Four Pillars of Healthy Escapism in Games: Emotion Regulation, Mood Management, Coping, and Recovery

Kosa, Mehmet; Uysal, Ahmet

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-37643-7_4

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…A common focus of video game mood management and coping studies is escapism, the avoidance of reality ( Hastall, 2017 ; Kosa & Uysal, 2020 ) which is a mechanism for video games to allow for emotional regulation, mood management, respite, and stress coping ( Kosa & Uysal, 2020 ), including during difficult life situations ( Iacovides & Mekler, 2019 ). Escapism has been found to be tied to interpersonal ( Jones et al, 2021 ), media-based ( Eden et al, 2020 ), and video game ( Barr & Copeland-Stewart, 2021 ) pandemic coping.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic was stressful for everyone, particularly for families who had to supervise and support children, facilitate remote schooling, and manage work and home life. We consider how families coped with pandemic-related stress using the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Combining a family coping framework with theorizing about media as a coping tool, this interview study of 27 families (33 parents and 37 children) found that parents and children individual coped with pandemic-related stress with media. Parents engaged in protective buffering of their children with media, taking on individual responsibility to cope with a collective problem. Families engaged in communal coping, whereby media helped the family cope with a collective problem, taking on shared ownership and responsibility. We provide evidence for video games as coping tools, but with the novel consideration of family coping with media.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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“…There is an ongoing debate about the use of games as an avoidance (escapism) strategy. Games offer a way for people to gather their bearings, to recover, and to regulate their moods before confronting the issues at hand (Kosa and Uysal, 2020). However, because games are designed to be highly engaging there is a pitfall of escaping for too long, beyond the point where one should be confronting their difficulties (Griffiths, 2015;Kosa and Uysal, 2020).…”

Section: Game Culture and Coping With Difficult Periods In Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Live Streams on Twitch Help Viewers Cope With Difficult Periods in Life

2020

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Live streaming platforms such as Twitch that facilitate participatory online communities have become an integral part of game culture. Users of these platforms are predominantly teenagers and young adults, who increasingly spend time socializing online rather than offline. This shift to online behavior can be a double-edged sword when coping with difficult periods in life such as relationship issues, the death of a loved one, or job loss. On the one hand, platforms such as Twitch offer pleasure, distraction, and relatedness with others to help with coping, and the increased sense of anonymity and control could stimulate self-disclosure. However, the prevalence of trolling and memes may also discourage people from opening up, and relationships that are built online—especially those with microcelebrity streamers—could be perceived as more meaningful than they actually are. To create a deeper understanding of Twitch as a new media platform embedded in game culture, and how users perceive its potential as a coping mechanism, we have conducted a first exploration by means of a survey. The questions focused on general Twitch behavior, the difficult period in life, and the role of Twitch during this period. It was distributed online among people who considered themselves active Twitch users, and who had gone through a difficult period. Eighty-four participants completed the entire survey. The majority of participants indicated that Twitch helped them cope, and that it became a larger part of their lives during the difficult period compared to regular viewing. Recurring themes were the entertainment, distraction, and sense of community Twitch offers. Viewing behavior during difficult periods appears to remain largely the same in terms of the streamers that are watched, although time spent viewing increases, and there is a change toward more time spent actively watching rather than having the stream on in the background. With this work, we aim to create a deeper understanding of Twitch as a platform, and its importance for gamers that are going through difficult periods in life.

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“…A common notion is that escapism is exclusively rooted in maladaptive motivation and predominantly associated with negative psychological outcomes (Kuss, 2013; Li et al, 2011). More recently, however, authors proposed that escapism may be instigated from healthy needs and be psychologically rewarding (Flayelle et al, 2019; Hagström & Kaldo, 2014; Kosa & Uysal, 2020). Hence, in the present empirical investigation, we explore a two-dimensional operationalization of escapism in media consumption, more specifically, related to digital gaming and streaming in two independent survey samples.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are there two types of escapism? Exploring a dualistic model of escapism in digital gaming and online streaming.

Stenseng¹,

Falch-Madsen²,

Hygen³

2021

Psychology of Popular Media

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Escapism is predominantly assumed to be a negative aspect of media consumption. However, research also indicates that escapism may spur positive psychological outcomes. Here, using a 2-dimensional model of escapism and its corresponding scale, we tested a dualistic approach to escapism in relation to both gaming and online streaming. Data were collected from 2 separate Web-based questionnaires. Study 1 comprised 126 dedicated gamers, whereas Study 2 comprised 191 university students regularly using streaming services. Results showed that the Escapism scale-with its 2 dimensions, Self-Expansion and Self-Suppression-demonstrated good factorial validity and internal consistency in both samples. In the gaming sample, self-expansion was related to positive psychological outcomes from gaming, whereas self-suppression was substantially overlapping with Internet gaming disorder (Ten-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Test [IGDT-10]) and negative psychological outcomes. In the streaming sample, self-expansion was related to general positive affect and approach coping, whereas self-suppression was related to avoidance coping and general negative affect, tested in a path model. Overall, results provide preliminary support for a 2-dimensional conceptualization of escapism in media engagement, here evidenced in gaming and streaming. Furthermore, results indicate that a dualistic operationalization of escapism, currently not incorporated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, or International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition, Revised, classifications of pathological gaming in may help distinguish healthy from unhealthy gaming and may also be relevant for distinguishing adaptive from maladaptive streaming. Public Policy Relevance StatementEscapism is an imperative motivation in media consumption. Nevertheless, the phenomenon is debated and has been criticized for having an ambiguous role in, for example, the classification of pathological gaming (in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, and International Classification of Diseases, 11th Edition, Revised). In 2 studies, derived from the 2dimensional model of escapism, an adaptive and a maladaptive form of escapism was identified in gaming and streaming, illuminating a potential explanation for the unsettled role of escapism in media engagement.

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Four Pillars of Healthy Escapism in Games: Emotion Regulation, Mood Management, Coping, and Recovery

Cited by 27 publications

References 62 publications

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Families Playing Animal Crossing Together: Coping With Video Games During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Live Streams on Twitch Help Viewers Cope With Difficult Periods in Life

Are there two types of escapism? Exploring a dualistic model of escapism in digital gaming and online streaming.

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