Psychological Assessment of Video Game, Board, and Live Game Players: Personality, Reasoning, and Emotional Perception
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Abstract
This research aimed at investigating the relationship between gaming preferences and psychological characteristics: abstract and verbal reasoning, emotional perception, and pathological personality traits. To this end, 164 people participated in the study, predominantly women (75%) with a mean age of 18.93 (SD = 6.36) and that have finished high school or college, in its majority. They answered a gaming preferences questionnaire, the Computerized Test of Primary Emotions Perception (PEP), the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (IDCP), and two subtests from the Battery of Reasoning Tests (BPR-5). The results indicated correlations that were consistent with most of the measures, with a significant majority of magnitudes that varied from .16 (Anger Distortion vs. Interest in violent games) to .41 (Emotional perception vs. Monthly frequency of playing with other people). Also, we determined the importance attributed to being a gamer by three personality traits: Grandiosity, Criticism avoidance, and Impulsiveness. We found association tendencies between psychological characteristics and game preference, in a way that attributing higher importance to gaming was associated with higher frequency of eccentric behaviors, suspicion towards others’ intentions, and avoiding criticism. We have discussed the relations we found, and we concluded that there seems to be a typical profile for people who demonstrate a high tendency for gaming.
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