Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Michael Plasay

Abstract

Adult massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) gaming is a popular trend that is often perceived negatively, including having a lack of social adaptation skills and low life satisfaction. This quantitative study explored whether life satisfaction and social skills were influenced by gaming by comparing MMORPG gamers (casual and avid) and nongamers. This quantitative survey study was built upon the limitations listed in previous research. The hypothesis was that there would be no difference between MMORPG gamers and nongamers regarding life satisfaction and social skills. To conceptualize the influence MMORPG may have, this study used Diener’s conceptualization of the pursuit of happiness, which presumed that people could choose their happiness by engaging in activities that made them happy on an individual basis. Life skills were measured through the Life Satisfaction-11 Questionnaire and the Social Adaptation Self Evaluation Scale. The sample of 134 was collected by stratified sampling, and the data analysis was calculated using a multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in social adaptation skills between the groups. However, there was a significant difference in life satisfaction between causal and avid gamers, where casual gamers had less life satisfaction than avid gamers and nongamers. The positive social change implications on a societal level include highlighting the difference in adult gamers because the current results do not fall in line with previous findings, thus potentially changing the psychological view of the effect of video games.

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