Why Do Young Filipinos Are Addicted to Computer Games?
You'll be put into pondering state when you notice your children or siblings usually arrive late at night or even arrive home in the early morning after going to school. And if you ask him where did he come from why he was so late. He may answer you, “I did my projects there in the computer shop.” Bingo! Your student child escaped from possible disastrous and violent homily coming from you. He may be true that he went to a computer shop but little did you know that he went there to play online games with his friends and not to do his homework.
If you are aware nowadays, a lot of young Filipinos, including me, are already addicted to computer games. That’s maybe the reason why after I finished my studies I put up a computer shop and my whole life today is focused on this field. Playing games the whole day while earning at the same time. To help you guys out there thinking why we love to play and play computer games. I enclosed an article I’ve read which explains that computer games are not just for fun but also help us to fulfill our basic psychological needs. Isn’t it interesting guys?
The article goes this way….
Why Video Games May Be Hard to Give Up?
MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've found another reason why video games are so hard to give up: They may help fulfill basic psychological needs.
In a study published in the January issue of Motivation and Emotion, investigators from the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. looked at what motivated 1,000 gamers to keep playing video games.
"We think there's a deeper theory than the fun of playing," lead investigator Richard Ryan, a motivational psychologist at Rochester, said in a prepared statement. The gamers were divided into four groups, each asked to play different games. They answered questionnaires both before and after playing the games. The researchers used the questionnaires to look at the underlying motives and satisfactions that can spark players' interests and sustain them during play.
The researchers found that the games can provide opportunities for achievement, freedom and even a connection to other players. Those benefits trumped a shallow sense of fun, which doesn't keep gamers as interested. Players reported feeling the best when the games produced positive experiences and challenges that connected to what they knew in the real world.
"It's our contention that the psychological 'pull' of games is largely due to their capacity to engender feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness," said Ryan. He believes that video games not only motivate further play but "also can be experienced as enhancing psychological wellness, at least short-term."
For the participants who played massively multiplayer online, or MMO, games -- which are capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of players simultaneously -- the need for relatedness emerged "as an important satisfaction that promotes a sense of presence, game enjoyment and an intention for future play," the researchers found.
Ryan pointed out that while not all video games are able to satisfy basic psychological needs, "those that do may be the best at keeping players coming back."
-- Krisha McCoy
SOURCE: University of Rochester, news release, January 2007
Last Updated: Jan. 15, 2007
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