Flow Experience While Computer Gaming: Empirical Study

Alexander Voiskounsky¹, Shilu Wang^2*

¹Psychology Department, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia.
²Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jss.2014.28001                

Abstract

Video/computer/online gaming acquired great popularity. A series of studies show that gaming is accompanied by flow experience (the term coined M. Csikszentmihalyi), which is associated with intrinsic motivation, creativity and life happiness. The study was held with Chinese adolescent and adult gamers (N = 1574). A 24-item questionnaire (available in English, Russian and French) was adapted to be used within a Chinese population. The results show that Chinese gamers experience low level of Flow during gameplay sessions; males experience flow more frequently compared to females; adolescents experience flow more often than adults. Chinese gamers seldom express facts of immersion during play sessions. In sum, Chinese players seldom regard playing video/compu- ter/online games a reasonable way to attain intrinsic motivation and flow. This result is discussed and supposedly rooted in the social ideals of collectivism in Chinese culture, according to which individuality is not encouraged.

Keywords

Positive Psychology, Cyberpsychology, Optimal Experience, Flow Experience, Intrinsic Motivation, Video/Computer/Online Game, Collectivism, Individualism, Immersion, Culture

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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