Playing video games is no longer the exclusive preserve of teenage boys hanging out in dimly lit arcades. During the last 30 years, gaming has both evolved in its complex processes and diffused into the mainstream of societies in many parts of the world. The location of video game play has long since shifted from arcades to households (DeMaria & Wilson, 2002). Video games are now played in over 65% of North American households (NPD Group, 2008). Furthermore, gaming is no longer just for children. While 25% of gamers are under 18 years old, 49% of gamers are aged between 18 and 49, and 26% are over the age of 50 (Entertainment Software Association, 2008). Lastly, separation by gender has nearly dissipated. Across all age groups 40% of gamers are females (Entertainment Software Association, 2008).

This proliferation of household video games has changed the way the world engages in home entertainment. Indeed, in the instant that it took to read these words, millions upon millions of consumers were engaging in myriad forms of computer-facilitated entertainment. They were playing games on their personal computers, on their television sets, on their cell phones, and on numerous other hand-held mobile devices. They were playing by themselves and they were playing with family and friends. They were simply amusing themselves and they were competing vigorously against others (or even against the computer gaming system itself). Via the Internet they were playing in their living rooms and globally.

This rapid change in where video games are played, in who is playing them, and in how games are being played, has given rise to a host of new research questions. Are the new communications processes involved fully understood? What are the emergent sociological and psychological issues? How are such issues influencing gamers’ behavior? Researchers are just beginning to seek the answers to these complex questions.

There has recently been an increase in the number of research publications focused on video gaming (e.g., Chou & Ting, 2003; Wan & Chiou, 2006). Nevertheless, the study of gamer psychologies is still a relatively nascent field. Lo, Wang, and Fang (2005) specifically called for researchers to study the effects of time spent playing games on gamer psychologies. Our purpose in this research was to answer their call and investigate gamer behaviors in relation to two psychological concepts. First, we explored the time spent playing video games in association with self-concept clarity (SCC; Campbell et al., 1996). Second, we investigated factors related to the flow concept in gaming (Csikszentmihalyi, 1993). As it has been found in previous research that the majority of college students play video games twice daily (Gillentine, 2007), the university setting presented itself as a valid, appropriate, and practical research site.

Background

Self-concept Clarity

Campbell et al. (1996) define self-concept clarity (SCC) as “the extent to which the contents of an individual’s self-concept are clearly and confidently defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable” (p. 141). Individuals are different because each has a level of clarity and sense of unambiguous self-value that is unique to that individual. Those who have low SCC are more dependent on, susceptible to, and influenced by, external forces (Campbell et al., 1996). According to the notion of SCC, individuals who have a less clear sense of self may look for external sources for elucidation (Campbell et al., 1996). Video games have simple plots and provide opportunities for gamers to look for, and clarify, their self-concept. As individuals play video games and discover their likes and dislikes, they explore and extend their self-concept. Matsuba (2006) points out that Internet users with a general lack of self-clarity tend to explore more, and their self-concept clarity is negatively associated with general entertainment motives.

Although a review of the literature indicates that SCC studies have been conducted within multiple fields (e.g., Hamid & Cheng, 1995), there has been very little research conducted in which SCC and video gamer psychology have been investigated. In one recent study a relationship between video gaming and the self-concept was directly examined (Holder, Coleman, & Sehn, 2009). These researchers found that time spent playing video games was negatively correlated with all measures of children’s well-being, including SCC. In this research, we explored the question of whether or not this negative correlation also exists amongst college-aged gamers.

Flow

Identification and examination of the flow construct began over 30 years ago (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). In essence, flow is a state of deep absorption in an activity wherein people achieve an optimally enjoyable experience and lose self-awareness. Csikszentmihalyi (1993) notes that video games have concrete goals, provide chances for action to fit gamer capabilities, offer clear information or feedback on performance, screen out distraction, and make concentration possible. Consequently, these games are well suited for allowing, or even creating, the flow state (Sherry, 2004).

In recent years, a number of researchers have linked the flow construct to video gaming. Lee and LaRose (2007) found that flow was not associated with the actual amount of time spent playing video games. Wan and Chiou (2006) suggested that there is no relationship between flow and online game addiction. However, Webster, Trevino, and Ryan (1993) noted, “playful computer systems may be so enjoyable that employees neglect other tasks” (p. 422). Ellis, Voelkl, and Morris (1994) devised a semantic-differential flow scale and Novak, Hoffman, and Yung (2000) created a valid Likert-type flow scale and their results when they measured users’ experiences indicated that the flow experience is positively related to their consumption behavior relative to four major components: playfulness, skill, telepresence, and time distortion. Finally, Smith (2006) found that flow can predict postgame enjoyment, positive affect, and self-affirmation. In our study we explored the question, “Is there a positive relationship between gaming and flow experiences amongst college students?”

Hypotheses

Some previous researchers have noted that SCC is associated with gaming behaviors. Holder et al. (2009) found that passive activity (e.g., the number of hours a child played video games) was negatively correlated with the self-concept of the children in their study. Children with a low SCC spent more time playing video games. However, it might be argued that college students have attained a greater, better defined sense of self than children possess. It was our belief that this trend is likely to continue into young adulthood. Therefore, we proposed the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Amongst gamers, those who spend the greatest amount of time playing video games will have lower self-concept clarity scores than will gamers who spend lesser amounts of time playing video games.
Hypothesis 2: Gamers will have lower levels of self-concept clarity than will nongamers.

Many researchers have noted that flow is positively associated with time spent on the Internet. Novak et al. (2000) suggested that a user’s flow experience was positively related to their media consumption behavior. We reasoned that flow experiences would transfer from generalized Internet media consumption to the more specific realm of video gaming. Therefore, we proposed the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: The flow experience, as measured by playfulness, skill, telepresence, and time distortion, will be positively related to time spent playing video games.

Historically, gaming has been more popular amongst males than females (Smith, 2006). Gillentine (2007) suggested that men are simply more inclined to play video games. In a report from the Entertainment Software Association (2008), the authors point out that male gamers then spent an average of 7.6 hours per week playing video games, whereas females spent on average, 7.4 hours.

Therefore, we proposed the following gender-related hypotheses:
Hypothesis 4: Males will spend more time playing video games than will females.
Hypothesis 5: It is more likely that males will be the “gamers” in a group composed of both males and females.

Method

A convenience sample of students was drawn from a large university in the northwestern US. Of the 330 responses in total, 315 surveys were deemed useable. The pool of respondents was made up of 170 males (54.0%) and 145 females (46.0%). The sample contained 162 individuals who were already gamers (51.4%, 37 females and 125 males) and 153 nongamers (48.6%, 108 females and 45 males).

A paper-and-pencil survey was administered in a classroom setting. The survey contained two parts. The first part of the survey recorded gender, time spent video gaming, and self-concept clarity. The SCC scale we used was developed by Campbell et al. (1996). Respondents answered 12 statements regarding feelings about themselves on a 7-point Likert-type scale (from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The second part of the survey covered 14 statements about the flow experience derived from the research by Novak et al. (2000) and based on four key components of playfulness, skill, telepresence, and time distortion. In this section, respondents were again asked to rate the statements on a 7-point Likert-type scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree).

Data were assessed for frequencies and percentages on each item. Analyses involved t tests for mean differences, and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were performed to evaluate the differences across each major dependent variable. Gamers were categorized according to time spent each week playing video games. The group who spent more than 11 hours per week was labeled as a high user group. Those who spent from 6 to 10 hours per week playing video games were moderate users and those who spent less than 5 hours each week playing video games were in the low user group.

Results

First, overall SCC scores were calculated as means of all 12 variables. Next, the sample was divided into three nearly equal-sized groups based on their means. They were then labeled as having low, medium, or high SCC. Results relating to SCC were mixed. On the one hand, the ANOVA of playing time spent indicated a significant effect for SCC (F = 3.19, p < .04). As predicted, gamers with low SCC mean scores spent more time playing video games than gamers with high SCC mean scores. However, analysis of a t test revealed a nonsignificant difference between the gamer mean (5.02) vs. the nongamer mean (4.90) for SCC. Thus, while Hypothesis 1 was supported, Hypothesis 2 was not supported. Gamers and nongamers had relatively equal means of SCC, but amongst the gamers those who were in the high user group had lower SCC means.

Second, an ANOVA within the gamers’ group revealed positive relationships between self-reported flow experiences and playing time spent. Generally, mean flow scores amongst participants in the high user group were higher than flow scores amongst the low user group (H3: F = 12.95, p < .01; H3_playfulness: F = 4.13, p < .02; H3_skill: F = 18.47, p < .01; H3_telepesence: F = 5.31, p < .01; H3_{time distortion}: F = 6.81, p < .01). Hypothesis 3 was supported for each of the four components of the flow experience.

Lastly, Hypotheses 4 and 5 related to the relationship between gender and player behaviors (player vs. nonplayer groups and playing time spent). Both Hypotheses 4 and 5 were tested using chi-squared tests. There were significant relationships between the variables of gender and player behaviors; hence, Hypotheses 4 and 5 were supported (c2 = 6.43, p < .5; χ² = 7.21, p < .01). Males were more likely than females to be in the high user group and also more likely to be in the gamer group of respondents than in the nongaming group.

Discussion

From the results of this study we reached three major conclusions. First, time spent gaming and SCC were found to be significantly negatively related. Gamers classified as high use appeared to be lacking SCC in comparison with low use gamers. This result is in line with those gained in previous studies (Holder et al., 2009) in which time spent playing video games was negatively correlated with SCC. Given the definition and foundational bases of SCC, this finding implies that high-usage gamers have lower levels of self-reported consistency and stability in their lives. New research questions arise, such as: Does high use of video games contribute to the loss of SCC? Or, are those people who already have low SCC more prone to enjoy gaming, and, therefore, do they spend more time gaming? Does gaming give those with low SCC a temporary sense of stability, identity, and control?

Second, the results suggest that instances of the flow experience are significantly related to time spent gaming. Gamers can reach the flow experience more frequently as they spend more time playing video games. This is congruent with findings gained in previous research and suggests that most high-usage video gamers report more flow experiences compared with low-usage gamers (Chiang & Lin, 2010). However, our study is the first in which each component of flow has been analyzed separately. Our findings indicate positive relationships universally across playfulness, skill, telepresence, and time distortion. Gamers who were high users felt higher levels of playfulness, skills, telepresence, and time distortion than did gamers with lower levels of usage.

Third, in this research we have identified some significant gender differences relative to gamer psychologies and preferences. Predictably, males were more likely to be gamers, and within the group of gamers males tended to spend more time gaming than females. Our findings are in complete agreement with those of Smith (2006), Gillentine (2007), and the Entertainment Software Association (2008). It appears that, even given the tremendous growth in gaming amongst females, there is still a sizable gender divide. A better understanding of gender differences will be an essential key to segmenting the video game market more effectively.

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Huang Chia Hung, Department of Physical Education, National Taitung University, 684, Sec. 1, Chunghua Road, Taitung, Taiwan, ROC. Email: [email protected]