Are Online Role-Playing Games More Social than Multiplayer First-Person Shooters? Investigating How Online Gamers’ Motivations and Playing Habits are related to Social Capital Acquisition and Social Support.

Reer Felix, Krämer Nicole C.

Research article (journal)

Abstract

The question of whether online gaming can lead to the formation of meaningful social relationships or rather displaces real life social interactions and thus fosters isolation is still being discussed controversially. A type of game that has rarely been investigated in this context is the genre of online first-person shooters (FPS). The current study examines how playing the popular FPS Counter-Strike (CS) is related to social capital acquisition and to social support in general. In contrast to existing studies, not only playing frequency, but additional factors like specific playing habits and players’ motivations were considered. Further, a systematical comparison with a sample of players of the online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WOW) is provided. In total, 828 participants (419 CS players, 409 WOW players) filled out an online survey about their gaming behaviors and their social embeddedness. Within both subsamples, a high playing frequency was negatively related to social support, but showed some positive relationships with the acquisition of game-based social capital. Further analyses confirmed our expectation that neither FPS nor role-playing games are per se social or asocial, but that outcomes of playing depend on gamers’ motivations and playing habits. Accordingly, players with a high social motivation and with a more social playing style (i.e. clan/guild members and team players) received more positive social outcomes than less socially-oriented players.

Details zur Publikation

Release year: 2019
Language in which the publication is written: English