2. Video Gaming as an Escape

Abstract

“Video Gaming as an Escape”

There is a large population in video gaming, especially Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) more people are spending time on their computers rather than in contact with people face to face. Previous research suggests [BD1] that escaping the real world is a large reason that people play video games (Hagstöm and Kaldo[BD2] , 2014) and that people are unsatisfied with their lives and that is why they play video games. People who play video games tend to identify as two different people; themselves and their character. However, others suggest that players take on the persona of their virtual character (Hefne, Klimmit, & Vorderer, 2007). It seems players may be trying to escape their real lives. Another study suggests that people use video gaming as not just an escape from their negative real life but rather it provides a social support system that is not present in the real world (Kaczmarek and Drażkowski, 2014) The current study seeks to examine the relationship between life satisfaction and enjoyment playing video games and the study seeks to build a model examining the impact that game playing has on life satisfaction[BD3] . Participants (college age students) responded to an online questionnaire regarding their perceptions of life satisfaction among other scales. We predicted that the participants who are less satisfied with real life and have a lower self esteem, have a more satisfying in game life in a MMORPG setting. The results of this study are important to understanding the mechanisms surrounding video games that can promote positive and negative real life satisfaction.

Key Words: Escapism, Video Games, Self Esteem, Life Satisfaction

[BD1]Suggest, not “shows”

[BD2]Needs the DATE too.

[BD3]Should add another variable here, what about if Im playing with friends, so if I play alone or with others online games may actually positively influence my life satisfaction. People do build communities, others use it to slink away from the pressure of real life...