Alright, I'm doing a pilot study on social anxiety among online gamers. Don't be alarmed, I'm not pushing to get significant results supporting the claim that there is a link between the two; personally, I'm completely neutral on this. Even if I do find a significant result for social anxiety levels, it still doesn't mean online gaming is what's causing it. In a nutshell, unlike many studies out there, this one is not biased or designed to trash video-games and gamers.

So please participate and answer as honestly as possible. It won't take more than a few minutes of your time and your results will be automatically and anonymously recorded. If, on top of that, you distribute the link to other players, I will adore you forever!

Click here to start!

Nice little study, I definitely will take any of these people offer, as I'm glad to contribute to academic pursuits. I'm going to pass this along to my guildies and friends to take.

Thank you so much, that's amazing! :-)

Interesting. I wanted to give you a quick shout to let you know I did take the test and my thoughts about the study.

Having just finished up yet another psychology class (WHY they make finance majors take psychology rather than ethics in its place, I have no idea) I do notice that links between actions and tendencies are a lot stronger than people realize. I also think, though, that maybe the links aren't as direct as some people (i.e., the parents you mentioned in the front explanation page) might perhaps want them to be.

It seems to me that rather than online gaming being the direct contributor to social tendencies in either direction, it's a situation where people are more likely to choose online gaming per their social tendencies, and choose the way in which they play games online per their social tendencies. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but for myself, I'm not completely anti-social, but as a general rule I don't associate with people in my geographical location as a whole. There's only so much narrow-mindedness I can handle before I start getting irritated, and with a temper like mine, I should probably avoid social situations out here. Rural, Small Town USA doesn't really offer me anything on a social level. When I move back into the city, that will probably change. In this area, racism and severe social conservatism run rampant. I'm neither racist nor conservative when it comes to society, and so I don't really relate to the people around whom I live.

So, I game online. It's a means to get a bit of community, and to hang out with people whose company I enjoy. I get the best of both worlds this way: I get to have the social environment without having to bundle up in like, three parkas, scrape ice off the car, drive x amount of miles of country road, just to arrive someplace and have to repeat the process to go back home. Let's face it. Who doesn't want to stay home in their warm pajamas when it's in the negative temperatures outside? Makes sense to me.

For practicality's sake, gas is expensive. Social ventures (bars, clubs, etc) are also ridiculously expensive. Online gaming can get expensive but it doesn't have to be. Also, it's not like I can take care of a household and go club-hopping every night. To me, this is a win-win.

Perhaps the problem we're seeing is a clash between Type A personalities and Type B personalities. The world seems to be more accepting of people who are extroverted than people who are introverted. High school is a great example of that. The extrovert with mediocre grades will often receive more positive reinforcement than the introvert with stellar grades who prefers to speak to no one, or at least to just a select few.

I always reference "Party of One: The Loner's Manifesto" by Anneli Rufus to explain what the difference is between introversion and extroversion from the position of the introvert. I know that in my case, I prefer to be in control of my social situations, and online gaming presents a level of environmental control that otherwise wouldn't exist--like the "ignore" feature for example.

I'm glad that the link between social anxiety and online gaming is being studied. It's high time that raw data is collected and processed to establish both links where they exist and to get rid of false presumptions that likely exist. Maybe then, the parents who have issues with the concept of online gaming will begin to realize that in many cases, it's really not so bad.

(Side note: How is online gaming any worse than being stuck in front of a TV for hours a day? I don't quite get the difference there...)

@Saix: Exactly.

To me it's the fact that I don't like people all up in my face. Yet, so many Type A personalities do indeed seem to think that such behavior is not only acceptable, but mandatory. Society seems to have the belief that if a person wants to be alone, regardless of the situation (over-stimulation or sensory overload are usually my reasons), there's a reason to be suspicious of that person. Look at how the heightened state of paranoia stemming from school shootings and attacks triggered the making of "black lists" by administrators in schools, intended to single out the "loners" who would be "most likely" to attack a school. My ex husband was one of those students who were singled out, years ago, and yet, he's never been harmful to anyone except in the case of self-defense. Why? Because apparently, if anyone deviates from the status quo, they're suspicious, they're hiding something. It's just the way things have become.

It's a shame; introverts do have things to offer the world, too. We just prefer to do so more quietly.

Thank you everybody for taking time to explain your thoughts, it was very interesting to read! You all touch on quite a few important things, some of which I have mentioned and some that I haven't. I won’t simply repeat everything you said and there is a lot to say, but I’m going to talk about just a little more about my reasons for doing this. First and foremost, in my opinion, online games plus social anxiety does not simply equal online games causing social anxiety; the purpose of this particular pilot study is to find out if a correlation exists in the first place (I’m using the word correlation loosely here; I will be using different statistical methods). I’m also interested in whether or not socially interactive gameplay has a role to play in lower [or indeed higher] anxiety levels. Of course, merely finding the above won’t tell us everything. I’m more interested in what comes afterwards.

Let’s assume that there is a positive effect. There will still be questions to answer; perhaps heavy online gameplay does not cause social anxiety, but any isolated and repeated task does (I mean physical social isolation). Perhaps it’s the other way around: people who for any reason are uncomfortable in the company of others around them, focus on repeated and isolated tasks (e.g. online gaming, watching TV, reading books etc) to entertain themselves. Or maybe online gaming IS in fact the odd one out, but because it incorporates a virtual world which is an alternative and much more accepting environment to be in, often due to equality between races, genders etc, character (virtual Self) customisability, and indeed the fact that you can ‘ignore’ arsehats with a click of a button and get them out of your life; therefore it is a more attractive [or even addictive] thing to do. Maybe online gaming should be seen as a safe haven for people with introverted personality types and/or those with social anxiety, rather than a cause of it. There will be more aspects to it and more views to take into account.

I think as virtual technology develops and the online-gamer age range widens, and indeed more female gamers join their male counterparts, online gaming will become a much bigger force and one that has to be taken more seriously (like television or cinema). Also with the range of social and mental problems manifesting themselves through social media, I think parents, teachers and researchers will find it more and more difficult to blame everything on online gaming.

It’s too early to say which direction the study will take after this pilot, but I can assure you, I’m not looking to please anybody, be it parents, teachers or indeed gamers; I’m only trying to look at things as objectively as possible and without a simple cause=>effect mind-set.

Oh my god. Just---oh my god. I cannot love your explanation and your theories enough.

You seemed to hint at the simple truth that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different variables which can dictate the direction of the correlation between online gaming and social anxiety. I like how you mentioned social media and such. It sort of manages to inadvertently drive home what I've been saying for a long time: the world is no worse than it was a hundred years ago, there is simply an unprecedented level of transparency with the advent of internet presence. There is also this vicious thing that happens online--and I've witnessed it firsthand--where people honestly feel safer behind their computer screens, where they can say and do awful things...and then log out and those things are all gone. I've seen it happen in chat rooms, on forums, and yes, even in online games. It lends a very scary glimpse into the average human psyche because (arguably) as a whole, we're seeing more people engage in "cyber-bullying" than face-to-face bullying.

I'm very, very interested in seeing what your results ultimately are and your analysis of that data. Please do keep me posted, this is one of the most excellent social experiments I've ever seen to date.

Oh my god. Just---oh my god. I cannot love your explanation and your theories enough.

 

You seemed to hint at the simple truth that there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different variables which can dictate the direction of the correlation between online gaming and social anxiety. I like how you mentioned social media and such. It sort of manages to inadvertently drive home what I've been saying for a long time: the world is no worse than it was a hundred years ago, there is simply an unprecedented level of transparency with the advent of internet presence. There is also this vicious thing that happens online--and I've witnessed it firsthand--where people honestly feel safer behind their computer screens, where they can say and do awful things...and then log out and those things are all gone. I've seen it happen in chat rooms, on forums, and yes, even in online games. It lends a very scary glimpse into the average human psyche because (arguably) as a whole, we're seeing more people engage in "cyber-bullying" than face-to-face bullying.

 

I'm very, very interested in seeing what your results ultimately are and your analysis of that data. Please do keep me posted, this is one of the most excellent social experiments I've ever seen to date.

Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :-)

Yes, you're absolutely right. More information, more sources and more factors doesn't necessarily mean there is more of the problem now compared with the past. It's like saying there are more cancer cases in London than in Paris; well, maybe there is more/better diagnosis in London than in Paris! But that's a slightly different issue. I think the issue here is mostly one of 'blame'. For too long, it's been easy for parents [particularly bad ones] to blame everything on games. It was an industry with a smaller voice and one that they couldn't/can't really understand. But I think as the industry gets bigger and more parents play Farmville on Facebook and Angry Birds on their phones, and indeed as they see more of the risks associated with the social media that they themselves use, they'll stop blaming games as much as they once did and will find something else to pick on!

You need to a question in there to ask if you had social anxiety issues before you started playing online games. I know I did. Its why I socialize online and not in person.

I couldn't and wouldn't do that for two main reasons:

Determining how long the user has had social anxiety is not one of the aims of this pilot study, and more importantly, I would not be able to verify that information unless I could refer to a past diagnosis. The questions you answer are indeed carefully selected clinical questions that have been tested and verified before, but will only tell me IF you have been showing signs of social anxiety in the past 6 months, which is the period in which this pilot study is interested in! :-)

Mine are inborn. I'm a high-functioning autistic with high I.Q. I don't look at it as a disability, though. I've always told people, in my own words, that my condition to me is a liberation from the status quo, and I like to bask in it. I don't medicate either. As an aspiring journalist, I feel it would alter the chemicals in my brain a bit too much, and I would lose that creative "flow" in my own mind, and also with my partner.

One of my favourite lecturers always stressed that there's nothing 'wrong' with autism; rather, the autistic brain just happens to function differently! :-)

already filled out the study, just felt like adding this as it goes through my head. I admit I do have anxiety a lot but that was actually before I even started gaming. As a kid, I was beat up a lot, ever had a first grade experience where 2 third graders called you short and threw you into the concrete? I felt alone at times, barely anyone wanted to be even involved with me, I was short, I was weak, and all I felt was that it was my fault, that I was not good enough, that I was worthless. But over time I made one or two friends who had it as bad as I did or who actually cared about me. and I was grateful. But for some reason I always wanted the other kids to like me too. I became smart, learned all this stuff, and either one of two things happened: either A they called me a nerd when they saw me and made fun od me, or B they let me latch on because I was smart enough to get them through school stuff, group projects for example everyone picked me. They needed help on their homework, they went to me. I felt special, but then when I wasn't helping them most treated me like crap. It took me a long time to realize I was being used. It was around that time I got into science fiction. I was watching tv and saw Star Trek Voyager reruns on Spike, and months later I was a full blown trekkie. Star Wars, Transformers, and Pokémon came soon after, I don't know I guess they helped me escape, escape reality, escape from the crap I went through day to day. I only got my first ps2 in middle school, by then it was just another escape. I only started playing mmo's with this game at its launch, it was just another release from reality, one that I could afford, especially since that night I was up til 2 am and in the morning I had finals, both of which I got 100 percent on so I could definitely afford to escape. Eventually though, I made friends, I became more accepted, there are still some people who I don't like and definitely do not like me, but I try to ignore that. I find I still want to please people though, make myself center of attention, make up for all that time people wanted nothing to do with me, but I also get nervous and anxious around people sometimes, whenever I have to do like a speech or something I shake. But mmo's, gaming, and fandom helped me, I get to vent, to release, to express myself, and in the end it helped me by making me more comfortable around people than I was before.

I am sorry I took up so much space but I don't know I guess I wanted to contribute in my own way.

already filled out the study, just felt like adding this as it goes through my head. I admit I do have anxiety a lot but that was actually before I even started gaming. As a kid, I was beat up a lot, ever had a first grade experience where 2 third graders called you short and threw you into the concrete? I felt alone at times, barely anyone wanted to be even involved with me, I was short, I was weak, and all I felt was that it was my fault, that I was not good enough, that I was worthless. But over time I made one or two friends who had it as bad as I did or who actually cared about me. and I was grateful. But for some reason I always wanted the other kids to like me too. I became smart, learned all this stuff, and either one of two things happened: either A they called me a nerd when they saw me and made fun od me, or B they let me latch on because I was smart enough to get them through school stuff, group projects for example everyone picked me. They needed help on their homework, they went to me. I felt special, but then when I wasn't helping them most treated me like crap. It took me a long time to realize I was being used. It was around that time I got into science fiction. I was watching tv and saw Star Trek Voyager reruns on Spike, and months later I was a full blown trekkie. Star Wars, Transformers, and Pokémon came soon after, I don't know I guess they helped me escape, escape reality, escape from the crap I went through day to day. I only got my first ps2 in middle school, by then it was just another escape. I only started playing mmo's with this game at its launch, it was just another release from reality, one that I could afford, especially since that night I was up til 2 am and in the morning I had finals, both of which I got 100 percent on so I could definitely afford to escape. Eventually though, I made friends, I became more accepted, there are still some people who I don't like and definitely do not like me, but I try to ignore that. I find I still want to please people though, make myself center of attention, make up for all that time people wanted nothing to do with me, but I also get nervous and anxious around people sometimes, whenever I have to do like a speech or something I shake. But mmo's, gaming, and fandom helped me, I get to vent, to release, to express myself, and in the end it helped me by making me more comfortable around people than I was before.

I am sorry I took up so much space but I don't know I guess I wanted to contribute in my own way.

Not at all! It's great! I'm sure many of us have experienced some or all of these issues to varying degrees! :-)

I did take your survey but I think you are heading in the wrong direction.

Intense gaming is more likely a result of a personality and not a driver. Someone with deep seeded social anxiety may choose to game more often because they enjoy the "alone" time and it helps them express themselves.

I highly doubt it is the other way around.

I did take your survey but I think you are heading in the wrong direction.

 

Intense gaming is more likely a result of a personality and not a driver. Someone with deep seeded social anxiety may choose to game more often because they enjoy the "alone" time and it helps them express themselves.

 

I highly doubt it is the other way around.

I never said it was, and on the last page of the survey I have specifically stated that "this is not an issue of cause and effect".

Hi! Very interesting post. I tried to take the survey, but it was closed. I wish you luck with this study of MMO's and the human condition.

I personally think perhaps I appear to have an odd profile for an mmo player. I started playing MMO's over nine years ago at the suggestion of my son. We as a family had been playing video games together so I would be able to monitor and more importantly understand what our son was doing and how he was developing personally. Best way to understand someone and what is important to them is to stand on common ground in my opinion.

This approach, not only to games but pretty much to everything, has served me well with regard to my son. He of course wandered on to other interests. However I continued to play. We all started in WOW and I quickly found my in-game calling of progression raiding. My son was long gone from the mmo scene other than occasionally, but my husband and continued quite happily for years. Many epic raid experiences occurred and I was hooked.Now it is just me playing which my son brags and laughs about to his friends.

So what in the world am I doing playing MMO's as a progression raider 9 years after my son recommended it? What type of gamer or personify profile do I have? Does it fall in with the motivational profile of most other mmo players? I've thought about this some as it is such a very tough thing to explain to non-players both in my personal and professional circles. And believe me, I am the rare exception in both of those groups.

I'm very extroverted and outgoing at work. I'm not particularly private with friends or co-workers. However, I dislike forced social situations like happy hours, company picnics and large gatherings. I enjoy change and challenges. I'm a manager at work and pretty much within the family. Probably with my friends as well, though I don't like to admit it and they probably don't always like it.

However, in game, I am most definitely different. I am generally pretty private as a rule in my in-game social interactions. I am very quiet in chat, to the point it is an ongoing joke in my guild raids. I am most definitely a follower as a healer and always seek out strong, confident raid leaders I can follow with quiet confidence and support. I do not desire or even like guild or especially raid leadership positions. In a nutshell, I am as introverted in game as I am extroverted at work and personally.

All that said, I don't believe I am all that unusual as gamers go. MMO's fulfill a need I have in my life. It's tough to be a leader all the time. As a professional, a wife, a friend, a mother, the challenges we face are not as easily overcome as the challenges in MMO's. Even though some raid bosses take weeks to defeat at times, that is nothing compared to most real life challenges. What I am saying is many of us play simply for the sense of satisfaction, closure and self-affirmation that it offers.

Bottom line for me personally is I play MMO's because they make me a better follower. I have learned to lead others better in all aspects of life simply by following and being the best support player I can possibly be. Not such a bad reason to play in my opinion.

Not sure if this helps your academic assessment, but I wanted to offer an alternative motivation. MMO players are as varied as anyone in real life. After all, we are all real people behind those avatars. The unfortunate part of surveys like this is you are receiving input from only a tiny fraction of the population - those that read the forums and play this paricular game. However, a great majority of the players even in this small population of the mmo community rarely, if ever, read the general section of the forums, or any section at all.

Best of luck! It would be fascinating to read your findings.

I never said it was, and on the last page of the survey I have specifically stated that "this is not an issue of cause and effect".

Then your experiment is not really set up to capture what you want. It certainly reads and feels as if that is the goal. And if you are not looking for cause and effect, what are you looking for? A relationship?

You've picked two end points and are trying to connect them. wish you all the best with this but not sure what you are going to gather from the data except a correlation that could quite possibly mean nothing.