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

Title of the Paper

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

Paper Information

• Research Area: Gaming, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Self-Determination Theory
• Keywords: Gaming, Psychological Needs, Coping, Compensation, Mixed Methods, COVID-19, Mental Health, Social Isolation

Research Background and Questions

• Identified Issues or Challenges:

  • Crises and disasters (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic) negatively impact mental health, including anxiety, stress, depression, and feelings of loneliness.
  • Particularly in situations of social isolation, whether games can effectively support psychological needs and coping mechanisms lacks rigorous empirical evidence.
  • Existing literature offers many speculations about games compensating for psychological needs but lacks direct evidence on how gaming choices fulfill these needs.

• Significance:

  • Increased gaming usage during lockdowns suggests it may serve as an important coping tool.
  • Understanding how games influence psychological need compensation can inform the design of effective games and promote healthy gaming behaviors.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the fulfillment of psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) is fundamental to mental health.
  • Games are thought to provide a high density of psychological need satisfaction, but compulsive gaming behaviors may lead to negative outcomes.

Proposed Solution

• Methods:

  • A mixed-methods survey involving 285 participants was conducted to study the impact of the early stages of the pandemic on psychological needs.
  • Quantitative methods: Psychological need satisfaction and frustration in daily life and gaming were measured using BPNSFS and UPEQ scales.
  • Qualitative methods: Open-ended questions explored how games compensate for psychological needs, analyzing game features and mechanisms.

• Innovations:

  • The first study to explore gaming behavior from the perspective of need compensation.
  • Differentiates and examines the impact of daily life need satisfaction and frustration on gaming choices.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  • Data collection through surveys, followed by classification, coding, and analysis.
  • Correlation analysis to explore patterns in quantitative data.
  • Qualitative content analysis combining theoretical frameworks and open coding to uncover how gaming experiences fulfill psychological needs.

Research Outcomes

• Key Findings:

  • During lockdowns, people actively chose games to compensate for unmet psychological needs in daily life, particularly autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
  • Different game design features (e.g., open-world environments, autonomous actions, challenging tasks) play distinct roles in need satisfaction.
  • Quantitative data revealed a "Matthew Effect": higher daily need satisfaction correlated positively with gaming need satisfaction, while lower daily need satisfaction did not significantly benefit from gaming.

• Advantages Compared to Existing Solutions:

  • Provides direct evidence supporting the need compensation hypothesis in SDT.
  • Highlights mechanisms linking game design and player behavior to psychological need satisfaction.

• Experimental and Evaluation Results:

  • Quantitative results showed a positive correlation between need satisfaction in gaming and daily life need states.
  • Qualitative findings revealed specific scenarios where games acted as compensatory tools, such as providing virtual spaces to counteract restrictions on physical movement during isolation.
  • While games satisfied psychological needs, they could also evoke negative emotions (e.g., guilt), depending on individual perceptions and evaluations of gaming.

• Limitations:

  • Data collection occurred during the early pandemic; changes in needs over time may differ.
  • Cross-sectional study design cannot establish causality; quantitative results do not explain the dynamic compensation process.
  • Sample skewed towards more active gamers, potentially excluding general user behaviors.

• Future Directions:

  • Longitudinal studies to verify causal relationships between compensatory gaming behavior and mental health.
  • Exploration of individual factors (e.g., age, gender, social environment) influencing need compensation and gaming effects.
  • Use of experience sampling or ecological momentary assessment to track short-term compensatory behaviors.
  • Investigation of how sociocultural attitudes facilitate or hinder gaming as a tool for psychological need compensation.

Data and Code Availability

• Data is available on the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform: https://osf.io/vp7ye

Software and Tools

• Quantitative analysis: Conducted using R version 4.0.3 and related statistical packages (tidyverse, MBESS, etc.).
• Qualitative analysis: Content analysis performed using MAXQDA version 12.

Funding and Support

• This research was funded by the Digital Creativity Labs and the Centre for Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence, supported by the UK EPSRC and AHRC.