Poll of the Day > Survey about motivations in gaming and deconstructing gaming addiction

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hello dear people,

I'm currently doing a study that aims to better distinguish high engagement from "addiction" in gaming and is generally critical of the ICD-10, which follows a rather rigid guideline which basically amounts to "if a person checks 5 or 6 items in this category, they're addicted". I'd like to challenge this, but need as many participants as possible (who doesn't?). The survey takes less than 15 minutes of your time and will certainly put you in good standing with the karma goddess!

https://erasmusuniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eajgHi6LIiXSTPv

I'll try to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you so very much!
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Are you the same guy who did the last few surveys?
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Done with it, doc!
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Some of this is rather relevant to my current working situation.



I don't find difficulty mixing with the people I work with, I do have difficulty approaching people at work I do not work with. I have difficulty talking to what my mind defines as "random" people, mainly because I don't see other people do this (I tend to learn through imitation).

Note: I don't find video games as a hobby, but rather a time waster. If there are better things to do at a given time I usually do those things.
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Section number 3 is interesting. Companionship is an interesting term. I would say I am lonely, withdrawn and isolated, but only as my "real" persona. I have no issue interacting with people online.

I have read in the past that there is a growing divide where people are more comfortable talking to people online than in real life. I relate to that. I don't think this has anything to do with video games however. Video games as a hobby were a catalyst for this however.

Section 4 should be self evident:


If I could replace video games to fulfill these I would. I consider my major hobby computer hardware (specifically hardware overclocking / benchmarking). The problem is that I haven't found a valid alternative to video games to fill my free time. For a time as a teen it used to be TCGs.

Section 5 was answered rather erratically, as I got "laid off" / thrown under the bus from my job last week.
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Done. Good luck with your work, man.
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Thanks finished it and attached my notes at the end.
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Judgmenl posted...

Section 5 was answered rather erratically, as I got "laid off" / thrown under the bus from my job last week.

And once again you've shown that you're incapable of taking blame for anything.
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Took the survey for ya, passed got an 86.
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Smarkil posted...

Judgmenl posted...

Section 5 was answered rather erratically, as I got "laid off" / thrown under the bus from my job last week.

And once again you've shown that you're incapable of taking blame for anything.

Lmao he attached notes to the survey.
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Finished.

Section 4 was tough. I love helping people in games but only if I can do it anonymously. Can't stand talking to other people while I play or playing with randoms in organized events. If it's random matchmaking, like the Souls series/Bloodborne or Absolver, or even Elite: Dangerous where there's less of an attachment to who I am, then I'm completely for it.
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First of all, thank you to everyone who took their time for this!

A few answers / notes:

- I am not the same guy who did the last few surveys (I honestly don't know what you mean, I'm not a regular on th Poll of the Day-board)

- The sections are randomized, so the sequence is not the same for everyone, thus if you'd like to talk about certain parts you'd need to specify them.

- I'm really enjoying your individual insights into specifics and your reasonings for your given answers. They're eventually providing me with additional fodder to use in the discussion part.

Thanks everyone so far! Enjoy your day
And good luck @ Judgment for your job situation
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I get compensated for my mindlessly clicking on surveys, pal.
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Done
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DukeGanado posted...

The sections are randomized, so the sequence is not the same for everyone, thus if you'd like to talk about certain parts you'd need to specify them

Didnt even realize.
My section 4 was the same as Judgmenl.
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"I am unhappy with being so withdrawn"

Loaded statement. <_<
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Started it but saw how many questions it has and quit

You might get a better response rate with a shorter survey, fam
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Clench281 posted...

Started it but saw how many questions it has and quit

You might get a better response rate with a shorter survey, fam

I know the problem and can relate to your reaction. Unfortunately the study design doesn't allow for less questions in order to ensure validity of the results. Thanks anyways.
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DukeGanado posted...

- I am not the same guy who did the last few surveys (I honestly don't know what you mean, I'm not a regular on th Poll of the Day-board)

Neither was he. That's what made him stand out.
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Also, I'm guessing "Institut" is German for "Institute"? Kinda weird.
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Zeus posted...

Also, I'm guessing "Institut" is German for "Institute"? Kinda weird.

yes that's a typo, there's an E missing (but you're correct, it is the German word). The survey is available in both German and English, but the German thing is only posted on German message boards.
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I found some of the questions difficult to answer. For instance, all the questions about "What do you find enjoyable in-game" were all to do with socialization, which was almost impossible for me to answer because I haven't played an online game with strangers in over 10 years. Almost all my multiplayer is local and when I do play online, it's with people I know, so most of those were not applicable (I wound up answering from back in my old MMO days, but those answers are almost 15 years out of date).

There was also the questions about how stressful the last month was. I answered honestly, but you were asking me about an outlier because - due to some stuff at work beyond my control - last month has been unusually stressful with large amounts of work. If you'd asked me at almost any other point this year my answers would have been different. I feel like "in a typical month" would have been a better ask than "in the last month".
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darkknight109 posted...

There was also the questions about how stressful the last month was. I answered honestly, but you were asking me about an outlier because - due to some stuff at work beyond my control - last month has been unusually stressful with large amounts of work. If you'd asked me at almost any other point this year my answers would have been different. I feel like "in a typical month" would have been a better ask than "in the last month".

While my last month hasn't been stressful, kinda the same deal because it depends on what's going on at that point.
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can't be addicted to gaming
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Jen0125 posted...

Lmao he attached notes to the survey.

To be fair there was a section for it at the end.

Though Smarkil is right.
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

can't be addicted to gaming

Pretty sure people can be addicted to anything. However, there's a difference between chemical addiction and... well, non-chemical, habit-based addiction.
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you don't suffer from withdrawals if you stop playing video games
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

you don't suffer from withdrawals if you stop playing video games

Depends on your definition of withdrawal. You're only thinking of chemical withdrawal. It's certainly possible for people to exhibit physical symptoms associated with chemical withdrawal when cut off from another form of addiction.
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Done and feedback added.
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the question "i am unhappy being so withdrawn" is flawed. there is no option for saying you aren't withdrawn.
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

the question "i am unhappy being so withdrawn" is flawed. there is no option for saying you aren't withdrawn.

Strongly disagree should cover both points but sure, it could be read as you're happy about being withdrawn.
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The survey seems to focus on the detrimental effects of gaming on social or personal levels. But I think the opposite is more likely. Video games fill a void that already existed. If not for video games, gamers would fill that void with something else.

Zeus posted...

it could be read as you're happy about being withdrawn.

This is how I answered.
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

can't be addicted to gaming

You absolutely can, the same way you can be addicted to something like gambling.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

you don't suffer from withdrawals if you stop playing video games

a) You can, in the form of mood swings
b) Withdrawal has nothing to do with addiction. For instance, the CAGE questionnaire - a litmus test for alcohol addiction (which, in modified form, is used in diagnosing other forms of addiction) - mentions nothing about it. It's just four questions, with two positive answers indicating that a more in-depth assessment is required because the person is at risk of alcoholism, and those four questions (the first three of which are pertinent to pretty much any other addictive activity) are:
--Have you ever felt the need to Cut down on drinking? (a common swap-out for this question is "Has anyone ever suggested you cut-down on your drinking?")
--Have you ever felt Annoyed by people talking about your drinking?
--Have you ever felt Guilty about drinking?
--Have you ever needed an Eye-opener to deal with a hangover or settle yourself?

Withdrawal has to do with physical dependency, which is different from addiction. Dependency is physical, addiction is mental/behavioural.

Krazy_Kirby posted...

the question "i am unhappy being so withdrawn" is flawed. there is no option for saying you aren't withdrawn.

saying never means you aren't unhappy being withdrawn. saying always means you are unhappy being withdrawn.

skipped it.

It could perhaps be better written, but I think it's saying "are you happy about your level of social interaction"? A no answer means that, by definition, you don't consider yourself withdrawn.
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I really appreciate the discussion, a few points:

- the questions all stem from validated scales (you could probably google them and find the sources), I didn't make any up. I did change a few details of some questions which were MMORPG-specific, and I made them applicable to other kinds of games, though. Unfortunately, sometimes questions might still appear to not cover everything, or they tend to carry a meaning or something you disagree with or feel your answer can't represent what you actually mean, but I guess that's always the problem and a definite limitation with quantitative research.

- regarding gaming addiction, the International Classification of Diseases includes it and there are, as Zeus points out, differences between behavioral, or habit-based addiction, and substance-based addictions. I strongly disagree with how the current methodology works, though, as diagnosing an addiction without consulting an expert and merely checking a few ticks in boxes appears to be highly inadequate. That's why I'm doing this whole thing.

- I strongly believe that gaming is overpathologized in research and of course the media, because false connections are being drawn (is that even English?) between unrelated things. For example, a person might play games excessively and for up to 18 hours a day. As a consequence, they experience negative things in their life, such as bad grades, loss of friendships,etc. However, gaming might merely be a tool of escapism, a means of getting away from the problems they face in the first place, which lead to negative consequences themselves. In this case, excessive gaming should be treated as a symptom of a different problem, and is not the problem itself. Currently, these distinctions are not made properly (in the ICD-10 "checklist-style"), and that's where this study comes in.

If you're interested in the subject, I recommend reading the work of Daniel Kardefelt-Winther.

Thank you for participating, I'm enjoying reading your discussions!
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Krazy_Kirby posted...

can't be addicted to gaming

Yes you can. Almost every human behavior can be addictive, once self-reinforcing biochemistry comes into play. And gaming falls into a category of behaviors where you are generating a literal "rush", which is some of the most addictive behavior of all (ie, the same mechanics that make gambling addictive, and that lead to things like sex addiction or porn addiction).

And it kind of goes without saying that the entire MMO model was basically designed with addiction in mind, deliberately acting in ways to stimulate addictive personalities (this isn't even supposition, there's ample evidence to support it as fact). And long before that, many games were designed with the sole intent to keep you feeding quarters into an arcade by stringing along traits of addiction.

An argument CAN be made that there has to be some degree of innate predisposition towards addiction in a personality first, though. There've been studies done on gambling and whether or not colleges with a student population within a specific distance of a legal gambling area (like Atlantic City) are more likely to have higher rates of gambling behavior/addiction than other colleges, and they tended to suggest that addiction rates remain standard within a population - meaning that people who are predisposed to becoming addicted will eventually find SOMETHING to be addicted to, while people who aren't predisposed to addiction won't necessarily go out of their way to engage in addictive behavior (something which may or may not also extend to alcoholism as a behavior).



Krazy_Kirby posted...

you don't suffer from withdrawals if you stop playing video games

People have, so you're objectively wrong.

But withdrawal isn't really a defining characteristic of addiction anyway. Especially considering the fact that there are straight up chemical addictions that have low to no real withdrawal cycle while still being behavior-controlling during the period of addiction.


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well I took the survey, but I happen to be on vacation and happen to have been playing WoW pretty constantly for the past two weeks, so that seriously modifies what I would normally have answered. hadn't played WoW in years.
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Donezo. So how long until the results (hopefully in English) become available to the public. It's 3-5 years after initial published or is that just an American thing?

demonfang178 posted...

Donezo. So how long until the results (hopefully in English) become available to the public. It's 3-5 years after initial published or is that just an American thing?

I'm not sure, the thesis should be finished in about three months or so, but depending on the results we might want to make an article for a journal out of the material. Anyways, I might be able to publicize results from the thesis by the end of the year or so in case anyone's interested.
Oh, and it's all English, don't worry ;)
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DukeGanado posted...

- I strongly believe that gaming is overpathologized in research and of course the media, because false connections are being drawn (is that even English?) between unrelated things. For example, a person might play games excessively and for up to 18 hours a day. As a consequence, they experience negative things in their life, such as bad grades, loss of friendships,etc. However, gaming might merely be a tool of escapism, a means of getting away from the problems they face in the first place, which lead to negative consequences themselves. In this case, excessive gaming should be treated as a symptom of a different problem, and is not the problem itself. Currently, these distinctions are not made properly (in the ICD-10 "checklist-style"), and that's where this study comes in.

Yes, there's generally a whole chicken-egg thing going on there which is why it's always important to remember that correlation doesn't necessarily denote causation.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

And it kind of goes without saying that the entire MMO model was basically designed with addiction in mind, deliberately acting in ways to stimulate addictive personalities (this isn't even supposition, there's ample evidence to support it as fact).

Especially since some MMO makers have (allegedly?) hired psychologists, etc, to help them design aspects of their games.
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