The Relationship Between Peer Acceptance and Online Game Addiction in Adolescents

Abstract

At the stage of adolescent development, the existence of peers is an important factor in a teenager's friendship. Adolescents have a strong need to be accepted by peers or groups. Adolescents will feel happy when accepted in their peer environment, and on the other hand, adolescents will feel very distracted and anxious if they are excluded and belittled by their peers. The goal of teenagers who participate in online game play is not only looking for winners but also as a medium for making friends. Currently the types of online games that are popular among teenagers are Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) Mobile, Garena Free Fire which is a type of online game that can be played together or called a multiplayer online game. This encouraged the researcher to observe the relationship between peer acceptance and online game addiction in adolescents. The purpose of this study is to see the relationship between peer acceptance and online game addiction in adolescents. This research used quantitative methods. Participants in this study were 121 adolescents in one of the public high schools in Medan. Measuring instrument being used was the peer acceptance scale and the online game addiction scale made by the researcher. Results of this study found a correlation value (R) of .371 and the coefficient of determinant (R) Square of .138 and Sig .000. This means that peer acceptance has a positive and significant relationship with online game addiction. The effect contribution of peer acceptance on the online game addiction is 13.8%, while the remaining 86.2% shows other factors that were not examined in this study.