NOT ALL GAMERS ARE LOSERS IN SOCIAL LIFE

NOT ALL GAMERS ARE LOSERS IN SOCIAL LIFE

Not all video game junkies are destined for lives filled with failing relationships and dwindling friendships. A lot depends on the role of the game-playing activity in the gamer’s life, researchers from the American Penn State university have found.
    “There’s a common stereotype that if you play video games, then you are a loner,” a researcher said, “But it may have more to do with how a person is involved in gaming that determines how their social support is affected.”
    In a study of people who played multi-player, firstperson shooter games, like the Call of Duty and Halo, gamers who organised their lives around gaming activities tended to experience a negative effect on their friendships and relationships.
    On the other hand, the researchers found that gamers who primarily played the game as a way to reinforce social bonds said they experienced higher levels of social ties and support. Behavioural indicators like the amount of time and money spent on games were not related to the gamers’ success in maintaining their social ties.
    “Players may actually be doing something positive when gaming becomes a way for games to connect with friends who they otherwise may not be able to spend time with, especially friends who they are not near geographically,” the researcher said.
    Multi-player, first-person shooter games allow video game players to compete online by themselves against other players around the world, or they can team with other players in a variety of combat scenarios, the study noted.
    The researchers, who relied on a scale that experts use to assess a person's involvement in leisure activities, said that the other factors of the scale, such as, deriving pleasure and self-identity from video-gaming, did not significantly affect social ties.
    To collect information for the study, the researchers surveyed the gamers who were waiting in line for a late night release of a new version of the video game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, at two central Pennsylvania video game stores. Gamers who attend these new release gatherings tend to be both behaviourally and psychologically committed to the activity, the study observed.
    The researchers measured what role social bonding played in their gaming by asking them to what extent they agreed with statements such as, “Most of my friends are in some way associated with video gaming” and “I enjoy discussing video gaming with my friends.”