Is video game addiction a real phenomenon? Several researchers, including Griffiths and Davies, the authors of “Does Video Game Addiction Exist?” have attempted to prove that game addiction is actually real. However, I personally remain dubious about their claims.
Supposedly addiction consists of six required elements: salience (which basically means the addiction monopolizes one’s thoughts and activities), mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict (with others, self, and activities), and relapse. However, the researcher’s attempts to correlate these elements to video games are a bit of a stretch. I can see how the researchers might attempt to show video game addiction through salience – when anything is completely dominating your thoughts and actions, it’s probably not healthy. I can also easily see how conflict could occur – with school, work, sleep, relationships with others, etc. However, I’m not sure I believe that one activity causing conflict with another or even with relationships constitutes addiction.
Additionally, I’m not sure that the fact that gaming can cause “mood modification” proves addiction either. Any activity that one enjoys is likely to cause excitement or a “buzzed” feeling, or else a feeling of escape. One can even get these feelings from watching an engaging movie, but that doesn’t mean the person is addicted to the movie, or watching movies, or anything else for that matter. Relapse I can sort of see – for example, I know people who have tried to quit playing WoW, but have gone back to it – but the person can make a choice to return to the activity without that constituting relapse.
The two elements I find hardest to equate with game addiction are tolerance and withdrawal. It’s very difficult to prove that gamers need to play more and more in order to feel the same effects. Additionally, withdrawal is equally hard to prove. Most people would get irritated or moody if forced to stop playing in the middle of a game, but this certainly does not mean they are addicted. Physical symptoms such as headaches or tremors from lack of game play seem even less likely.
The studies that researchers have used to measure game addiction have many flaws. One such study involved handing out questionnaires to gamers. The question meant to measure salience read, “Do you play video games most days?” In my opinion, this question measures nothing. I mean, I brush my teeth every day, but that doesn’t mean I’m addicted by any means. A better question would have been “Do video games occupy your thoughts even when you aren’t playing?” but even this question would not have accurately measured salience.
Researchers have also tried very hard to correlate video game addiction with gambling addiction, probably because there has been a great deal of study related to the latter, and not so much for the former. However, just because the games share certain attributes like shiny pictures and flashing lights does not make them the same. Video games, for one, do not offer the promise of money. Sure, you can rack up a higher score, but the psychological lure of money is much greater and completely different, and in my opinion, should be studied differently.
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5 comments:
It's definitely a hard thing to track down. However, one easy way to try and conceptualize video game addition is gambling addictions, and often the two are even mixed. I certainly could think of some people who have had the inability to alter their game play as it effects their lives outside of the game itself. Which in itself is destructive enough to warrant study. However, I agree that a lot of addiction claims are a little far fetched and reach a little farther than they should.
I feel like everyone choose to write on the addiction article and that I would have to write a boring comment about the same thing twice. When I came across your blog though I couldn't help but comment. I love how you brought gambling into your blog. Several classes ago I attempted to bring it up but was shot down. Gambling and video game addiction are very similar in my mind but you made a good point about real money being involved in gambling but not in video games. But just last night my friends were playing Gran Turismo 4 on their PS2 and they couldn't stop talking about the money(credits) they were making so they could buy new cars and parts. It was gross how they got so into the game that owning these cars and the nice parts made them feel rich and powerful. They have been playing for a week straight and I see no stopping them for weeks to come. It is easy to make video games seem very real as technology increases and more realistic games come onto the market. I believe the more realistic the game the easier it is to imagine yourself in the game and not just playing a game. Thus leading to video game addiction.
Thomas brought up as good point with the gambling. If something like that can be considered addiction, then video gave can most certainly have an additive factor to it. but i do have to say that most of the studies are done pretty horribly, and the results show.
in my opinion i think that some people can become addicted, but in general most researchers are just trying really hard to show some proof that that the addiction exists. therefor the researchers start to say that a simple reaction that some one has to a game, is actually something showing they are addicted.
I do believe that video games can be addicting. After reading your response to the following reading I have now begun to understand the affects and the effects on video games, whether being an addiction or not. Very well written, you have challenged the reading to the fullest extent
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