The long-term Czech Gamers research project focuses on why people play online games, what they experience while playing them, and what it brings to them. Photo credit: MUNI.
Brno, 13 Mar (BD) – Videogames have long been associated with harmful effects on young people, but a team of researchers from Masaryk University wants to look at the other side of the coin.
The long-term Czech Gamers research project focuses on why people play online games, what they experience while playing them and what it brings to them. The data gathered will allow the research team to describe both the positive and negative effects of video games. They will investigate how gaming impacts the lives of the volunteers and how they relate to the characters they play. The results will help understand the stigmatisation of gaming and improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment of addiction.
“Since 2021 we have been collecting data using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. The third and final data collection is now underway. As the players will be participating for the third time, we will be able to evaluate their relationship to the games from a long-term perspective,” explained head of research Lukas Blinka, who has devoted himself to researching the recreational playing of video games for a long time.
The team’s previous data showed that similar amounts of time playing games can be a harmless passion or an indication of addiction, depending on the context. Several factors come into play, such as the level of attention paid to the action on the screen and the use of psychoactive substances. Yet, according to Blinka, the tendency of addiction is lower than portrayed in the media, around 10% of the world’s population.
Although a new diagnosis of gaming addiction is set to appear in diagnostic manuals this year, there is not yet full agreement on the point at which excessive gaming can become problematic. Some experts are therefore concerned at the risk of pathologising a common leisure activity, and highlight the need for more comprehensive data about gamers.
The research team is looking for volunteers willing to answer their questions. Participants who fill in the questionnaire will enter a competition to receive an Alza Voucher for CZK 1000.
