Volunteers in video game study self-report positive well-being
Volunteers in video game study self-report positive well-being
Volunteers in video game study self-report positive well-being
By Bob Yirka
February 17, 2021
Summary
A team of researchers at the University of Oxford working with two video game makers has found that volunteers who play video games self-report a positive feeling of wellbeing.
In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes experiments they conducted with volunteer game players and what they learned from them.
As the researchers note, public and social media claims have suggested that people who spend more time playing video games are putting themselves at risk of developing addiction, resulting in poor mental health.
The experiments involved working with video game makers Electronic Arts and Nintendo to obtain online game playing statistics.
The surveys queried over 3,000 players on their wellbeing, their motivations and need satisfaction as they played their video games.
Each of the volunteers was monitored by a game maker as they played as a way to measure play time.
After collecting and analyzing their data, the researchers found a small but positive correlation between game playing and wellbeing-players reported more positive responses than expected.
They also note that video game players and their critics might want to shift their focus from the duration of game playing to looking at the reasons a person is playing in the first place.
The researchers conclude that those in charge of monitoring play time for others might want to consider the needs that are being met by the game instead of making it all about how much time they are playing.
Video game play is positively correlated with well-being, Royal Society Open Science.
Reference
Yirka, B. (2021, February 17). Volunteers in video game study self-report positive well-being. Medical Xpress - medical research advances and health news. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-volunteers-video-game-self-report-positive.html