Experts believe gaming addicts don’t have social problems
Most of us probably have two groups of gamer friends: there are the gamers that casually game, and then there are the gamers – the ones that barely escape their dank basements long enough to drive back and forth to Burger King. Recent tests claim that gamers don’t have social problems, but those experts are completely off-base as to what signifies a social problem in a gamer.
A recent study by an Australian psychology graduate as reported by Reuters demonstrated that about 15% of gamers can be classified as “problem gamers,” meaning they spend more than 50 hours a week with video games. Of that 15%, only 1 percent were classified as lacking social skills.
However, the report seems to demonstrate that the basis for classifying a gamer as having poor social skills is largely each gamer’s degree of shyness. That single percent that had poor social skills were deemed to be shy.
Daniel Loton, the psychology graduate conducting the survey, said, “Our findings strongly suggest that gaming doesn’t cause social problems, and social problems are not driving people to gaming.” He also said, “What is important to note is that even problem gamers did not exhibit significant signs of poor social skills or low self-esteem.”
He also believes that the gamers with real social problems tend to stick to MMO titles like World of Warcraft, where players can become completely absorbed in a “second life” character.
Here’s how he is very wrong.
Many “problem” gamers aren’t shy…he is right. In fact, sometimes they are completely lacking many of the skills they need to function in society appropriately. Shyness isn’t a problem with many gamers because in online gaming, people feel free to speak their minds and say things that should never be repeated in a public environment. Some of the most horrendous utterances can be heard at any given moment by joining an online match of most video games.
When those gamers do leave their basements, they are so outspoken and ill-equipped to handle themselves in society they tend to come off as immature and rude. They may not be shy, but they certainly aren’t socially enlightened.
The entire problem with evaluating gamers based on shyness is that not spending time with people face-to-face tends to lead people to say things they wouldn’t normally say. Why do so many people break off relationships via phone, text, IM or email? Because it is easier to write or say something to someone you aren’t in the same room with.
“Problem” gamers are many times socially inept, and certainly don’t have issues with shyness. Instead of judging gamers on their levels of shyness, perhaps psychologists and experts need to base their evaluations on all the other social skills “problem” gamers are missing.
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9 Responses to “Experts believe gaming addicts don’t have social problems”
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June 12th, 2008
no such thing as “problem gamers”….unless talking about ivan_psp and darkwhitehair… BWAHAHAHAAA… *ahem*…sorry…
but seriously, i don’t see how someone can be called a problem gamer when they hurt noone but their own social skills. heck, the world is filled with anti social people who don’t game.
interesting article.
June 12th, 2008
Nice pic. That was an awesome episode of South Park.
Butters – ‘This game sucks, I’m going back to play Hello Kitty Island Adventure.”
June 13th, 2008
OH NOZ!! I IS BEEN OWNEZ BY KEVINZZzzzz…
meh I play to have fun… I dont see the point in being all “competitive” or all “obsessed” with games…
June 13th, 2008
dwh – i hope you detected my sarcasm. all in fun. i’m with you. i play for fun and laugh at the noobs online who scream into the headset because they’re too competitive. people forget it’s just a game.
June 13th, 2008
just saw your poll to the left. really? the “n” word? you just lost a reader. please join the 21th century you backwoods hicks. thank you.
June 13th, 2008
Kevin, the n word was added by a reader, and removed as soon as spotted. I apologise for any offence caused, If it happens again, the option to add answers to the poll will be removed.
June 14th, 2008
Can you implement a “review by moderators” before they can be added.
There is always going to be idiots.
June 14th, 2008
Hi There,
This must seem really vein, but I was just sitting here on Saturday afternooon reading the press coverage my Thesis has received (I haven’t had much of a chance during the week).
This is Dan Loton, I conducted the study. Firstly, the thesis is available in full here – http://www.computergameresearch.com.
Secondly, in response to the comments regarding shyness, the study actually assessed the social competence of gamers, not just shyness. The questionnaire used to assess this has been shown to predict social competence through a variety of means – it predicted social network size (friends), social support levels, lab tests of emotional recognition (i.e. showing people photos of faces and asking them to identify the emotion, a very common social skill), as well as interrater (i.e. panel ratings) of role playing and social skills in observed situations. The scale also correlates strongly with personality characteristics and social disorders such as Social Anxiety Disorder. The scale is called the Social Skills Inventory, it is available for purchase from Mindgarden, is often used in corporate settings for promotions and recruitment, and you can read more about it in the Psych literature or online.
Despite the validity of this scale, the only
relationship that emerged with problematic game play was a slightly elevated level of one subscale – Social Sensitivity. This scale is related to social anxiety, but the size of the relationship is what’s important here. It was tiny, it explained less than 5% of problem play scores.
Unfortunately media reports can sometimes simplify research in order to get the points across efficiently. Anyway all critical feedback is welcome, but please review the thesis first!
Cheers,
Dan.
June 14th, 2008
Some sensible and worthwhile comment regarding a post, without referring to fanboyism? holy hell i must be drunk. Thats one refreshing post i guess.