Why Are Adolescents Addicted to Online Gaming? An Interview Study in Taiwan

TLDR

The study aimed to examine the conscious and unconscious psychological motivations of online game addicts and explore how surface and source motivations interrelate. Ten Taiwanese adolescents with online game addiction underwent in‑depth interviews and sentence‑completion tests, with data analyzed across surface motivations, source motivations, self‑conception, and real‑life interpersonal relationships. Content analysis identified five themes—addicts’ psychological needs, online games as daily focus, the interplay of real and virtual selves, games as compensatory satisfaction, and self‑reflection—highlighting the complex motivations underlying adolescent gaming addiction.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: to investigate the conscious and unconscious psychological motivations of online game addicts, and to further discuss the relationship between surface and source motivations. Ten Taiwanese adolescents with online game addiction were selected for in-depth interviews. Through sentence completion test and semi-structured interviews, data were collected and analyzed from the following four realms: (1) surface motivations, (2) source motivations, (3) self-conception, and (4) interpersonal relationships in real life. After content analysis, five categories with distinct themes were formed: (1) addicts' psychological needs and motivations; (2) online games as the everyday focus of the addicts; (3) the interplay of real self and virtual self; (4) online games as the compensatory or extensive satisfaction for addicts' needs; and (5) addicts' self-reflections. The implications of the present study are discussed.