Does increased video game consumption lead to social isolation? Research Paper

Surface level observations of video game addiction and people who identify as “gamers”

may lead to the assumption being made that this activity could lead to self imposed anti-social

behaviour being exhibited. As a group we unanimously shared this opinion that increased video

game consumption time would have a direct correlation to increased anti social behaviors being

exhibited in the individual. We initially formed this idea around personal experience from

observations of self identifying gamer friends of group members as well as from material and

media presented during the 401 lecture including a documentary style film on video game

addiction amongst adolescents in China and the extreme measures parents will take to “cure”

their afflicted child.

Video game access over a fairly recent and short amount of time has drastically changed,

going from only being able to play video games on consoles at home or arcades to now being

able to play high quality multiplayer games virtually anywhere on phones, tablets, and laptop

computers at a moments notice. A byproduct of this change in video game accessibility has

naturally lead to a huge increase in the number of people playing video games, along with

changing the definition of what traditionally might be thought of as a video gamer. By having

constant access to games on cell phones or other portable electronic devices the physical barriers

that might have seperated someone from a game addiction or the ability to play video games in

the past no longer exist. In addition to the ever increasing access to video games there has been

an increase in quantity of games made specifically to addict or entice the player to continue to

come back to the game to spend more and more time playing. This shift in game type and

development has been and is increasingly pushed by subscription models and in game currencies

to generate increased revenues for developers. These are just a few of the contributing factors we

took into account when formulating our hypothesis on researching if there was any connection

between video game consumption and antisocial behaviors.

With these factors in mind we began to pursue options to best go about researching this

link we had identified. Initially we had suspected there would have been a wealth of data and

prior research done regarding anti social behavior and video game addiction but with further

research we began to realize that while a number of recent studies all covered topics in this realm

they only circled the central aspect of our topic and didn't explicitly go into depth on this

suspected link. We did not get discouraged by this but instead became more empowered to use

the resources we had available to conduct our own research and use the prior research that had

been done to compare our methods and results against and act as a guide to find and remain on

the correct heading in pursuit of uncovering some truth.

As a group we felt that the topic we had chosen and the hypothesis we were able to refine

gave us enough material to make a fruitful effort into conducting research and creating a

worthwhile project. Though we faced some challenges initially regarding the understanding of

the hypothesis and how to most efficiently go about conducting research we were able to

quickly overcome these hurdle through a process of collective brainstorming and discussions

with the professor and teaching assistant. In the findings presented throughout this paper and the

understandings we have uncovered throughout the process of researching and presenting the

progress and methods pursued over the duration of this project, we feel confident in the ability of

our conclusions reached and the data we conducted to be a valid contribution to the continued

discussion of if increased video game consumption has a positive and direct correlation to the

increase in antisocial behaviors exhibited amongst “gamers”.

Literature Review

Overall, the multitude of studies that examine the relationship between video games and

social isolation find that these same games lead to no correlation or a slightly negative effect on

social skills. Overuse (addiction) and the preference of playing violent games can be classified as

huge factors to why this leads to isolation. The first paper that would support our hypothesis

would be Ali Kheradmand (et al) “Comparing the Social Skills of Students Addicted to

Computer Games with Normal Students”. This specific research paper looks at the correlation

between grade schoolers and a test of addiction that was given to them by those same

researchers. “The results of the study showed that generally, there was a significant difference

between the social skills of students addicted to computer games and normal students. In

addition, the results indicated that normal students had a higher level of social skills in

comparison with students addicted to computer games.” (Kheradmand, et al. 2010). The basis of

taking the “addiction test” was meant to prove that these video gamers would show an addictive

and less-social side to them. Even though a low amount of the whole sample size (93 out of 564)

were classified as full-on “addicted”, that same group also had the tendency to be classified as

“less social”. ​“In addition, they showed that the individuals who were addicted to these games

had lower social skills than those who were normal.” (Kheradmand, et al. 2010). The next set of

literature that helps solidify our hypothesis would be AJ Van Rooij’s (et al) “Online video game

addiction: identification of addicted adolescent teenagers”. This specific study takes a look at

teenagers rather than grade schoolers and I felt as if it were important to separate the two and

observe the possible similarities or differences. “​This group is likely to have various

psychological and social problems, as game overuse can be severely disruptive to school, work

and ‘real-life’ social contacts”. (Van Rooij, et al. 2010).

Methods

Participants

Participants throughout this study included 109 participants ranging in ages of 15 to 26.

Out of those participants, 36 were female and 67 were male. Six participants chose not to specify

their gender. All of these participants volunteered on their own time for this study and were

thanked for their contribution. Most participants were Michigan State University underclassmen

who volunteered to take the survey, others could be considered distant ties.

Materials

The most effective way to collect information from participants for this study was to send

out surveys to participants via email, texting, or by simply asking people to submit their form

through a device provided. From what was gathered for this research question, it is a collection

of volunteers for questioning from weak ties to answer if “Video Games Lead to Social

Isolation?” The best method that was taken to research the impact of this question was to use a

survey to collect information about people’s gaming habits and how it has affected their social

life for better or worse. Over one-hundred people have taken the survey and answered twelve

multiple choice questions. The questions started with simple demographic questions such as age

and gender. The next few questions dive into the habits of these test subjects and how they

interact with others within gaming and outside of it. To understand whether participants were

gaming socially, we asked how often they played with friends, whether it be online or offline.

Questions would then continue to ask how many hours have people played, any feelings of

embarrassment between the participant or friends and family members by how much the user

plays, and many more. Half of the questions asked included a five-point Likert scale ranging

from strongly agree to strongly disagree to help users comment about their video game habits.

Design and Procedure

The main purpose of this study was to find if there was a connection between heavy use

of video games and social isolation. The variables that were tested were in relation to heavy

video game usage, which can range from mobile games to consoles and personal computers, and

not wanting to participate in social activities. The design of the survey was quite simple with an

easy to answer, multiple choice questionnaire to complete. The best hope for the results would be

for every participant to answers as honestly as possible, but there is no guarantee. Those who

participated would receive a survey either given out by the researchers or through an

acquaintance that was asked to pass along the survey. Since this entire survey was conducted

online, the results would be received quickly to the creator and could be analyzed quickly. The

results were quickly made into a series of charts and graphs to help analyze the data much easier,

and even provide a visual to present to an audience. All of this data provided by the participants

has helped greatly in understanding the effects that video games have made in a University

environment.