Abstract
BackgroundThere has been a surge in interest in examining internet gaming disorder (IGD) and its associations with gaming motivation. Three broad components of gaming motivation have been proposed: achievement, immersion, and social. Achievement-oriented players are motivated by gaining in-game rewards, immersion-oriented players are motivated by the experience of immersion in the virtual world, and social-oriented players are motivated by the need to socialize with other players through gaming.ObjectiveThis study aimed to (1) quantitatively synthesize the growing body of literature to systematically examine the discrepancies in the magnitude of associations between various components of gaming motivation and IGD and (2) examine the moderating role of cultural dimension on the association between escapism gaming motivation and IGD.MethodsWe conducted a systematic search of multiple databases between 2002 and 2020. Studies were included if they (1) included quantitative data, (2) used measures assessing both gaming motivation and IGD, and (3) contained sufficient information for effect size calculation.ResultsThe findings revealed IGD to have a stronger association with achievement motivation (r=0.32) than with immersion (r=0.22) or social motivation (r=0.20), but the strongest such association was found to be with escapism motivation (r=0.40), a subcomponent of immersion motivation. Our cross-cultural comparison further showed a stronger association between escapism motivation and IGD in studies conducted in individualistic (vs collectivistic) regions.ConclusionsThis meta-analysis highlights the importance of acknowledging the discrepancies among different components of gaming motivation with respect to their role in the development of IGD, as well as the potential cultural variations in the strength of such associations.
Highlights
Internet gaming is a popular leisure activity in the present digital age
The findings revealed internet gaming disorder (IGD) to have a stronger association with achievement motivation (r=0.32) than with immersion (r=0.22) or social motivation (r=0.20), but the strongest such association was found to be with escapism motivation (r=0.40), a subcomponent of immersion motivation
Our cross-cultural comparison further showed a stronger association between escapism motivation and IGD in studies conducted in individualistic regions
Summary
Background Internet gaming is a popular leisure activity in the present digital age. gaming can become problematic when it interferes with a player’s psychological and social functioning [1,2]. Considering the prevalence of this emergent problem worldwide [3,4], problematic gaming was included as a “condition for further study” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), under the label of “Internet Gaming Disorder” (IGD) [5], and considerable research efforts have been made to conceptualize and assess IGD [6,7]. After IGD was listed as a “condition for further study” in the DSM-5 in 2013, gaming disorder was officially included in the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision (ICD-11) in 2018. Only 1 measure has been developed based on the ICD-11 criteria, but none of https://mental.jmir.org/2022/2/e23700 XSLFO RenderX. This work focuses on IGD because several measures included in the present meta-analysis were constructed based on the DSM criteria. Achievement-oriented players are motivated by gaining in-game rewards, immersion-oriented players are motivated by the experience of immersion in the virtual world, and social-oriented players are motivated by the need to socialize with other players through gaming
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