Motivation and emotion/Book/2023/Gamer motivation

Gamer motivation:
What motivates game playing?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

Figure 1. An internet cafe located in Taiwan Case Study In 2015, a 32-year-old man was found dead in an internet café in Taiwan after a 3-day gaming binge. As a result of over-exhaustion from long hours of playing games this led to cardiac failure. His family said that he would disappear for two to three days on end (CNN, 2015). Figure 1 shows an internet cafe in Taiwan.

Game playing has become a valued part of many people’s lives. Game playing can involve anything from playing video games to playing candy crush on your phone. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s lives, with many individuals turning to game playing. A study conducted by Barr & Copeland-Stewart (2021) discovered that 71.3% of respondents reported the time they spent playing video games had significantly increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another study conducted by Han et. al (2022) reviewed 2,609 articles and discovered an increase in game usage time and game addiction during the pandemic.

Researchers have discovered that game playing holds a variety of psychosocial benefits such as emotional regulation, promotion of socialisation as well as strengthening executive control. On the other hand, researchers have discovered that game playing can lead to isolation, an increase in violence and can lead to a gaming disorder, anxiety and/or depression. This is evident in the below case study. The focus of this chapter is to investigate the motivations behind game playing, tying in motivational theories.

Focus questions: What are the motivational theories behind game playing? What are the different motives for game playing? What motivates gaming addiction?

What is gamer motivation?

Gaming motivations can be defined as behaviour-specific factors that drive individuals to start and/or continue gaming (Brand et. al, 2019). These different motivations can lead to numerous cognitive and behavioural outcomes that can be positive or negative to a person. This can be seen in Yee’s gaming motivation model.

Yee's gaming motivation model

Nick Yee identified three underlying motives for gaming based on 3,000 massively multiplayer online role-playing game profiles of players. The three motives can be seen in Table 1 below:

Table 1

The different motives of Yee's gaming model

Motives	Examples
Achievement Motive	Advancement, mechanics and competition
Social Motive	Socialising, relationships and teamwork
Immersion Motive	Discovery, role-playing, customisation and escapism

According to Yee (2006), the achievement motive involves the significance of progression throughout a game, the urge to understand the underlying rules of the game to optimise performance and the challenges with other players. The social motive involves getting to know other players within a game, building meaningful connections and the enjoyment of playing with other players. Lastly, the immersion motive involves the pleasure experienced from exploring the game, finding happiness in creating a broader narrative for the character within the game, a player’s desire to match outfits and create looks and the avoidance of real-life problems.

A study conducted by T’ng & Pau (2021) discovered a significant link with gaming motives such as the advancement and escape motive to gaming disorders. On the other hand, Billieux et. al (2013) have discovered that gaming motives such as the social motive are seen to be beneficial towards the physical and mental health of players. The advancement motive (a subcomponent of achievement motivation) refers to the desire of acquiring power, accumulating wealth and status in a game. It has been discovered that players motivated by achievement lack in planning, perseverance and have a cognitive distortion of in-game achievement (Billieux et al., 2015).

On the other hand, the escapism motive (a subcomponent of immersion motivation) is the extent to which a player avoids and escapes from real-life stressors and problems through the virtual world. Players with escapism motives also lack planning and perseverance and have low self-esteem (Billieux et.al, 2015). A longitudinal study conducted by Wang et. al (2021) investigated a total of 929 males over the course of a year and discovered a strong relationship between gaming motives and negative psychosocial outcomes. They discovered that the risk for achievers and escapers of developing social withdrawal was significant. However, only escapers were found to have a risk of developing anxiety or depression as well as exhibiting self-destructive behaviours.

Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivations

Most games involve a mix of extrinsic and intrinsic motivators, whilst others rely heavily on one specific motivator. Intrinsic motivation is defined as the participation of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for an external consequence (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsically motivated individuals act for internal satisfactions such as challenges, curiosity or enjoyment (Vansteenkite et al, 2013). On the other hand, extrinsic motivation can be defined by the participation of an activity that is driven by external consequences and rewards (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Extrinsic motivation can include game elements such as badges, points and other rewards as well as eliminating any punishments such as failing a level or losing a life.

Case Study Belinda and Daniel both attend high school together and are in the same French class. Their teacher thought it would be a good idea for all students to download Duolingo to assist them with learning French. At the end of every fortnight, their teacher gives out a prize to the top student that has the highest streak on the app. Daniel loves the French language and the challenging side of all of the different games and tasks. However, he is not interested in any of the rewards the teacher provides. On the other hand, Belinda does not enjoy learning French as it is her least favourite class. Although, she loves Duolingo as she can create her own avatar, earn different rewards and keep up her streak to earn a prize from her teacher. It can be seen that Daniel is intrinsically motivated by the app Duolingo whereas Belinda is extrinsically motivated by the app due to the rewards and prizes.

Motivational theories and game playing

There is a majority of research surrounding the underlying motivation individual's exhibit when playing games. This is further discussed using the self-determination theory, uses and gratification theory and the flow theory below.

Self-determination theory

According to the Self-determination theory, people have three basic psychological needs including autonomy, competence and relatedness that are crucial for an individual’s wellbeing and psychological growth (Uysal & Yildrim, 2016). This can be seen in Table 2.

Table 2

The psychological needs of the self-determination theory

Needs	Definitions
Autonomy	Refers to a sense of control or feeling volitional in one’s actions. From a player’s perspective, playing in a virtual environment removes some of the possible restrictions in the real world. This can allow players to customise, choose activities and roles from a large variety of options.
Competence	Refers to feeling optimally challenged and having a sense of mastery. From a player’s perspective, games that provide positive performance feedback, multilevel and opportunities to apply skills and effort promote satisfaction of competence needs.
Relatedness	Refers to a sense of social connectedness and belonging. From a player’s perspective these needs are satisfied when a player is able to connect with other players or virtual characters.

A study conducted by Grasse et. al (2022), examined how the motivational factors of the self-determination theory affect player’s most and least enjoyable experiences using a choice-based interactive storytelling game. 77 participants completed a short questionnaire after playing the game and provided reasons for autonomy, competence and relatedness that either made their experience enjoyable or frustrating.

1.Autonomy

It was discovered that participants enjoyed the choice-based aspect of the game as it allowed participants to control their own characters and drive the story. A lot of participants reported that they were not motivated to play a game where they do not have adequate control over the choices in a game. It was also reported that participants enjoyed the certain abilities and playstyles, providing the perception that they were allowed to do certain things in the game.

2. Competence

Competence was more likely to frustrate participants enjoyment (35%) than to satisfy it (23%) (Grasse et. al 2022). Participants reported that they enjoyed reaching milestones in the game as it gave them a sense of accomplishment. However, many participants found the issues with the game’s level of difficulty. This was the highest reason for lack of enjoyment and motivation amongst participants.

3. Relatedness

Relatedness occurred when the player engaged in perspective-taking or when they felt some form of alignment with a character. Relatedness was discovered to be the least common factor (12%) than autonomy and competence (29% each), which exhibits the greater impact these two psychological needs have on the motivation of game playing (Grasse et. al 2022). Most participant’s relatedness frustrations were because they did not feel aligned with their character. This is evident in a study conducted by (Tyack & Meckler, 2020) who discovered that players are thought to experience relatedness and positive wellbeing when they play video games that reflect and support their “true self”.

Uses and gratification theory

The uses and gratification theory originated in the 1940s and assumes that individuals actively seek out particular forms of social media to fulfil their wants and needs (Rubin, 2002). This theory focuses on three main elements (Krishnamoorthy & Sampat, 2016) (see Table 3):

Table 3

The elements of the uses and gratification theory

Elements	Definitions
Achievement	Defined by the desire to gain power, collect virtual items and compete with a component
Enjoyment	Obtaining pleasure and happiness from performing a task
Social interaction	Socialising and building new relationships by making friends online. Those feeling isolated and lonely from the real world can escape and interact with others online

A study conducted by Wei et. al (2014) investigated the motives behind individuals playing socially interactive games on mobile phones using the uses and gratification theory. This study collected data from 237 individuals through online questionnaires. It was discovered that social interaction is a strong determinant of a player’s intention to play mobile phone games. This is also evident in a study conducted by (Mandryk et. al, 2006) who discovered that playing computer games against another person or group of people tends leads to a sense of more fun and higher arousal than playing against a computer.

Engl & Nacke (2013) states that phone games are designed as casual games that are focused on fun and diversion rather than achievement goals. They also discovered that only a few participants were motivated by the mental challenge of playing mobile games and were more interested in killing time with on demand entertainment. This suggests that achievement is not a significant factor that contributes to an individual’s gratification with mobile social games.

Flow theory

Figure 2 - Cognitive and emotional flow diagram

Lastly, the flow theory is another motivational theory used to understand the motivation behind game playing. Flow theory was developed by Miahly Csikszentmahalyi and can be explained as a state of concentration or complete absorption with an activity and/or situation. The flow state is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation that can be separated into two flows, the cognitive flow and the emotional flow (see Figure 2) (Sanjamsai & Phukao, 2018). Flow is considered as the state either leading to positive or negative consequences in game playing.

A study conducted by Sanjamsai & Phukao (2018) investigated a sample of 478 university students aged from 18-24 years old to examine flow in computer gaming. The cognitive flow consisted of challenge-skill balance, clear goals and unambiguous feedback. On the other hand, the emotional flow focused on action-awareness merging, concentration on the task at hand, sense of control, loss of consciousness and time transformation. It was discovered that the cognitive flow and the emotional flow were correlated. When playing a game involving a positive emotional experience, a player would be able to recognise and remember it. The positive emotional experience increased cognitive skills such as problem-solving skills, analysis and creativity. On the other hand, playing a game involving a negative experience such as frustration and anger can interrupt these cognitive abilities (Hunt & Ellis, 1999).

It was also discovered that emotional experience could not occur without cognition. When something happened in a computer game, a player would use their cognition to evaluate and interpret it, then decide how to appropriately respond to that situation. For example, when encountering an obstacle, a player would use their cognitive ability to analyse the situation. If it was interpreted as a challenge, the emotional experience would be positive however, if it was seen as a difficulty, the player would feel anxious or stressed out. It is evident that the cognitive process and the emotional process influence each other in computer gaming (Fulcher, 2003). The flow experience whilst playing a game could be positive by enhancing a player’s cognitive skills, learning ability and self-efficacy as well as bringing out positive emotions such as enjoyment and a sense of belonging. On the other hand, it could negatively affect a player through gaming addiction behaviours and a decrease in self-consciousness Sanjamsai & Phukao (2018).

1 What are the three basic needs of the self-determination theory?:

	Autonomy, competence and relatedness
	Advancement, escapism and relatedness

2 Research shows that achievement is a significant factor that contributes to an individual's gratification with mobile games

	True
	False

3 According to Yee's Gaming Motivation Model, which two motives are linked to gaming disorders?

	Social and Escape Motives
	Advancement and Escape Motives

Gaming disorders and addiction

Video game addiction has become an increasing issue for many individuals. Studies have exhibited video gaming addiction leads to changes similar in the brain to gambling and substance abuse. It is also evident that there is a strong association between video gaming and psychological problems such as depression (Mohammed et. al, 2023). This can be referred to a gaming disorder.

What are gaming disorders?

A gaming disorder is defined in the 11^th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as “a pattern of gaming behaviour characterised by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.” (WHO, 2023). For a gaming disorder to be diagnosed, the behaviour must be severe enough to result in significant impairment to a person’s functioning in day-to-day life and must be evident for at least 12 months.

Motivators for gaming disorders

There is a wide range of research involving the different types of motivators that can lead to a gaming disorder or addiction. A study conducted by Ballabio et. al (2017) discovered that Yee’s gaming motivation model motivators such as escapism, fantasy, competition and social have the ability to mediate the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and gaming disorders. Kwok et. al (2011) has discovered that Yee’s motive of immersion can be involved in the development of a gaming disorder. Immersion motivation involves a player immersing themselves in gaming, resulting in a place for individuals to escape from real-world problems, leading to social anxiety, loneliness and isolation. Snodgrass (2013) has discovered that the achievement component has been involved with the development of gaming disorders. Players who lack success in reality choose to compensate for these deficits by achieving in the gaming world. This means that players who overvalue their in-game achievements, need to be involved in excessive gaming in order to achieve moments of success, increasing the chance of developing a gaming disorder.

Conclusion

Game playing is a crucial part to many people’s lives and has increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Game playing can be extremely beneficial to an individual’s cognitive abilities, emotional regulation and socialisation. However, excessive amounts can lead to gaming disorders and psychological disorders. Yee’s gaming motivation model exhibits three main motives, two of which lead can lead to severe gaming disorders. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are also heavily involved in motivating individuals when gameplaying. Motivational theories such as the self-determination theory, uses and gratification theory, and the flow theory provide a strong picture as to the specific needs that need to be fulfilled and the motivation behind game playing.

Gaming disorders and video game addiction are serious problems that individuals face and affect their daily functioning. Specific motives of the theories discussed can be heavily involved in the motivations of gaming disorders such as escapism, immersion, competition and achievement motives. Overall, there are positive and negative motives behind game playing that can either lead to an improvement of cognitive skills, learning abilities and a sense of belonging or they can lead to a gaming addiction or disorder.

See also

• Video game addiction motivation (Book Chapter, 2014)
• Self determination theory (Wikipedia)
• Gamification and motivation (Book chapter, 2017)
• Video Game Addiction (Wikipedia)

Suggestions for this section: Present in alphabetical order Use sentence casing Include the source in parentheses

References

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WHO, 2023. Gaming Disorder. World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/gaming-disorder#:~:text=For%20gaming%20disorder%20to%20be,for%20at%20least%2012%20months

Yee, N. (2006). The demographics, motivations, and derived experiences of users of massively multi-user online graphical environments. Presence: Teleoperators and virtual environments, 15(3), 309-329. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.15.3.309

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External links

• Escaping video game addiction - ted talk (Youtube)
• Death of teenage boy due to gaming addiction (The Guardian)