Ballou, Nick, Deterding, Sebastian orcid.org/0000-0003-0033-2104, Iacovides, Ioanna orcid.org/0000-0001-9674-8440 et al. (1 more author) (2022) Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises?:A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns. In: CHI 2022 - Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022, 30 Apr - 05 May 2022 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings . ACM , USA
Abstract
Do people use games to cope with adverse life events and crises? Research informed by self-determination theory proposes that people might compensate for thwarted basic psychological needs in daily life by seeking out games that satisfy those lacking needs. To test this, we conducted a preregistered mixed-method survey study (n = 285) on people’s gaming behaviours and need states during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). We found qualitative evidence that gaming was an often actively sought out and successful means of replenishing particular needs, but one that could ‘backfre’ for some through an appraisal process discounting gaming as ‘unreal’. Meanwhile, contrary to our predictions, the quantitative data showed a “rich get richer, poor get poorer” pattern: need satisfaction in daily life positively correlated with need satisfaction in games.We derive methodological considerations and propose three potential explanations for this contradictory data pattern to pursue in future research.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details |
Keywords: | basic needs,compensation,coping,Covid-19,mixed methods,video games |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Theatre, Film, TV and Interactive Media (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Computer Science (York) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/L015846/1 |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 23 Mar 2022 10:00 |
Last Modified: | 14 Jan 2025 00:24 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501858 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | ACM |
Series Name: | Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings |
Identification Number: | 10.1145/3491102.3501858 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185069 |