Study: “Games fill psychological need.” Question: “How?”
I’m sorry for jumping on this a couple of days late, but I just picked up WoW again. I had to spend 2 days getting my HWL dagger before doing anything else. =P
And that was time well spent, because I can use it as a jumping off point for talking about the recently slashdotted MMO study by University at Rochester Reserachers, covered here by the CBC.
Richard Ryan, indicated as the head of four studies from the U. of Rochester, noted “We think there’s a deeper theory than the fun of playing.” He’s right. According to these studies there were a few psychological needs that were filled, noted in the article were: achieving in scenarios related to the real world, autonomy, competence, freedom and social connectedness.
If you’ve played a game, these elements should be pretty obvious. You save the world, crack jokes with friends, or get your ridiculously pwn HWL dagger, you feel pretty good about that. The opposite is true. You spend 8 hours failing to save the world, get hassled by jerks or get awesome gear stolen from you, that’s a downer. Both of these things happen. So while this study focuses on asking “What?” perhaps the more interesting question is “How?” These games don’t just fulfill psychological needs, they are organic spaces that fully engage the psyche, the full brain of any who enter.
Let’s talk about the how.
Neils Clark :: Dec.31.2006 :: Game Addiction :: 1 Comment »
