hypertextuality, reticularity, interactivity, multimediality, virtuality, non-sequentiality and modularity.

This perspective implies the transformation of human thought, leaving behind unambiguous explanations, closed models and the great truths recorded in books. Knowledge is built from fragment to complexity and vice versa, but without a linear order, constituting a fabric in the manner of a network.

The conclusion obtained from the authors’ reading is that more investigations are required, especially longitudinal ones that empirically demonstrate student behavior generated during the game to make valid inferences.

2.4. The Influence of Edutainment in Emotion and Learning

The authors insist that it is necessary to focus on the fundamental elements that make the games attractive to create a system of edutainment that increases student motivation. In this sense, although the reward system is not the only element, it is commonly assumed it is one of the most significant (De-Marcos et al. 2014). There is a transition between failures and successes that must occur in a balanced way so that the player acquires a level of performance that is highly motivating and promotes a balance of emotional tension.

Research such as that of Van Roy and Zaman (2018) was conducted to measure the effects of games on emotions and motivation. They analyzed a 15-week university master’s course in which students voluntarily interacted with an edutainment platform. The results highlighted the potential for ambivalent motivation with the game elements incorporated into the platform. In some cases, they enhanced feelings of autonomy. The authors suggested that this ambivalent motivation depends directly on certain situational factors that play an important role in this competition and relationship process.

It can ultimately be concluded that several factors intervene in the existence of a positive or negative impact on an emotional level stemming from the use of edutainment. Some are intrinsic, i.e., they depend on the individuals who participate in the game, their personalities, their emotional stability etc. Others depend on the structure of the game, on the relationships established with peers, on mediation by the teacher and even on the culture and how social ties have been woven into each human group that participates in the process.

2.5. Edutainment and Human Interaction

For Petrucco and Agostini (2016), the measuring stick concerning the topic of interaction is essentially Vygotsky’s, according to which, human beings learn from our surrounding world through instruments and artifacts that increase the area of proximal development. This implies the possibility of learning spaces or of knowledge building that is based on an important way of social interaction. The medium for this interaction is based on language, i.e., that dialogue, the collaborative workplace and interpellation to the other fosters introjection and thereby learning.

Monereo (2007) maintained that the intrapsychological mental scenario must also be treated as a space for dialogue, i.e., as an interpsychological space. The latter space arises in games, in the manner either of an opponent, a playmate, a team or the other. Added to this is the matter of collective performance. According to Jenkins et al. (2018), the answer lies in the culture of convergence, in which is articulated the concept of participation and collective intelligence.

Convergence is defined by Jenkins et al. (2018) as a space where the old meets the new. In this space, technological transformations take place with their unique cultural and social consequences. Consequently, different content and diverse media platforms are mixed. According to Jenkins, convergence mediated by participation occurs in the brains of individual consumers and through their social interactions with others, giving new meaning to old content from their own cognitive and subjective structure in general.

Regarding collective intelligence, it is conceptualized by Lévy (2007) not as the fusion of individual intelligence but in a sort of indistinct magma; it is taken as a process of growth, differentiation and the mutual reactivation of singularities. It constitutes for the collective a new way of identification. It is also the assessment and mutual promotion of the particularities of each person. At present, management proposals based on collective intelligence have as key factors interaction, interactive learning, distributed collaboration and the enhancement of knowledge in all its dimensions (Figueroa and Pérez 2018).

In other words, convergence in participation occurs in individuals through their social interactions with others. The consumer of information redefines it from their cognition and subjectivity and returns a construct that begins to combine with that of others. The result is an interaction of knowledge that forms a new type of social relationship, mediated by technological support, allowing “navigation between knowledge” (Lévy 2007).

An example of this type of collective construction is crowdsourcing, a term that, according to Uhlmann et al. (2019), was coined by Van Den Hove (2006) and refers to an open call at random, to find among amateurs the proposal or solution to a certain problem, focusing on collective intelligence. From these concepts, a new approach is taken to the issue of interaction and collective learning, underpinned by edutainment, which currently has found multiple ways of creating and processing, as well as a multiplicity of meanings. An example of this is the work of Matta (2021), who analyzed the use of a role-playing game as a mediator for teaching and learning processes. Matta developed the work on the topic of religious diversity, finding that “the use of the […] game contributed to develop in the students a critical analytical thinking, all participating students presented characteristics of secularity, equality, justice, respect, protection, participation, autonomy, and solidarity, but only the third group presented the characteristics of collaboration, mediation, concreteness, interactivity, and metacognition, besides the characteristics of socialization” (p. 16).

Concerning the issue of coexistence, Kahne et al. (2009) addressed the use of video games to promote civic behavior. They concluded that a direct correlation between the use of video games and citizen commitments could not be established, but adolescents who have this experience of edutainment tend to be participants in social processes compared to those who do not have the experience. Mejía and Londoño (2011) agreed that it is not yet clear how various aspects of the game should be designed to optimize learning and pro-social attitudes.

According to Mejía and Londoño (2011), there are some experiences of serious games that meet the above condition, which enable understanding of the Arab–Israeli conflict, such as UnderSiege (2002) (Zigler and Bishop-Josef 2004) by Radwan Kasmiya (Afkarmedia), or Matari 69200 (2005) by Rolando Sanchez, which reproduces episodes of an armed confrontation in Perú. There are also: Estrecho Adventure by López (1996), who through animation narrates the adventures of a North African emigrant in Spain; A Force More Powerful, from the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict; and Food Force, by the World Food Program of the United Nations Organization.

Another investigation by Romero-Rodríguez et al. (2017), suggests there are also some approaches to the issue of coexistence and pro-social attitudes in studies of recent years. Academic literature from major databases (ISI-WOS, Scopus, and Google Scholar) shows a total of 17 experiences of edutainment, of which 9 are education for sustainable development, 5 are related to education for human rights and 3 pertain to the dimension of education for international understanding, each organized according to its indicators. Researchers Romero-Rodríguez et al. (2017) concluded that education is seen as a catalyst for social change by providing an interactive and transversal character and encouraging desired behaviors for the moral development of people toward active engagement in the community.

2.6. Serious Games and Theories of Motivation and Persuasion

According to Mateus et al. (2021):

The review of the different ways of approaching games makes it possible to distinguish between games for learning and serious games. The main differences between them are circumscribed in the management of motivation and fun in the games. Learning games are based on motivation and fun to facilitate educational processes. Serious games, on the other hand, require a particular theoretical foundation on which their structure is built and do not depend on fun, since motivation is handled from theories of persuasion.

(p. 11)

That difference allows to put in context Perosanz’s statement (Perosanz 2011), which points out that edutainment is one of the most promising fields, which includes attractive messages for its audiences, has a strong emotional component and has a clear narrative structure. This is supported by Moyer-Gusé (2008) and Slater and Rouner (2002). This theory is based on the sociocognitive model (Bandura 2003; Sabido 2004), which explains learning processes through the observation of symbolic models. However, it has been proven that behaviors are not learned indiscriminately; motivation and affections, among other factors, intervene in this process.

Slater and Rouner (2002) pointed out that the model of edutainment is not sufficient to establish objectives such as the promotion of pro-social behaviors. Therefore, they proposed the extended elaboration likelihood model (E-ELM). Igartua and Barrios (2012) described this model, explaining that persuasive messages and education–entertainment content are not processed in the same way, given that the goals and motivations are quite different. If the message is related to a topic relevant to a person, there will be systematic, intense and careful processing of its arguments—via a central route. However, when the message is focused on a topic of low relevance, the individual will not develop such careful or systematic processing—a peripheral route (Igartua and Barrios 2012).

The E-ELM also proposes that a large portion of the knowledge people acquire throughout their lives is not obtained through direct experience but through the stories they hear and internalize, which replace the lived experience. This principle is mainly used in video games; “to be transported” to these experiences involves subjects both cognitively and emotionally. The researchers agree that motivation and the emotional component are relevant in narrative persuasion (Moyer-Gusé 2008; Igartua and Barrios 2012; Wendorf 2016).

The narrative persuasion has been defined since Hinyard and Kreuter (2007, p. 778) as a “coherent story, with an identifiable beginning, middle, and end, furnishes information about the scene, character, and conflict; raises unanswered questions or unresolved conflicts; and provides resolution.” However, Moyer-Gusé (2008) argued that for this, there must be a kind of balance between fantasy and plausibility, and the setting must be “credible and to some extent plausible within existing schemes.”

Narrative persuasion is defined as “a representation of events and characters that has an identifiable structure that is limited in space and time and contains implicit or explicit messages on the subject at hand” (Kreuter et al. 2007, p. 222). It is based on its effectiveness focused on the ability to transport and identify, because, for example, identification reduces counterargument and resistance (including fear and inertia). According to the conceptualization of Green and Brock (2000) transport in a narrative world is a different mental process that involves a convergence of attention, images and feelings.

Igartua (2008) conceptualized the identification with the characters as a mechanism through which the narration is experienced from within because it produces an empathetic reaction with the protagonists. According to Wendorf (2016), the identification in entertainment education occurs primarily with a key character. It is not imitation and has four distinct dimensions: shared feelings (empathy), shared cognitions (cognition), shared goals (motivation) and absorption (transport). Through identification with a key character, individuals can enact responses and choices to situations from a position of suspended ideology. In this regard, Slater and Rouner (2002) worked with the E-ELM and found that “absorption in the narrative can more deeply motivate a different type of processing and lead to adopting attitudes and behaviors promoted in the narrative while reducing resistance”.

Green and Brock (2000) defined this as a convergent process, in which all mental systems and capacities focus on events that occur in the narratives. Wendorf (2016) proposed that those involved in narrative persuasion are better able to understand the position of the other, by distancing themselves from retained schemas. This experience places subjects in a position of greater susceptibility to changes in attitude presented within persuasive narrative content (Slater and Rouner 2002). Through such interactions, viewers have the feeling that they know the characters or that they develop the same relationships of friendship of the vicarious type. This causes them to worry about the characters when they go through difficult/committed situations or when they rejoice and express positive emotions regarding their successes (Igartua and Veja 2014).

3. Method

The work was conducted through the content analysis technique, which, according to Krippendorff (1990), is a research method aimed at formulating from certain data reproducible and valid inferences that can be applied to their context. The method included a mixed-type approach, i.e., qualitative, and quantitative measurements. The analysis was performed by coding units of analysis by subject according to the definition of Berelson (1952). These units were examined using ATLAS.ti software, becoming categories of subject or topic, which implies the subject covered in the content. These categories in turn include subcategories that are mutually exclusive but are all derived without exception from the texts analyzed.

The procedure included the precision of a set of texts that had as initial inclusion criteria: Disciplines that address the subjects or units of analysis of coexistence, otherness, edutainment and communication (philosophy, anthropology, sociology, psychology, education and communication). Then, the texts were filtered once again with inclusion criteria as follows: Scientific articles from the last twenty years, obtained under the search criteria containing the a priori selected units of analysis “coexistence”, “otherness” “communication”, “edutainment”, with the Boolean operators “and” “or” “sor”; in reliable databases, mainly Scopus, Web of Science, Sage, Jstor, Redalyc, Dialnet and Springer; Books and/or book chapters by authors recognized in the field or discipline by their citation index.

Articles were excluded if they were outside the time range established for the sample, or if they belonged to other disciplines not considered for the work, as was the case of neuropsychology, for example.

A co-word analysis was also carried out, which was developed through the following stages. First, the recovery of articles and texts used as sources, and then the frequency count was created with ATLAS.ti software of themes associated with this research’s keywords and contained in every single recovered document. Only those words with 15 or more appearances were considered. According to the aims of this investigation, in order to analyze data and to obtain the conceptual structure, thematic networks were generated from the keywords. Co-occurrence relations between words were represented by graphics that, in turn, were connected by nodes and links.

Procedure

Phase 1

The researchers initiated the search and collection of documents, in coherence with the objectives, the hypothesis and the categories considered. This search was carried out in the specialized databases listed in

Table 1. Specialized databases for data collection.

Database	Papers Account
Dialnet	5
Jstor	36
Redalyc	11
Sage	9
Scopus	97
Springer	7
Web of Science	102
Total	267

Source: Self-generated.

. Then, the documents were carefully reviewed to identify, highlight and separate the paragraphs or sections related to the research objectives. These fragments were numbered to facilitate their location and linkage with the source texts. Finally, keywords or meanings were underlined with color codes to differentiate one from the other.

Phase 2

This process was followed by the coding of the units of analysis, which consisted of words, fragments or paragraphs containing keywords that were directly related and relevant to the understanding of the study. The codes in this case were established a priori, by the thematic criteria established from the title of the work.

Phase 3

The previous work made possible the construction of the codebook with the corresponding instructions for coders. These included the relation of the objective, as well as the hypothesis, the categories, the units of analysis and a possible scheme with the convergences proposed from the theoretical framework of the research (systemic review). The latter would be confirmed after analysis with ATLAS.ti software. Four of the five researchers coded and analyzed with the software; the fifth analyzed the results, verifying that a recording unit could only be placed under one variable, finally measuring the percentage of agreement, considering the minimum value of 0.80 or 80%, as proposed by Igartua et al. (2021).

Phase 4

In this phase, the researchers proceeded with the organization to obtain the results. In the first instance, they were constructed with VOSviewer networks as a way of contrasting the findings of the researchers’ coding. In addition, the use of ATLAS.ti software made it possible to obtain the networks, which provided the dimensions and indicators of otherness and coexistence. The same software was used to obtain the foundation for a possible intervention, called convergence. Then, using the Excel program, the disciplines that contributed theories to the work were categorized, locating the professions or biographies of the authors.

Phase 5

In this phase the proposal was synthesized.

4. Results

First, the current paper proposes a taxonomy which drove to discover spaces of juxtaposition between coexistence, otherness communication and edutainment. It aims to address the study of this convergence from a positive scientific background. That for researchers used 267 documents dating from 2000 to 2022.

This convergence is redefined from contributions of psychology, sociology, education, and communication, to lay the foundation for an intervention tool for the promotion of coexistence.

The initial analysis was performed using VOSviewer that classified related topics for study and these are plotted in Figure 1. Based on this principle, we carefully delineated the subject to then detect trends, authors and even transformations in the approach to a certain object of study. In this case, the review took as a starting point the scientific production regarding coexistence, otherness, communication and edutainment.

Studies on coexistence and otherness tend toward the greater production of scientific articles with a predominance of investigations of media incidence, especially regarding social networks and age groups from childhood to adolescence. The themes of diversity and otherness are currently working with theories based on prevalent intercultural perspectives (Figure 2).

Figure 2 shows the most relevant issues from communication, namely, the incidence of new screens in the lives of individuals and their social relationships and the impact of communication technologies on social development.

Figure 3 shows edutainment as a growing aspect in terms of scientific production. There are studies of its application in different areas, of which education is one of the most relevant. However, there are very few studies on coexistence and only one reference work conceptually similar, developed by some librarians based on the game Minecraft to promote citizenship in 2015.

In the second stage, analysis was performed using ATLAS.ti software. Elements that were juxtaposed were related and the trends for the decision-making of the conceptual structure were identified. The results were plotted in red, which allowed the connection of concepts related to the object of study. Finally, we obtained a total of 30 topics of interest that were grouped into six categories.

4.1. Convergences of Technologies of Communication and the Social Bond: Mediation of Communication

Regarding communication technologies and the social bond, the most relevant topics according to the number of citations were communication mediation (123), communication technologies (97), bond and social networks (69), social transformation (54) and affiliation patterns (17) (Figure 4).

4.2. Edutainment, Learning and the Transformation of Thought: Contribution of Education

Another significant aspect in the analysis was the topic of convergence between edutainment and education, which was related to learning through games (41 quotes), the transformation of thought (33 quotes), cognition (27 quotes) and learning (16 quotes) (Figure 5).

4.3. The Influence of Edutainment in Emotion and Learning: Convergences from Psychology

The subject of emotion was significant, with 65 quotations, relating interaction between subjects with 89 citations and affiliation patterns with 17 citations. According to González and Blanco (2008), emotions can influence learning positively or negatively and, above all, they can influence the motivation to learn. Persuading a student to feel motivated or not to learn something is one of the keys to autonomous learning (Figure 6).

4.4. Edutainment and Human Interaction: Convergences from Sociology and Psychology

Another network that emerged was edutainment and human interaction (Figure 7), made up of topics such as mediation with 92 citations, social and behavioral schemes with 91 citations, otherness with 79 citations, the interaction between subjects with 89 citations, convergence with 42 citations and learning with edutainment, 41 citations.

4.5. Convergences: Serious Games and Theories of Motivation and Persuasion

The topic of serious games and theories of persuasion, obtaining 78 citations, links, and social networks with 69, games and motivation with 17 and affiliation patterns also with 17 (Figure 8).

4.6. Convergences of Edutainment and Coexistence: Background

Regarding the game and coexistence, the results of the analysis (Figure 9) show 110 citations referring to the topic of coexistence, 79 citations to otherness, 54 references to social transformation, 44 to theories of persuasion, 17 to affiliation patterns and 17 to games and motivation.

These findings allow researchers to think about creating a theoretical heritage from these convergences to address human coexistence as the complex object of study it is. This approach emerges mainly from communication and education. The most relevant concepts have been represented in a Venn diagram (Figure 10). The graph shows the convergence spaces proposed for the construction of coexistence and otherness. Among them, for example, the intersection between education and sociology allows the catalyzation of the social bond through learning to promote social pacts. Likewise, with respect to the core, this becomes the knot that articulates the entire proposal. It includes the disciplines, the theoretical constructions they contribute and the conceptual elements that would allow the intervention.

4.7. Categories and Indicators of Coexistence and Otherness

The findings indicate that trends in current research are determined by questioning the phenomenon of globalization and its obstacles, among them, inclusion, reappearance of issues such as racism and obstacles to immigration. A current and relevant topic is multiculturalism related to the sense of belonging, which until now has only reached the status of a construct, i.e., a conceptual construct that has not been possible to operationalize or put into practice clearly and effectively, most of the time due to the obstacles entailed by such coexistence.

In general terms, the obstacles arise partially through the perception of otherness, because if the other is perceived as alien, foreign or enemy, rejection occurs, producing ghettos among other phenomena. Identity occurs in the same way. It becomes an obstacle to coexistence insofar as anguish for the loss of unity, continuity and the sameness of identity frequently elicits the reactions of rejection and exclusion in human groups. Research works in this sense tend toward proposals of creating cultural spaces for the encounter of identities in a more assertive way.

With respect to relationships and interactions, issues such as equality, equity, respect, conflict, and tolerance are addressed. The constructs in this regard are divergent in terms of theoretical positions and trends. For example, the issue of tolerance is questioned in the sense of how much to tolerate if it concerns reaching agreements or setting limits on what can or cannot be tolerated. Nevertheless, one of the main difficulties is that most works follow the path of phenomenological designs.

In response to the purpose of converting the coexistence and otherness constructs into variables with indicators, the results shown in

Table 2. Categories and dimensions.

Category	Dimension	Indicator	Authors
Coexistence	Sense of belonging	Inclusion	Kymlicka (2006); Rodríguez et al. (2006); Etxeberria (2003); Giménez (2003); Lévy (2007); Shenhav and Yonah (2005); Jenkins (2008); Deusdad (2009); Rifkin (2000); Barabas (2014); Mossiere (2016); Sanvicén-Torné et al. (2017); Chaskin et al. (2019); Yang et al. (2020); Kramer and Liu (2019); Jahanbegloo (2022).
		Minorities
		Regionalisms
	Identity	Diversity	Todorov (1991); Giménez (2003); Córdova et al. (2003); Gunesch (2004); Van Den Anker (2010); Blondel and Delzescaux and Blondel (2018); Sealy (2018); Džinović (2022).
		Unity
		Ideologies
	Relations/Interaction	Equity	Ajzen and Fishbein (1980); Giménez (2003); Etxeberria (2003); Pérez-Latre (2004); Bekerman (2007); (Said 2015); Igartua and Veja (2014); Barabas (2014); Bayón and Saraví (2019); Castaño (2015); Villalobos et al. (2016); Villalobos et al. (2016); Polhuijs (2018); Anderson (2019); Kauff et al. (2020); Kaul et al. (2022).
		Conflicts
		Respect
		Intolerance
Otherness	The other as alien, foreign or enemy	Stranger	Todorov (1991); Lévinas and Cohen (2000); Rundell (2004); Gudiño-Bessone (2011); Giaccaglia et al. (2012); Bekus (2017); Villalobos et al. (2016); Métais and Villalobos (2022).
		Foreigner
		Alien
		Enemy
	The other as an object	Indifferent	Freud (1917); Laín Entralgo (1967); Lacan (1975); Kojeve (1982); Hercman (2016); Romero-Rodríguez et al. (2020); Métais and Villalobos (2022).
		Tool
		Obstacle
	The other as similar	Compatriot	Kant (1994); Laín Entralgo (1967); Bekerman (2007); Shenhav and Yonah (2005); Shohat and Stam (2003); Reguillo (2005); Hercman (2016); Markovich (2018); Torné et al. (2017); Mendoza (2019); Jahanbegloo (2022).
		Understandable
		Similar
		Close
	The other as alterity or different	Different	Freud (1917); Todorov (1991); Bauman (2006); Esquirol (2005); Garreta (2004); Deusdad (2009); Jorba (2011); Villalobos et al. (2016); Guttormsen (2018); Skovgaard-Smith et al. (2020); Martínez Chicón and Muriedas Díez (2019); Salvatore et al. (2019); Obrador et al. (2022); Alian and Wood (2019); Frizzarin et al. (2022).
		Divergent
		Strange

Source: Self-generated.

were obtained.

Consequently, with the aforementioned, and as a result of the literature review, it is inferred by the authors of this paper that it is necessary to find a structure that can change the status of the constructs of coexistence and otherness to an observational conceptualization with dimensions and indicators. This allows research that transcends the phenomenological, which is possible only from an interdisciplinary approach.

4.8. Convergences

According to the review, disciplines that contribute to the research about coexistence and otherness include education, communication in its technical aspect, sociology, and psychology with the categories described in Figure 11.

The greatest achievements regarding the understanding of otherness and coexistence come from philosophy and sociology. Education makes contributions about how to affect cognitive structure through learning for thought development and therefore social transformation. Psychology provides an understanding of human motivation, emotions and theories of persuasion as a foundation for a pro-social intervention with less resistance and counter-argumentation.

Up to now, coexistence and otherness have been constructs, non-observational concepts. That is, they are opposed to empirical or variable concepts as long as they cannot be manipulated and can only be inferred as long as they are not tangible. The possibility of realizing a process of categorization to convert them into variables that can be studied by measurement and analysis via quantitative methods is of absolute relevance because it provides a heuristic possibility for this object of study, which is precisely one of the values of the present work.

4.9. Convergences Rather Than Interdisciplinarity

In the current paper, the researchers address the importance of a dialogued approach between various disciplines to tackle the complexity of certain objects of study, especially in the social sciences. However, generally when this goal is attained, what is obtained is a patchwork quilt in which each discipline contributes its knowledge without achieving a true synthesis. In response to this, we propose examining an object of study from the convergences necessary to execute, for example, an intervention for coexistence. This implies not conversing with the various disciplines but taking from them elements that converge toward the possible solution of the problem. This builds a fabric from the knowledge that facilitates the definition of a propositional structure that in this case includes elements of edutainment, psychology, communication and other disciplines to contemplate the complexity associated with coexistence and otherness (Figure 11).

All of this is during important discussions such as those regarding the efficacy of the platforms of edutainment, which, although currently very commonly used, provide data commonly grounded in the perceptions of people evaluated. That is, they lack instruments and objective measures to acquire other types of data. Most investigators agree that research is still incipient and that quantitative data from longitudinal research are lacking to achieve greater accuracy in this respect, so this is a valuable opportunity to formulate new research.

Finally, on the issue of coexistence, there are no works that have realized this taxonomy with an emerging conceptual framework through an analysis of the aspects related herein, nor has an edutainment platform been specifically created to treat coexistence as analyzed from the databases. Therefore, it has become a possibility for new research and products that, from a positive methodology, facilitate measurable, quantifiable and replicable interventions in any context.

4.10. Coexistence and Otherness Convergences from Communication and Edutainment (Serious Games)

Figure 12 shows the fundamental elements for addressing coexistence and otherness from convergence at an intersection with edutainment and, more specifically, serious games and communication.

In accordance with the theoretical background, it has been demonstrated that the intersection between communication and edutainment creates an interpsychological space that promotes the structuring of subjectivity. This happens as long as it promotes dialogue and develops a broadening of consciousness and critical thinking, among other aspects. The convergence between communication and otherness fosters the recognition of the other and allows a resignification of conceptions about the other. The juxtaposition of spaces between coexistence and edutainment facilitates the construction of the bond and the social pact, as long as the use of narratives that allow achieving this objective through serious games is carefully studied.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

Regarding the possibility of converting the constructs of coexistence and otherness into variables, we start from the conclusion of Craig (1999), who warned at the time that they have not changed much in three decades. This situation continues to be the case even today. These phenomena have always been approached from qualitative perspectives, specifically phenomenological and interpretative. It is a need for social sciences to generate a categorization that allows approaching the object of study from another paradigmatic perspective. In addition, there is a great possibility for structuring it with the advantages of digital resources and, more specifically, educational entertainment. It all ends in a much more contributive tool for coexistence experiences and its understanding. This is precisely one of the contributions described in this paper.

Another objective of the work was to find theoretical contributions to support the design of a proposal for future interventions on coexistence and otherness. This design is supported by communication and edutainment. The work also provided theoretical elements for the resignification of the term convergences. The meaning proposed by Scolari (2009) was taken to specify the confluence of languages and systems of signification that are being produced in the media ecosystem. The present research is close to this principle of interrelations that make up a system, but it distances itself from Scolari’s proposal to the extent that it is not only based on concepts and elements of communication but also converges contributions from other disciplines such as psychology and education, for example.

In this order of ideas, another important point must be to achieve recognition of the other through dialogue. The construction and exchange of meanings can be catalyzed and optimized through serious games that, together with communication, permit the creation of an interpsychological space that can be exploited to the maximum for subjective restructuring and strengthening of the social bond. This work becomes relevant to the extent that current political discourses make use of what Reinemann et al. (2019, p. 19) called “the core of populism” which “is considered to consist in constructing or emphasizing a sense of attachment to the community, associated with sharing a specific social identity”. This way, the ‘others’ can be presented in a wide range of possible categories, among them, deviant, foreigner, criminal and representative of an ethnic minority (Lipiński 2020).

Thus, it becomes necessary to generate spaces for coexistence and the encounter with others mediated by communicative processes that allow alleviating the tension caused by the emphasis on differences, the threat of the loss of identity and generating ties of friendship and recognition. It continues to be an important objective for many scientific disciplines. According to Haslam et al. (2022), social identity makes group-based social connection possible, a matter with which we agree. Moreover, we propose to take advantage of it through communication and serious games to promote such connection and produce new forms of social bonding. As demonstrated by these authors, social identity provides a sense of shared meaning, purpose, support and efficacy.

On the other hand, generating communicating vessels that allow approaching social sciences phenomena’s complexity and difficulty facilitates a greater margin of understanding of these phenomena and therefore becomes a significant contribution to this area of knowledge. In accordance with the thinking of Bammer (2017, p. 1) “the ability to combine knowledge from different disciplines, as well as to assess which disciplines and stakeholders have relevant perspectives, figure out how elements of problems are inter-connected, decide how to deal with critical unknowns, and use research to support evidence-based change”. In these terms, convergence is adopted in this research as something more than interdisciplinary in nature, because the whole idea is to create a new integral and integrated discipline to analyze the phenomena.

As the main conclusion, it is pointed out that the work obtained a taxonomy that allowed the inclusion of the different dimensions that the authors have recognized as proper to coexistence and otherness for more than 20 years. For coexistence, these include: Sense of belonging, Identity and Relations/Interaction. For otherness, the dimensions refer to the other as alien, foreign or enemy, the other as an object, the other as similar and the other as alterity or different. These dimensions, in turn, have associated indicators that make it possible to clearly establish ways of measuring these complex social phenomena.

Another relevant contribution is the proposal of convergences or meeting spaces between concepts and disciplines. In practice, they allow to establish the basis for possible intervention from communication and edutainment. Its design considers the contemporary social context, which has very particular characteristics as a consequence of the developments of technology and, especially, web 2.0. With this, the intervention creates social links through new communication channels, such as virtual social networks, e-mail, opinion spaces etc.

The interdisciplinary links that can be built and their implications for human development and the construction of social ties, based on the contributions of concepts and practical developments of disciplines framed in the social sciences and education, were also found as a finding.

As a limitation of the work, the researchers recognize the importance of statistical and expert validation of the proposed elements. However, this was not the objective of this work. Even so, their contribution includes the classification of dimensions and indicators that will allow the construction of measurement scales, experiments and other research processes. It also proposes an intervention proposal based on the convergence of concepts and disciplines of the social sciences. Another limitation was that concepts such as the following were not taken into account: novel topics about video games and addictions in neuropsychology or isolation and new technologies.

The results of this research will provide the basis for validation of the coexistence variable and, both as otherness variables, in future studies, as well as a scheme for carrying out interventions at the social level with the proposed tools.