There probably is no doubt these days about how the internet has shaped the world we live in surprising ways. From communication, to online shopping, to having fun, the internet has truly been revolutionary. With every new and vibrant technology, there are always people who scream out that it’s harmful and disastrous and when it comes to the internet, there have been many alarmists. After a few years of living with the internet, however, there have been some very notable and even alarming side effects from using the internet and one of the biggest is that of internet addiction; this tutorial is mainly focused on internet gaming addiction. What is the psychology behind internet gaming addiction?
Time Distortion
What are some of the factors that go into making an individual addicted to gaming online? How can some people play and not be addicted whiles others find themselves ensnared? One possible explanation for how people can be ensnared is based around how time can be distorted. Pei-Luen, Shu-Yun and Chin-Chow (2006) had some interesting points on time distortion. What happens to people when they’re immersed in a world of fantasy and far away from their real world? Pei-Luen et al. discussed the theory of flow and how it affects individuals who are immersed in the online world. The theory of flow is important to how satisfied people are with their lives and many psychologists believe it is extremely crucial for mental health. An individual experiences flow when their skill in a certain area is high enough for them to be able to meet an extremely challenging task head on and overcome it; when the player feels that they are in control of their experience. The activity also must be challenging enough to keep the individual at a heightened state of arousal (2006). The activity should not be too easy, but also not too hard. When an activity has achieved this state of balance between skill and challenge, psychologists call this flow and when an individual experiences flow, all other activities lose importance and they become totally immersed in whatever they’re doing (2006).This sensation of flow is so powerful that an individual will constantly be seeking to enter into that experience again and therefore will become more prone to be addicted without even becoming aware of it (2006).
Player Behavior
Pei-Luen et al. created an experiment where they wanted to try and understand internet game player behavior and find solutions to try and reduce the negative impact of online game playing. Basically, they had participants playing an online video game, in this case Diablo 2, and they would set a break-off time in which they participants would have to stop playing. They took 64 players, ages 9 to 20. 26 expert players and 38 novice online players (2006). The independent variables for the experiment were game break-off times and player skills. The three different break-off times were 30, 60, and 90 minutes and the two skills were novice and expert. The dependent variables were delay time (which was how long it took for the individual to stop playing after the break-off time), acceptance of the break-off time, game playing experience, and time distortion. The participants were all randomly assigned into one of the three break-off time groups (2006). They played the game in a cyber café and after the alarm sounded to indicate their break-off time, they were prompted to complete a questionnaire. There was no significant difference between novice and expert players when it came to delay time, acceptance, or satisfaction (2006). There was a significant difference when it came to game playing experience and novice players seemed to have had a better experience overall (2006). There was no significant difference for time distortion because both expert and novice players appeared to experience time distortion and had trouble breaking off (2006). There was a difference at 60 minutes and it seemed that novice players experienced flow after playing for about an hour (2006).
The results showed that around 60 minutes of playing, novice gamers will start to experience flow (2006). This is important in understanding how individual's who play video games react to the experience. Many users, even after 60 minutes, will start to enter into a psychological state where many other things in life seem less important. It is important for parents and teachers to understand that children especially need help to break off their gaming.
Psychophysiology
A vital component to understanding addiction to online games is to understand what exactly is going on in an individual’s brain when they interact with these games. Thalemann, Wolfling and Grusser (2007) were interested in the idea that individuals who play video games could be described as having an addiction to them. They noticed that the research on video game addiction contained case study and phenomenological information but research on psychophysiological components were missing. They created an experiment where they measured psychophysiological activity while they exposed addictive and non-addictive individuals to cues that are related to video games and cues that are not related. The video game related cues were screen shots from popular games such as Doom 3, Counterstrike, Warcraft II etc (2007). Video game unrelated cues included alcohol related, neutral, positive, and negative material as defined by the International Affective Picture System. They took 15 males who were considered to be non-excessive gamers and 15 males who were considered excessive (2007). The mean age for the non excessive gamers was 28.75 while the mean age for the non-excessive gamers was 25.75. The age differences did not meet the level for significant difference. It is important to know that the individuals who were considered excessive did meet three criteria for addiction (e.g. craving, withdrawal symptoms, increased playing behavior, neglect of alternative pleasures) set by the World Health Organization (2007). The authors used an EEG to measure the brain activity produced by the specific cues the participants were given. The results of the study showed that indeed excessive gamers showed a significantly higher amount of craving for video games when compared with casual game players (2007). According to Thalemann et al., the only response that was proven to have a significant difference between casual and excessive gamers were the cues related to video games. The authors stated that the data supported the assumption that excessive computer game playing meets the criteria for addiction and also might have some underlying learning mechanisms of development and maintenance (2007). This could help answer some questions about what happens inside an individual's brain when they become ensnared in computer games. Is it just lack of motivation to do anything else? Or could it be an actual physiological addiction? The results of the study definitely point a finger at a possible psychophysiological addiction.
The MMORPG Effect
Along with the psychophysiological and time distortion effects, there seems to be another aspect that is key to understanding how people can become addicted to online games and that is Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORGP). Smyth (2007) found that the certain type of game played can make the difference between a user who is addicted and one who can pull themselves away. As is discussed in the motivations section, MMORPG are very popular for a lot of reasons. They allow the user to play with friends online, compete with each other and create the constant and never ending quest for advancement. Smyth (2007) found that when compared with other types of video games, online and offline, MMORPGs negatively effect an individual the most. Through a controlled experiment where 100 participants (who did not report a lot of experience with video games) were randomly assigned to one of the four types of games, arcade, console, solo play on computer and MMORPGs (2007). They were instructed to play at least one hour a week, but were told they could play more if they wanted (2007). After a one month follow up, Smyth (2007) found that participants in the MMORPG group reported significantly more hours of play, worse overall health and worse sleep quality (2007). The MMORPG group also reported a significantly greater enjoyment of the game and interest in wanted to continue playing (2007). It is plain that the type of game an individual plays also is a large aspect in whether or not the gaming will affect their life in large ways.
