Restorative Play: Videogames Improve Player Wellbeing After a Need-Frustrating Event

Tyack, April

doi:10.1145/3313831.3376332

Cited by 28 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Under the header "need density hypothesis" [55], several researchers have posited that well-designed video games deliver need satisfaction with a higher density and reliability than everyday life, inviting their compensatory use in need-thwarting life situations. There is some evidence that games can replenish thwarted needs after a short play session [70]. Other studies suggest however that compensatory gaming can have adverse efects like obsessive use [1].…”

Section: Background 21 Gaming Well-being and Self-determination Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Ballou

Deterding

Iacovides

et al. 2022

CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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Do people use games to cope with adverse life events and crises? Research informed by self-determination theory proposes that people might compensate for thwarted basic psychological needs in daily life by seeking out games that satisfy those lacking needs.To test this, we conducted a preregistered mixed-method survey study (n = 285) on people's gaming behaviours and need states during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). We found qualitative evidence that gaming was an often actively sought out and successful means of replenishing particular needs, but one that could 'backfre' for some through an appraisal process discounting gaming as 'unreal'. Meanwhile, contrary to our predictions, the quantitative data showed a "rich get richer, poor get poorer" pattern: need satisfaction in daily life positively correlated with need satisfaction in games. We derive methodological considerations and propose three potential explanations for this contradictory data pattern to pursue in future research.

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Section: Background 21 Gaming Well-being and Self-determination Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Ballou

Deterding

Iacovides

et al. 2022

CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Other considerations [171,172] differentiate need satisfaction as a motive for behaviour (i.e., pursuing an activity in the hopes of having one's needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness satisfied) versus an experiential requirement (i.e., experiencing the feeling of autonomy, competence, and relatedness with valued others). In the context of videogame play, need satisfaction has repeatedly been found to predict game enjoyment [135,166] and playing persistence [129], with fewer studies having investigated experiences of need frustration [3,143,184].…”

Section: Need Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Determination Theory in HCI Games Research: Current Uses and Open Questions

Tyack

Mekler

2020

Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

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126

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Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a major psychological theory of human motivation, has become increasingly popular in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research on games and play. However, it remains unclear how SDT has advanced HCI games research, or how HCI games scholars engage with the theory. We reviewed 110 CHI and CHI PLAY papers that cited SDT to gain a better understanding of the ways the theory has contributed to HCI games research. We find that SDT, and in particular, the concepts of need satisfaction and intrinsic motivation, have been widely applied to analyse the player experience and inform game design. Despite the popularity of SDT-based measures, however, prominent core concepts and mini-theories are rarely considered explicitly, and few papers engage with SDT beyond descriptive accounts. We highlight conceptual gaps at the intersection of SDT and HCI games research, and identify opportunities for SDT propositions, concepts, and measures to more productively inform future work.

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“…While need satisfaction has become a staple of research on videogame play and wellbeing [e.g., 15,22], more recent work indicates that need frustration more effectively predicts negative psychosocial outcomes, such as stress or burnout, relative to need satisfaction [7]. Relations between need frustration and ill-being have also been observed with respect to videogames: indeed, experimental research suggests that play can improve psychosocial outcomes through increased need satisfaction and attenuated need frustration in parallel [20]. [12], alongside more widely-used measures (e.g., positive affect) [11,14,20].…”

Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relations between need frustration and ill-being have also been observed with respect to videogames: indeed, experimental research suggests that play can improve psychosocial outcomes through increased need satisfaction and attenuated need frustration in parallel [20]. [12], alongside more widely-used measures (e.g., positive affect) [11,14,20]. Vitality's utility to HCI games scholarship is likely greater than its presently sporadic use would suggest.…”

Section: Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Masterclass: Rethinking Self-Determination Theory in Player-Computer Interaction

Tyack

Mekler

2020

Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play

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Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a major psychological theory of human motivation, figures prominently in works presented at CHI PLAY. Concepts such as intrinsic motivation and need satisfaction inform discussion around topics including the nature of good player-computer interaction, the intersection of play and wellbeing, and designing interactive gamified systems that motivate sustained engagement. SDT-based measures index elements of player experience, facilitating evaluations of games and game-adjacent systems. Despite the widespread application of SDT at CHI PLAY, some central concepts and mini-theories receive only cursory attention; as such, a substantial degree of untapped potential remains within SDT for advancing player-computer interaction. This masterclass presents a primer on three under-examined areas of SDT with applications to common topics in HCI games scholarship. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI .

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Restorative Play: Videogames Improve Player Wellbeing After a Need-Frustrating Event

Cited by 28 publications

References 77 publications

Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Do People Use Games to Compensate for Psychological Needs During Crises? A Mixed-Methods Study of Gaming During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Self-Determination Theory in HCI Games Research: Current Uses and Open Questions

Masterclass: Rethinking Self-Determination Theory in Player-Computer Interaction

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