Zheng Qi Professor Mary Hays RHET 105 08 May 2016 Video Games Themselves Contribute Little to the Formation of Video Game Addiction: Possible Motivations of Video Game Addiction and Solutions Working thesis: After computers became affordable and the Internet became prevalent among the whole world, playing video games now became a major recreational activity for many people. However, lots of students are now suffering from game addiction, and many of them even drop from school because of it. As soon as game addiction is mentioned, lots of people might think that countless video games are the major factor that caused these cases. However, I disagree with them. My research wants to prove that: video games themselves have little to do with game addiction. Also, I hope to trace out the formation of game addiction and explore methods which could be effective in solving the problem. Annotated Bibliography Source #1 Blinka, Lucas, and Mikuška Jakub. The role of social motivation and sociability of gamers in online game addiction. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 8.2 (2014): 1-10. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016
Summary: This article mainly explained how social motivation and sociability of gamers contribute to the formation of online game addiction, which is one major type of video games. The authors try to persuade us with three main points which are social motivation, online peer attachment and social self-efficiency. The article clearly shows that high social motivation is the main reason for game addiction regardless of the level of addiction. This reason is especially convincing for gamers who play games which have in-game reward systems. Analysis: This is the Primary Source as well as a Scholarly Source. This article is Peer Reviewed, and it cited a lot of resources. It was published just in 2014, contained in the book: Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, which contains lots of Internet addiction analyzing articles. This article is written by Blinka, L. who is one of the faculty of Social Studies in Masaryk University and writes a few articles about Internet addiction, and Mikuška, J, who is in the School of Human Environmental Science in the University of Kentucky. Both of them are members of the American Psychiatric Association. This article is reliable for research use. Source #2 Clark, Neils and P. Shavaun Scott. Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2009. Print. Summary: This book consists of two parts. In the first part, the authors first provide the basic information of the gaming backgrounds, gamers development and the reasons for we play video games. Then they examine the history of other media, including literature and film, explaining how they massage our senses. After that, the authors use the experiences of several
addicted gamers to find out the common motivations of gaming. In the second part, the authors talk about contemporary treatments and understanding of all kinds of addictions and try to use them to explain game addiction. Finally, the authors provide several possible ways which could solve the problem. Analysis: This book is a scholarly source. It is written by Neils, Clark and P. Shavaun Scott. One of the authors, Neils, Clark, is a professor at Digipen Institute of technology and has published a lot of books about psychology and addiction. The other author, P. Shavaun Scott, has a master s degree in Psychology and is a member of Pamela Shavaun Scott, LMFT. Both of them are experienced in addiction, thus, this book is a really useful resource for my research. Although this book is first published in 2009, the information it provides is really convincing. Source #3 Ferguson, Christopher, with Diana Rieger, James D. Ivory and Julia Kneer. Awareness of Risk Factors for Digital Game Addiction: Interviewing Players and Counselors. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. 12.5 (2014): 585-599. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016 Summary: In this article, the authors interviewed individuals who were separated into two groups. Both of them were asked the reason for game addiction, and the players group thought social settings is the main factor while the counselors took mental problems as the most important factor. To get the answer, they listed diverse possibilities with supports and examined one by one. Finally, they found that especially immersion as playing motive is the main reason for game addiction. But to obtain a more concise answer, more researches are needed.
Analysis: This is a Scholarly Source and is finished under the collaboration of four authors- -Julia Kneer is in Department of Media and Communication in Erasmus University Rotterdam; Diana Rieger is a member in Department of Media and Communication, University of Mannheim; James D. Ivory is in Department of Communication at Virginia Tech; Christopher Ferguson is in Department of Psychology in Stetson University. All of them have published a few academic journals before. This journal is peer reviewed and published online in 2014, so it is suitable to use this article as one of my research materials. Source #4 Graham, Joseph. Narrative Therapy for Treating Video Game Addiction. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction. 12.6 (2014): 701-707. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016 Summary: The author first explains what can be considered as MMORPG, which is short for Massive Multiuse Online Role Playing Games, and video game addiction. Then he introduces a therapy called Narrative Therapy and carefully explains how this therapy works. Finally, he uses a few cases to prove that this therapy is helpful in helping people get rid of video game addiction. Analysis: This article is a scholarly resource and it is published in 2014 in International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, which is an Academic journal. It is peer reviewed. Graham, Joseph, who is the author of this journal, is in University of Central Florida and he has published a few academic journals about psychiatric illnesses. This article has lots of citations, too. In conclusion, the information presented in this article is reliable.
Source #5 Kuss, Daria J. with Jorik Louws, and Reinout W. Wiers. Online Gaming Addiction? Motives Predict Addictive Play Behavior in Massively Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Games. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking. 15.9 (2012): 480-485. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016 Summary: This article mainly discussed game addiction caused by Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. The authors designed an online questionnaire and 175 current MMORPG players and 90 nonplayers took part in the survey. The result shows that MMORPG players have a higher chance to suffer from game addictions and escapism is a significant predictor. It also supports that it is important to use methods which are able to find differences among various types of games. Analysis: This is peer reviewed and is published in 2012, contained in the book: Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, whose academic type is Academic Journal. It is written by three authors: Kuss, Daria J., who is a member of International Gaming Research Unit in Nottingham Trent University; Louws, Jorik, who is a student in Department of Psychology in Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen; Wiers, Reinout W., who is in Programmagroep Ontwikkelingspsychologie, Universiteit van Amsterdam. Although Kuss, Daria J. and Louws, Jorik do not have many articles published, Wiers, Reinout W. has published over a hundred academic journals. By the above analysis, I think that this article is a trustworthy resource for my research. Source #6
Kneer, Julia and Diana Rieger. Problematic Game Play: The Diagnostic Value of Playing Motives, Passion, and Playing Time in Men. Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X). 5.2 (2015): 203-213. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016 Summary: This article mainly discussed whether known motives for game play and game play passion contribute to problematic game play. The authors invited 99 German players, who are all males and about 23 years old in average, and asked them to fill out a form. By analyzing, they finally got the result that game play motives and passion should be discussed as criteria for the formation of game addiction and the time the gamers spend in playing video games has minor importance in forming game addiction without other factors taken into account. Analysis: This is a Scholarly Source and it is published in Behavioral Science, which is an online magazine and publishes peer reviewed journals, in May, 2015 less than one year. This journal is written by Kneer, Julia, who is in Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Rieger, Diana, who is in the Department of Media and Communication, University of Mannheim. Both of them have published several academic journals about game addictions. Also, this article has a lot of references and explained every step of their research in detail. Thus, this article is credible. Source #7 Lloret Irles, Daniel, and Ramón Morell Gomis. Impulsiveness and Video Game Addiction. Health & Addictions / Salud y Drogas. 16.1 (2016): 33-40. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016
Summary: In this article, the author wants to examine how impulsiveness and the time gamers spend on video games and video game addiction. By analyzing data from over fourhundred teenagers, who took the video game behavior questionnaire, the authors find that impulsiveness is related to time spent on video games only in weekdays. According to the result, the author thinks that impulsiveness is an important factor in the formation of game addiction and if we want to design treatments, we should consider it carefully. Analysis: This article is a scholarly resource and is published in 2016 it is really up to date. It is written by two authors, both of them are students in the Universidad Miguel Hernández. However, they only have one article published, so this article is not convincing enough. Although I think their opinion is valuable for my research, I will take this material as one of the minor sources. Source #8 Livingston, Michael G., and Zachary L. Schmitt. Video Game Addiction and College Performance Among Males: Results from a 1 Year Longitudinal Study. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking. 18.1 (2015): 25-29. EBSCO. Web. 6 March.2016 Summary: This article mainly introduced us of whether massive game playing affects the formation of game addiction and the terrible outcomes brought by game addiction. The authors asked 477 male students at a liberal arts college to take two surveys: game usage and expected college engagement. Depending on the survey, if students spent a certain time playing video games every week, they should be considered having game addiction. By finally analyzing the results, he finally got the conclusion that video game addiction is negatively correlated with
students GPA in college and brought students lots of implications for their success and engagement in universities. Analysis: This is a Scholarly Source and the point of view could be regarded as video games themselves contribute to game addiction. The article is released in 2015 and citied in detail. It is peer reviewed and written by Schmitt, Zachary L., who is a BA in Department of Academic Affairs in College of St. Benedict and St. John's University, and Livingston, Michael G. A PhD. in Department of Psychology in College of St. Benedict and St. John's University. This article is published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, which is a book that contains many up-to-date researches. I cannot find other articles written by them so the article might not be as credible as the first one.