No abstract

Press items (N = 1327) about addiction related problems were collected from politically independent daily newspapers in Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland from 1991, 1998, and 2011. A synchronized qualitative coding was performed for discerning the descriptions of the genesis to the problems in terms of described causes to and reasons for why they occur. Environmental explanations were by far the most common and they varied most between the materials. The analysis documents how the portrayals include traces of their contextual origin, relating to different media tasks and welfare cultural traditions. Meaning-based differences were also assigned to the kind of problems that held the most salience in the press reporting. A general worry over societal change is tied into the explanations of accumulating addiction problems and underpins the press reporting in all countries.

The study examines how persons in a close relationship with a gamer of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) perceive relationship problems caused by the gaming hobby. Revisiting the concept of pure relationships by Anthony Giddens, we analysed eight deep interviews with persons who claim their relationship with the gamer had ended or turned downhill due to the volume of the gaming. The study formulates a conception of the clashes of interest in areas of (1) situational clashes in everyday choreography, (2) shifts in long view prioritizing, (3) deficient communication and (4) understandings of self and autonomy in relation to gaming and relationship. These conceptual paths serve to understand the problems from a sociological perspective. On a more general level, the study demonstrates the timeliness in devoting attention to the premises under which intimacy and commitment are negotiated in offline and online relationship constellations.

Psychological studies have tended to understand gambling motives as preconceived and individualistic. However, from a sociological point of view motives can only be conceived after the act has taken place, forming vocabularies of justifying one's action to make it rational in the eyes of others. Motives cannot be taken at face value but as expressions of what is thought to be culturally acceptable. Using group interview data, this comparative study between Finnish and French gamblers asks how gambling is justified in these two cultural contexts. Different vocabularies of justification were found. While the French emphasised the dream of winning large sums of money, the Finns highlighted personal development. The results confirm that cultural aspects should be considered more in gambling research as the vocabularies of justifying gambling are connected to the cultural and institutional context in question.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games are graphical virtual environments in which gamers interact with each other through avatars many hours a day on a daily basis. The most widely accepted criterion of problematic variants of the gaming is the amount of time spent on the games. In this study, we show that time use might not be a very adequate measurement of the extent of the problem. We have analyzed an interview material with 17 (¼n) gamers, and 115 (¼n) applications to a gamers' guild, identifying gamers' perception of time and temporality. Firstly, our study shows that time spent on gaming varies a lot over time depending on other life activities and the overall life situation of the gamer. Secondly, our study indicates that due to the nature of the activity, gamers can develop time management skills over time. Concrete techniques to enjoy the flow of the game, but still function well in other life spheres involve, for example, economizing other activities, setting alarm clocks, and schedule ''gaming binges.'' We also discuss some conceptual differences made between serious leisure, on the one hand, and addiction, on the other.