Gamers on Gaming: A Research Note Comparing Behaviors and Beliefs of Gamers, Video Game Players, and Non‐Players

Abstract

Research often conflates video game players and "gamers," defining gamers by time spent playing or by type of game played. Such operationalization may be a matter of convention or, more problematically, based on stereotypical beliefs about gamers. With a survey of nearly 900 young adults, this study compared self-identified gamers to other video game players and people who do not play video games. There were behavioral differences in terms of time played, but few attitudinal differences across the groups with regards perceptions of media violence. Non-players, compared to players and gamers, tended to hold more negative attitudes about video games and their effects. Non-players also tended to be more socially engaged and have more social support, but gamers were not socially isolated. Notably, hours played did not consistently correlate with beliefs and behaviors. Results demonstrate the importance of recognizing the theoretical, empirical, and practical distinctions among hours played, gamer stereotypes, and gamer identity.A wide swath of Americans play video games, on either dedicated consoles, PCs, or mobile devices (Nielsen 2018). As the rise of e-sports leagues suggests, video gaming itself has been embraced as popular entertainment (Hamari and Sj€ oblom 2017). Despite their wide integration into people's daily livessimilar to "old media" like televisionthere remains in news media, popular culture, and scholarship stereotypical assumptions that serve to other video game culture and the people who seem immersed in it: "gamers" (Chess, Evans, and Baines 2017; Shaw 2010). Research on gamers disputes the stereotypical portrayals (Williams, Yee, and Caplan 2008), yet gamers may have shared experiences surrounding game play, as well as a form of social capital among others in gaming communities (De Grove, Courtois, and Van Looy 2015;Howe et al. 2019).Research on self-identified gamers has typically drawn convenience samples from internet-based gaming sites (Williams et al. 2008) or from sources such as gaming conventions (Carras et al. 2018) and online forums (Kowert, Griffiths, and Oldmeadow 2012). This approach, while enlightening in terms of gamers and gaming subcultures, does not readily allow for comparisons to other groups, which both survey and behavioral researchers often seek to do.

Cross-Cultural Analysis of Gamer Identity: A Comparison of the United States and Poland

“…The main reason to make the exclusion was the fact that the researchers wanted to conduct a deeper analysis of the types of games, platforms or ways of playing and to do so only people playing games have knowledge of the type of games they prefer and how they play these games. Furthermore, individuals that do not play video games have been found to hold negative attitudes and beliefs about games (Amby et al, 2020; Kort-Butler, 2020) that could alter the results based on stigma and not gamer identity. The results were collected between March and June 2019.…”

Game preferences of K-12 level students: analysis and prediction using the association rule

“…On the other hand, games are fun activities, however they are also viewed by many individuals as an escape from the stress posed by real life, a pastime activity, or a means to socialization (Cheng, 2007;Yee, 2006). The effects of these approaches can be seen in the individual preferences for different games or for certain behavior specific to different profiles (Giammarco, Schneider, Carswell & Knipe, 2015;Lazzaro, 2004;Herodotou, Kambouri & Winters, 2011;Kort-Butler, 2020). An examination of studies dealing with factors affecting individuals' game preferences reveals three main categories: demographic factors (Crawford & Gosling, 2005;Durdu, Hotomaroğlu & Çağıltay, 2004;Horzum, 2011;Lucas & Scherry, 2004;Marshall & Foran, 2008;Prensky, 2001;Pala & Erdem, 2011;Quaiser-Pohl, Geiser & Lehman, 2006;Sherry, De Souza, Greenberg & Lochan, 2003;Stavropolos, Rennie, Morcos, Gomez & Griffiths, 2020;Wasserman & Rittenour, 2019), in-game behavior and motives for playing (Giammarco, Schneider, Carswell & Knipe, 2015;Lazzaro, 2004;Herodotou, Kambouri & Winters, 2011;Wang, Sapienza, Culotta & Ferrara, 2019), and playing habits (Ayan, 2013;Juul, 2002;Kirman & Lawson, 2009;Lee & LaRose, 2007;Liao, Tseng, Cheng & Teng, 2020;Manero, Torrente, Freire & Fernández-Manjón, 2016;Mulligan & Patrovsky, 2003;Palomba, 2019;Scharkow, Festl, Vogelgesang & Quandt, 2015;Tatlı, 2018).…”

An analysis of undergraduate heavy-video-gaming students : developing technology-enhanced learning-support areas based on gaming and study practices

“…However, not all heavy-video-gamers are problematic. Because 70 percent of the undergraduate student population report they play games, more research needs to be conducted on the nonproblematic gamers (Kort-Butler, 2020;Partin, 2017;Reitman et al, 2020). Both, "thrivers and divers," discussed by Beattie et al (2018) are found within this group of students.…”

“…Gaming activities have little purpose in supporting school missions, though it is growing into a distinct discipline (Bauer-Wolf, 2019;Nguyen, 2017) Potential to affect a small to medium population of campus (Osborn, 2020;Routon & Walker, 2015) Potential to affect a large population of campus (Kort-Butler, 2020;Thuma, 2012).…”

“…The prevalence of video-gaming within universities is additionally evidenced by the doling of over $15,000,000 in scholarships to collegiate-sanctioned eSport team players in 2019 (Bauer-Wolf, 2019;Reitman et al, 2020). Video-gaming has become one of the most popular collegiate extracurricular activities on campuses (Kort-Butler, 2020). According to Statistica (2019), player numbers are on the rise as there were 2.21 billion gamers worldwide in 2017, and that number is expected to reach 2.73 billion by 2021 ("Newzoo Insights -Covering the Games, Esports, and Mobile Markets," 2018).…”