FSB Author Article
Video Game Addiction
-- Why They're So Compelling and Five Warning Signs for Assessing Risk
By Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan,
Authors of Glued
to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound
Simply put, hundreds of motivational studies have demonstrated that we
all have basic psychological needs for competence
(a feeling of mastery, growth, and efficacy), autonomy (that
sense of personal
volition and feeling there are many interesting opportunities from
which to choose), and relatedness
(a feeling that "I matter" to others, and they matter to me). Decades
of research have shown these needs are always operating, whether we're
playing games, at work, playing sports, or just being social. They are,
in other words, fundamental or basic psychological needs.
Good games draw us in because they are designed to satisfy these
needs
really, really well. Specifically, they satisfy needs with immediacy,
consistency, and density. Let's talk about each of these briefly . . .
- Immediacy means that games are readily available. I bet all of us could be playing a video game -- either on our phones or computers -- within the next ten seconds if we wanted to. Sure beats the hour of driving just to get back and forth to the movies or out to the soccer field.
- Consistency means that games give us clear paths to success and achievement, and treat us fairly. A game doesn't tell us we got passed over for promotion because of office politics, or benched during the baseball game unfairly. Games give us the rewards they promise, each and every time. And we can count on them in that way.
- Density means that games give us a rich field of opportunities to pursue, activities to undertake, and challenges to conquer. While "real life" often seems sparse, games are there to offer us this density as well as instant feedback that makes us feel effective and even important.
1) Do you see a big "satisfaction
gap?" -- When you think about how needs are satisfied in your
"real life" versus games, do games come out way ahead? In our research,
we consistently find that
over-involvement in games goes hand-in-hand with feeling a lack of
basic need satisfactions for competence, autonomy, and relatedness in
other areas of life, such as school, work, social relationships,
and non-gaming hobbies and activities. The data suggest that if our
basic needs are too sparsely satisfied by life, there may be a
susceptibility to over-involvement in video games. Why might this
happen? Well when life isn't meeting our needs, the immediate and dense
availability of satisfactions for competence, autonomy, and relatedness
in games often become a stronger pull that draws us in too long and too
often.
2) Are Games "Crowding Out?" --
Do you miss deadlines at work or school because of gaming? Do you often
choose to game rather than spend time with friends or family? One gamer
I know reflected wistfully that he had missed most of the first five
years of his daughter's life because he spent so much time gaming. If
you're having these kinds of feelings about relationships, or not
meeting other responsibilities because of playing video games, it is a
sure sign that you might have a problem with too much gaming.
3) Are you feeling personal pressure,
guilt or shame around your gaming? -- It may sound like a
funny thing to say that some gamers feel they "pressure" themselves
into gaming, but it happens. There is a feeling that games are
something you're compelled to do, even if you don't particularly enjoy
or want to play at that moment. You may feel a sense of guilt or shame
about firing up another game, but do so anyway. If this feels like a
common experience for you, it is a sign that you are over-involved in
gaming.
4) Are you playing four or more hours
a day? -- A simple rule of thumb is how much time you spend on
average every week playing video games. We find that up until about 25
hours, there is no direct association between time spent playing, and
negative feelings or decreased well-being. Above that line, however, we
see a relationship begin to emerge between 25+ weekly hours, and bad
outcomes. So as one quick check: How much time on average are you
spending gaming each week? If it equals a half-time job or more -- it
really deserves a look.
5) Is gaming isolating important
others? -- While you are running around virtual worlds, perhaps
in the company of dozens of other online friends, slaying dragons and
completing missions, it is sometimes hard to remember that you are
leaving the molecular world -- and often the loved ones that are under
your own roof -- alone and isolated from you. If you are immersed in a
fantasy world, you aren't in this one. Be sure to check in with family
and friends about this. Listen to them if they express concern or even
some feelings of abandonment. If you feel you can't respond to their
requests to have more of your time, it is sign you are too deeply
involved with games.
© 2011 Scott Rigby and Richard M. Ryan, authors of Glued to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound
Author Bios
Scott Rigby PhD, co-author of Glued
to Games: How Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound, is
founder and president of Immersyve, Inc., a research and consulting
group specializing in the psychology of virtual worlds and interactive
technologies. In addition to publishing scholarly research on human
motivation, Dr. Rigby has himself developed interactive applications
for entertainment (Sony, Warner Brothers), education (The Smithsonian
Institute), and health care.
Richard M. Ryan, PhD,
co-author of Glued to Games: How
Video Games Draw Us In and Hold Us Spellbound, is a clinical
psychologist and professor of psychology, psychiatry, and education at
the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY. He is cofounder of the
Self-Determination Theory and has published well over 300 scholarly
articles in the areas of human motivation, personality development, and
applied psychology.
For more information please visit http://www.gluedtogames.com/ and follow the authors on Facebook and Twitter