Relatedness in Gaming: The Effect in‑Game Touch Has on Player Connection

Relatedness in Gaming: The Effect in‑Game Touch Has on Player Connection

Relatedness in Gaming: The Effect in‑Game Touch Has on Player Connection

By Victoria K. Lew, Joshua Smith, Nicholas Reuss, Xiyu Zhang, Jacob Gulliuzoand Christina M. Frederick

Abstract

“With the number of individuals becoming gamers on the rise, it has become ever so important to understand the underlying motivations and social interactions that occur within this video game medium. Research has revealed that playermotivation and relatedness within a game setting can be afected by the interpersonal relationships that develop fromin game social interactions. This specifc study was interested in how interpersonal touch and relatedness gestures, morespecifcally positive or negative touch conditions within a gameplay experience, can impact both player motivations,as well as inter-player impressions. Additionally, observational data measuring the quality of interaction between theparticipant in the study and a research confederate, with whom they were playing an online game was collected. A positiverelationship was found between player relatedness and positive touch between avatars.”

Reference

Lew, V. K., Smith, J., Reuss, N., Zhang, X., Gulliuzo, J., & Frederick, C. M. (2019). Relatedness in gaming: The effect in-game touch has on player connection. SN Applied Sciences, 2(1). doi:10.1007/s42452-019-1859-4 https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2822&context=publication

Keyword

Relatedness, motivation, interpersonal relationships, impressions, touch, research