A Study of Social Anxiety from Online Gamers

Hypothesis/Hypotheses

"The following hypotheses were derived: (a) Higher levels of social anxiety and expression of true self in game will be positively associated with GPIUS scores; (b) Higher numbers of, and satisfaction with, in-game supports will be associated with more time playing MMORPGs; (C) Lower numbers of, and satisfaction with, face-to-face relationships will be associated with both larger GPIUS scores and more time spent playing MMORPGs." MMORPGs = Massive multiplayer online role-playing games

GPIUS Generalized Problematic Internet Use Scale

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Variables social anxiety, expression of true self, GPIUS score, number of face-to-face social supports, satisfaction with the number of face-to-face social supports, number of massive multiplayer role playing game social (MMORPG's) supports, satisfaction with number of supports in MMORPG's.

Population of the Study

Human, male and female, 18 and older

How the population was sampled

Online Surveys

Is this a correlational study or experiment?

This is a correlational study. I know this because nothing is being manipulated, and the reason for this study is to see the correlation between social anxiety and gaming.

Social anxiety is measured in the study by a self-reporting version using fear and avoidance.

Over two weeks the participants responded to 24 statements describing various social situations and were asked to rate their level of fear from 0-3 and how often they avoided an activity from 0-3. The time spent playing MMORPG was measured by the participants timing their playing and reporting it back. Expression of true self was measured in a four question questionnaire. The perceived social support was measured by how many supportive relationships the participant had and how good they felt about the support they were receiving in said relationships.

Sample Size

686 players completed the survey, 60 were excluded because they were under the age of 18 or had missing data from their survey, leaving the final sample size to 626. 505 of them were men and 121 were women.

There were no results that stuck out or were significant.

Yes, the results supported the hypothesis, the participants and gamers did seem to show/report discomfort in face-to-face situations, they would rather be hidden being an avatar that represented them as they made social interactions instead of being out in public.

The study is limited by the cross-sectional use of data that may not be supported by longitudinal data use. Also, the MMORPG is a fairly new online activity, there could be some kinks in it as new technology typically does.

One suggestion I have is not to use so many variables so it does not get to0 confusing. A second suggestion I have is to keep it clear when they are talking about face-to-face or in game support of social anxiety.

References

1. Lee, B. W., & Leeson, P. C. (2015). Online gaming in the context of social anxiety. Psychology Of Addictive Behaviors, 29(2), 473-482.
   doi:10.1037/adb0000070

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