Motivations for game play and the social capital and civic potential of video games

TLDR

The study investigated how Yee’s video‑game motivations relate to social trust, neighborliness, political participation, and civic engagement among college students. Among 465 U.S.

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between video game play motivations identified by Yee (2006), social capital (measured by social trust and neighborliness), political participation, and civic engagement. Results of a survey of 465 college students in the United States showed that the Social motivation for video game play was positively associated with neighborliness. A factor consisting of Discovery/Role-playing/Customization, subcomponents of the Immersion motivation, was positively associated with civic engagement. Also, two marginally significant associations were found: a positive one between the Achievement motivation and civic engagement, and a negative one between Escapism, a subcomponent of the Immersion motivation, and trust. Implications were discussed.