London – A new study by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has revealed a finding that will delight those who enjoy spending hours a day playing video games: Gaming time, unlike many others, does not have a negative impact on gaming time. imagine being..
The research, published this week in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science, explored the impact of games on gamers’ emotional health to see if there is a link between well-being and time spent playing games.
The good news for those prone to getting scolded or guilty for playing too long is that researchers “found little or no evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between time and well-being.”
They found that individual player motivations, such as curiosity and fun, played a larger role in players’ well-being than hours played.
Study seeks to aid public policy on video games
The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) is a research and teaching division at the University of Oxford dedicated to the social sciences of the Internet. The center’s research seeks to understand how individual and collective online behaviors shape society and influence the direction of politics and the economy.
The study of video games is one of them. Played by billions of people every day, these games are worrisome because of the negative effects they can have on their users, especially young people.
According to OII researchers, warnings about the potentially addictive properties of video games and their potential harm to gamers’ well-being, many of which are unproven, lead to widely controversial public policies.
In China, minors can only play for one hour a day.
“The ubiquity of gaming is feared to lead to mental health problems, and major healthcare organizations and national governments have made far-reaching policy decisions to address the potential risks of gaming, despite the lack of sufficient supporting data.”
“On the other hand, video games can help gamers relax and even act as psychological therapy,” the study says. “Therefore, games have the potential to impact well-being on a global scale.”
To better understand the effects, the researchers conducted a six-week analysis of 38,935 players over the age of 18. Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Data was provided by users of seven famous games: Outriders, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Apex Legends, Eve Online, Forza Horizon 4, Gran Turismo Sport and The Crew 2.
Also Read | Games and the far right | Research shows how extremists use games to reinforce radical ideologies
The researchers say the study is the largest of its kind, using real data on player behavior rather than relying on personal accounts.
“We found little or no evidence of a causal link between gambling and well-being.
For better or worse, the average effects of time spent playing video games on the well-being of gamers are probably very small.”
The authors make it clear that more data is needed from a wide variety of games and players to better understand the effects of video games on well-being.
But Matti Vuorre, researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute and co-author of the study, assures that there is currently insufficient data and evidence for policymakers and regulators to develop laws and rules to restrict gaming time among certain groups of a population. .
“Decisive answers to questions about how games affect our society will require that all major consoles, desktops and mobile platforms empower their users to effortlessly and ethically donate their game data for independent review,” added Andrew K. Przybylski, who led the study. .
Since the analysis did not find a direct relationship between time spent playing video games and the well-being of gamers, the researchers recommend that further and larger studies be conducted.
“Until then, only time limiting or encouraging play does no good or harm. [ao equilíbrio emocional]”, says OII.
Also Read | Skull, eggplant and even smile: research shows generational confusion of emojis
source: Noticias
[author_name]
