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The Christian Social Conscience Online Gaming and Addiction: A Psychosocial Investigation using Mixed Methods ZAHEER HUSSAIN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy November 2010 1 Copyright statement This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY 9 LIST OF TABLES 10 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 11 ABSTRACT 15 OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 16 CHAPTER 1: A REVIEW OF THE VIDEO GAME LITERATURE 18 A Brief History and Overview of Video Games 18 Video Games and Aggression 20 Video Games and Health 32 The Positive Effects of Video Games 41 Online gaming / Massively Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games 50 CHAPTER 2: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ADDICTION 59 Addiction: An introduction 59 Components model of addiction 61 Explanations of addictive behaviour 63 Video games and Gambling 70 Technological Addictions 71 Video gaming and addiction 73 Screening instruments 75 Studies that have investigated video game addiction using the DSM criteria 75 Studies that have investigated video game addiction using other types of addiction criteria 83 Studies that have investigated video game addiction using self-devised addiction criteria 87 Qualitative studies that have investigated video game addiction 89 3 Brain imaging studies that have investigated video game addiction 93 Overview of the current research project 97 The main aim and objectives of the research project 98 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE RESEARCH METHODS 99 Online vs. Offline research 100 Methodological Evaluation 105 Scoping studies 106 Online interviews 108 Online questionnaires 110 Mixed methods opportunities in online research 112 Ethical Considerations 113 Informed Consent 114 Confidentiality 115 Anonymity and Harm 116 Validity and truthfulness 117 Deception and Debriefing 118 Right to withdraw 118 A Duty to the Research Community and Participants 118 Practical considerations and issues 119 Power Relations 119 Access 120 Conclusions 121 CHAPTER 4: AN ONLINE SCOPING STUDY OF MMORPGS 123 Abstract 123 Introduction 124 Method 126 Design and Materials 126 Procedure 127 4 Results 129 Discussion 147 CHAPTER 5: AN ONLINE INTERVIEW STUDY EXPLORING ATTITUDES, FEELINGS, AND EXPERIENCES OF ONLINE GAMERS 152 Abstract 152 Introduction 153 Method 154 Participants 154 Design and Procedure 155 Results 156 Discussion 163 CHAPTER 6: A PILOT ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY EXAMINING THE EXCESSIVE USE OF MMORPGS 169 Abstract 169 Introduction 170 Method 173 Participants 173 Design and Materials 174 Procedure 175 Results 175 Discussion 178 CHAPTER 7: THE MMORPG ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY EXAMINING THE PREVALENCE OF MMORPG ADDICTION 181 Abstract 181 Introduction 182 Method 185 Participants 185 Design and Materials 185 Procedure 187 5 Results 187 Discussion 196 CHAPTER 8: DISCUSSION 204 Summary of the main findings 204 Theoretical insights and applications 212 Limitations 214 Mixed methods approach to examining the impact (psychologically and socially) of MMORPGs on peoples’ lives 217 Practical implications of the research: Social responsibility 219 What is the difference between excess and addiction? 223 Does video game addiction exist? 226 What has the research found overall? 227 Future research 227 Conclusions 232 REFERENCES 234 APPENDICES 292 Appendix 1. Complete list of websites visited whilst conducting the scoping study 293 Appendix 2. Complete list of websites and forums posted on whilst recruiting for the online interview study 295 Appendix 3. Online interview study consent form 296 Appendix 4. Online interview study participant information sheet 298 Appendix 5. Interview schedule for the online interview study 301 Appendix 6. Debriefing sheet for the online interview study 304 Appendix 7. Online questionnaire used in the pilot online questionnaire study 305 Appendix 8. Online recruitment post for the MMORPG online questionnaire study 312 Appendix 9. Participant information sheet for the MMORPG online questionnaire study 313 Appendix 10. Online questionnaire used in the MMORPG online questionnaire study 316 Appendix 11. Complete list of websites and forums posted on during the MMORPG online questionnaire study 324 6 Appendix 12: Between, Within and Total Imputation Variance for Variables Predicting MMORPG Addiction using the 7-item MMORPG addiction scale (n=1,420) 326 7 Acknowledgements “Whoever has not thanked people, has not thanked God”, said the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I would like to thank Professor Mark Griffiths, my Director of Studies. His knowledge and commitment to the highest standards inspired and motivated me. Thanks are due to Professor Thomas Baguley, Dr Monica Whitty, Phil Banyard and Andrew Dunn for their expert advice, wisdom, and guidance. More gratitude than can be expressed goes to my family and especially my parents for always being there when I needed them and for their love, support and prayers. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to my aunty Shameela, my cousin Uwais and all my friends for their prayers, support, and encouragement. Special thanks and appreciation goes to all the participants who contributed to this piece of research. Thank you to all the staff at the Nottingham Trent University Graduate School and Psychology Department. I hope this thesis serves a good purpose for all humankind. 8 Statement of Originality The findings in this thesis are original and independent. It should be noted that data collection for Chapter 2 of the thesis (i.e. the scoping study) was completed with the help of Alexander Meredith. No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification at this or any other university or institute of learning. Some of the findings presented in Chapters 4, 5 and 6 have been published in peer- reviewed academic journals. The full references to these published papers are: Meredith, A., Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). Online gaming: A scoping study of Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games. Electronic Commerce Research, 9, 3-26. Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). Excessive use of Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games: A pilot study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 7, 563-571. Hussain, Z. & Griffiths, M.D. (2009). The Attitudes, Feelings and Experiences of Online Gamers: A Qualitative Analysis. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12, 747-753. 9 List of Tables Table 1. Summary table of studies that have used DSM criteria to investigate video game addiction 82 Table 2. Summary table of studies that have used other types of addiction criteria to investigate video game addiction 86 Table 3. Summary of studies that have used self-devised addiction criteria to measure video game addiction 89 Table 4. Summary table of qualitative studies investigating video game addiction 92 Table 5. Summary table of brain imaging studies that have investigated video game addiction 94 Table 6: Online games by genre and market share 128 Table 7. Scoping Study Results 146 Table 8: Names of MMORPGs that were currently being played by gamers 188 Table 9: Class of avatar played by gamers 190 Table 10: Race of avatar played by gamers 190 Table 11: Type of realm/server played on by gamers 191 Table 12: Logistic regression results for the 7-item MMORPG addiction scale using multiple imputation (imputed n=1,420) 195 10 Glossary of Terms This glossary contains brief definitions of online gaming terms that have been used in this thesis. Duelling: Individual Player versus Player batttles that can occur outside battlegrounds, between two characters. EQ: Abbreviation for EverQuest. An online video game. First-person game: Games in which the player ‘sees’ through the eyes of the character – typically associated with First Person Shooters (FPS) such as Counter Strike, though also possible with most MMORPGs. Guild: A guild is a collection of players who share a common principle or outlook, it can be a specialized group or simply a loose affiliation of players. Guilds are popular among the variety of MMORPGs available. Depending on the game, guilds can have a deity alignment (good, evil, neutral) and carry out actions consistent with that alignment. However, any players caught behaving badly or against the policies of the guild will be dealt with appropriately, such as being expelled from the guild. GL/GM: Abbreviation for guild leader or guild master Instance/Instance Dungeon system: A specific part of the game environment that requires the co-operation of multiple players, involving tougher mobs and better rewards. IRL: Abbreviation for “In real life” Kill stealing: When another player attacks the same creature as another player and receives the reward for the kill instead of the person who originated combat. Newer games have mechanisms for discouraging this behaviour. 11 Levelling: Completing tasks/quests, fighting monsters or other gamers with the purpose of gaining a level Loot drops/Money drops: The money or items that drop from a Mob when it has been killed by a player. Mission: A task which you are offered to complete in turn for receiving a reward upon completion either in equipment, experience points, money, or reputation. MMORPG: Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. MUD: Multi-User Dungeon or Multi-User Domain. These were the first textual online worlds. NPCs: Non-Player Character (NPC): This is a character in a game that is controlled by artificial intelligence or a Gamemaster (human controllable characters often employed for guidance and help within the game; i.e., customer services). NPC “salvage”: The ability to loot items from NPCs that have been killed. PvP: Player versus Player combat.
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