The effects of video racing games on risk-taking in consideration of the game experience

Abstract

In the present study, we attempted to investigate whether it is the game experience that underlies processes leading to increased risk-taking while playing video racing games (VRGs). The aim of the study was to examine the indirect effect of playing VRGs on risky driving behaviour through various dimensions of the game experience. Thus, we examined the subjective experience of participants playing various VRGs and questioned whether this influenced subsequent driving behaviour. The results of the present study show that aspects of the playing experience, in particular "flow" and "competence", appear to be important in the regulation of risk appetite. It can be assumed that, rather than the mere playing of VRGs, the type of game experience during play is determinant for subsequent risk propensity while driving.

Bursting balloons - comparison of risk taking between extreme sports, esports, and the general public

“…Asking undergraduates to play video games for 30 minutes, Buelow et al (2015) observed an increase in some executive functions but no increase in risk-taking behavior in the BART. Other researchers observed an association between a history of playing reckless-driving or other risk-glorifying games and risky driving (e.g., Fischer et al, 2007;Stollberg & Lange, 2020) or risky behaviors such as smoking, aggression, or delinquency (e.g., Hull et al, 2014), respectively. However, some of these findings are disputed (see Hilgard et al, 2019;Drummond et al, 2021).…”

Bursting Balloons - Comparison of Risk Propensity Between Extreme Sports Esports and the General Public

“…Asking undergraduates to play video games for 30 minutes, Buelow and colleagues (2015) observed an increase in some executive functions but no increase in risk-taking behavior in the BART. Other researchers observed an association between a history of playing reckless-driving or other risk-glorifying games and risky driving (e.g., Fischer et al, 2007;Stollberg & Lange, 2020) or risky behaviors such as smoking, aggression, or delinquency (e.g., Hull et al, 2014), respectively. However, some of these findings are disputed (see Hilgard et al, 2019;Drummond et al, 2021).…”

Playing Action Video Games Affects Cognitive Ability

“…Video games can be divided into enormous genres through a huge diversity of potential experiences which contains considerably slow-moving and hard strategy games (i.e., wherein participants have sufficient time to make a careful plan and decision) and fighting games (i.e., where gamers must always make judgments and respond as quickly as they can). According to earlier studies, playing racing games can encourage participants to engage in unsafe driving practices, and increase players' risk-taking [2]. Another research has shown that aggressive behavior and cognition can be significantly improved through playing violent video games [3].…”