Comparison of Psychological and Cognitive Characteristics between Professional Internet Game Players and Professional Baseball Players

Abstract

<jats:p>The esports industry is increasing in popularity and is now played at the professional level. We hypothesized that esports players may have a significant advantage over the general population in terms of psychological and cognitive characteristics, which may be similar to that of professional baseball players. We recruited three participant groups: esports players (n = 55), pro-baseball players (n = 57), and age- and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects (n = 60). We assessed psychological status using the Korean versions of Temperament and Character Inventory and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and cognitive functions using the modified Tower of London, Emotional Perception, and Mental Rotation tests. Esports players had similar psychological characteristics to pro-baseball players (higher novelty seeking [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.818], self-directedness [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.757], and self-transcendence scores [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.853], and decreased state anxiety scores [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.808]), which differed from those of the general population. However, esports players showed higher working memory [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.823] and slower emotional perception than pro-baseball players [p &lt; 0.01 *, ŋ = 0.812]. In conclusion, esports and pro-baseball players had similar psychological but different cognitive characteristics.</jats:p>

Correlations Between Cognitive Functions and Clinical Symptoms in Adolescents With Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

“…Neurocognitive functions in all adolescents were estimated using the modified Tower of London test, the emotional perception test, and the mental rotation test (CNT-MBI®, Seoul, South Korea). These tests have been used for assessing cognitive and emotional perceptions in professional gamers and pro-baseball players ( 30 ).…”

Social Support, Self-Regulation, and Psychological Skill Use in E-Athletes

“…Previous research into the psychology of e-athletes can be separated into four categories: stress and coping ( Smith et al, 2019 ; Poulus et al, 2020 ), psychological skill use ( Himmelstein et al, 2017 ), self-regulation ( Brevers et al, 2020 ), and the comparison of e-athletes with traditional sporting athletes ( Kang et al, 2020 ). For example, research has outlined similarities and differences between e-athletes and traditional athletes in terms of stress and coping response and their psychological profiles ( Kang et al, 2020 ; Poulus et al, 2020 ). In particular, e-athletes report stressors not previously reported by traditional athletes and appraise these stressors as both a challenge and a threat ( Poulus et al, in press ).…”

“…In particular, e-athletes report stressors not previously reported by traditional athletes and appraise these stressors as both a challenge and a threat ( Poulus et al, in press ). Kang et al (2020) outlined that, compared to baseball players, e-athletes had higher levels of novelty seeking, self-directedness, and self-transcendence, but lower scores in state anxiety.…”

Memoria de trabajo y control inhibitorio en beisbolistas universitarios (Working Memory and Inhibitory Control in College Baseball Players)

“…Los porcentajes de acierto y puntajes de IC y MT obtenidos por los participantes en este estudio fueron catalogados dentro de un rango alto, esto concuerda con Kang et. al.…”

“…Un estudio realizado por Kang et al (2020) encontró que los beisbolistas profesionales y de élite obtienen puntuaciones altas en funciones como la autodirección y autorregulación así como en tareas correspondientes a la MT y otras funciones ejecutivas en comparación con quienes no practican deporte y beisbolistas de sub-élite. Esto indica que los beisbolistas de élite suelen generar mecanismos de autocontrol propios del control inhibitorio y una capacidad de memoria de trabajo mejor que las personas que no practican deporte.…”