Players Just Want to Have Fun? An Exploratory Survey on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Game Motives

Abstract

Research has shown that seeking fun and enjoyment (i.e., hedonic reasons) motivates playing digital games. However, recent scholarship revealed that gaming also evokes eudaimonic entertainment experiences, such as meaningfulness and being moved. Yet, it is unclear whether players turn to games to have such eudaimonic experiences. Hence, the present study explored potential eudaimonic gaming motives in an online survey among fans ( N = 894) of five yet-to-be-released games. Specifically, it was examined whether eudaimonic motives, derived from gaming research and scholarship in positive psychology, complement an existing scale measuring gaming motives. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (split-half method) demonstrated that “Eudaimonia” represents a distinct reason to play—alongside the well-known motives of “Absorption” and “Social Interaction.” Moreover, the Eudaimonia motive for using the five games was positively related to general eudaimonic orientations in life and trait-like eudaimonic game preferences. The results suggest that digital gaming may also be eudaimonically motivated.

The Basic Needs in Games (BANG) Model of Video Game Play and Mental Health

“…Most existing theories address just one of these, focusing on either positive or negative effects. Thus, theories such as flow, mood management theory, and the Recovery and Resilience in Entertaining Media Use (R 2 EM) model (Reinecke and Rieger, 2021), and models of eudaimonic experiences in games and entertainment media (Daneels et al, 2023;Possler et al, 2023;Stevens and Dillman Carpentier, 2017;Tamborini et al, 2011) do not offer a mechanism for negative effects.…”

“…This includes a broad class of media effects models that focus on belief, attitude, or behavior change, such as the General Learning Model (Buckley and Anderson, 2006), Framing Theory (Entman, 2007) and the Reinforcing Spiral Model (Slater, 2007). Other models target the reasons why people choose certain media, but do not directly tie these to mental health outcomes, such as Uses and Gratifications theory (Ruggiero, 2000) and models of eudaimonic gaming motivations (Daneels et al, 2023;Possler et al, 2023).…”