Online Gaming Through Internet Use: A Study Of Users and Their Problematic Behaviors

The past decade has seen an increase in people's online gaming habits and Internet use which, in many cases, has had a negative impact on their daily functioning and social interactions with others. While the American Medical Association debates over whether problematic Internet use (and by extension, problematic online gaming behavior) can be classified as an addiction, research into the phenomenon is ongoing. In the present study, people's online gaming habits were assessed through an anonymous online survey. The research sample consisted of 151 online gamers of varying age, income level, education level, and ethnicity who were asked to fill out an online questionnaire. The questionnaire contained statements about online gaming habits and Suler's (2004) concept of "persona integration" (the level of integration a person displays between his or her online representation and real-life self). These two areas of research have not been previously examined concurrently in a single study. Participants were asked to rate their agreement with these statements on a five-point scale. The survey also contained questions regarding the participant's demographic information. Bivariate regression was used to determine if participant's responses regarding persona integration were significantly related to their responses regarding online gaming behavior. Results of the research sample were inconclusive at a statistically significant level. Chi square test of association was used to determine if participant's responses regarding online gaming behavior were significantly related to their responses regarding age, ethnicity or education level. Results were again inconclusive at a statistically significant level, but approached significance for all of the variables examined. This means there may be a relationship that was not found in the current study due to the modest sample size or the inherent limitations with self-reporting. A surprising observation which arose from this study is the level of defensiveness and stigmatization that gamers seem to feel due to negative media portrayals and previous research on the topic. This may have had an effect on the results of the current study and bears further investigation and research in the future.