Investigation of the relationship between university students' mobile gaming motivations and loneliness levels

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15561/20755279.2022.0405

Keywords:

digital leisure, mobile games, loneliness, Z generation

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. The aim of this study is to determine the mobile game motivations and loneliness levels of university students and to evaluate the relationship between them. Material and Methods. In the study, the "Mobile Game Motivation Scale" developed by Üstün ve Öz and the "UCLA Loneliness Scale" developed by Russell et al and adapted to Turkish culture by Demir were used as data collection tools. 365 (Nwomen:140; Nmen:225) university students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. SPSS package program was used in the analysis of the data, and it was tested with parametric tests. Results. As a result of the study, in favor of men in all Mobile Game Motivaton Scale and sub-dimensions according to gender, significant differences were found in the loneliness scale against those who have a higher income level than their monthly income. It can be said that the game motivation increases as the game playing time and weekly free time increase. In addition, a low level of positive correlation was found with Mobile Games Motivation Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale. Conclusions. The researchers conducted their studies on the concept of 'motivation', which is considered to be a major deficiency in studies in the field of social internet in general and mobile games in particular, and 'loneliness', which is accepted as a universal problem, and reached generalizable results on generation Z undergraduate students. The researchers presented a different perspective to the literature by examining the relationship between 'loneliness' and the structure they created through the sub-dimensions of Mobile Games Motivation Scale 'developmental tasks', 'escape and competition' and 'mobile flow'.

Author Biographies

Nazlı Deniz Öz, Selçuk University

Phd; denizyilmaz@selcuk.edu.tr; Faculty of Sports Science, Selçuk University; Konya, 42130, Turkey.

Ferhat Üstün, Selçuk University

Assist. Prof. Dr; ustunferhat@gmail.com; Faculty of Sports Science, Selçuk University; Konya, 42130, Turkey.

References

1. Cornell TJ. On war and games in the ancient world. The Global Nexus Engaged: Sixth International Symposium for Olympic Research, 2002. P. 29–40.

2. Fagan GG. The lure of the arena: Social psychology and the crowd at the Roman games. Cambridge University Press; 2011.

3. Lopez-Fernandez O, Kuss DJ, Romo L, Morvan Y, Kern L, Graziani P, et al. Self-reported dependence on mobile phones in young adults: A European cross-cultural empirical survey. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2017;6(2):168–77.
https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.6.2017.020

4. Lima Y, Denerel N, Oz ND, Senisik S. The psychological impact of COVID-19 infection on athletes: example of professional male football players. Sci Med Football, 2021;5:53–61.
https://doi.org/10.1080/24733938.2021.1933156

5. Arslan A. Introduction to Philosophy. Ankara: Serbest Akademi; 2021.

6. Möring S. Freedom in Games–Between Fear and Boredom. Proceedings of the 8th Philosophy of Computer Games Conference, İstanbul: Bilgi University; 2014. P. 1–14.
7. Jennings W. Governing the games: High politics, risk and mega-events. Political Studies Review, 2013;11(1):2-14.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1478-9302.12002

8. Mertala P. Digital technologies in early childhood education - a frame analysis of preservice teachers’ perceptions. Early Child Development and Care. 2019;189(8): 1228–1241.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2017.1372756

9. Mertala P. Teachers’ beliefs about technology integration in early childhood education: A meta-ethnographical synthesis of qualitative research. Computers in Human Behavior. 2019;101: 334–349.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.003

10. Lamrani R, Abdelwahed EH. Game-based learning and Gamification to improve skills in early years education. Computer Science and Information Systems. 2020;17(1): 339–356.
https://doi.org/10.2298/CSIS190511043L

11. Jarvin L. Edutainment, games, and the future of education in a digital world. New Directions For Child and Adolescent Developmen,. 2015; 147:33–40.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20082

12. Pratama AR. Investigating Daily Mobile Device Use Among University Students in Indonesia. Hidayat T, Hidayatullah AF (eds.) International Conference on Information Technology and Digital Applications (icitda 2017). 2018;325: 012004.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/325/1/012004

13. Majid N, Ismail MAE, Masar ML, Syabariyah S. Mobile Games Among University Students: A symptom and functional severity for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal. 2022;7(20): 255–260.
https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.3479

14. Social WA. Digital 2021 Global Overview Report. We are Social.; 2021.

15. Institute TS. Time Use Research Micro Dataset Ankara. [Internet]; Turkish Statistical Institute. 2006 [cited 2022 18 June]. Available from: https://www.tuik.gov.tr/media/microdata/pdf/zaman-kullanimi-arastirmasi.pdf

16. Yamaguchi S. The Relationship Between Time Spent Playing Mobile Games and Wellbeing. SSRN Electronic Journal. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3568469

17. Dunleavy G, Nikolaou CK, Nifakos S, Atun R, Law GCY, Car LT. Mobile Digital Education for Health Professions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by the Digital Health Education Collaboration. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2019;21(2): e12937.
https://doi.org/10.2196/12937

18. Karki S, Mix TL. Social control in women’s pursuit of secondary education in Kathmandu, Nepal: ‘if I can’t sign my name, I can’t maintain my privacy.’ Journal of Gender Studies. 2022;31(4): 413–426.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.2008333

19. Akgun Kostak M, Dindar I, Zafer Dinckol R. Loneliness, Depression, Social Support Levels, and Other Factors Involving the Internet Use of High School Students in Turkey. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2019;17(6): 1521–1534.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9927-3

20. Savci C, Akinci AC, Keles F. The association of perceived sociability and social intelligence with loneliness in online learning among nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 2022;109: 105226.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105226

21. Fried L, Prohaska T, Burholt V, Burns A, Golden J, Hawkley L, et al. A unified approach to loneliness. Lancet. 2020;395(10218):114.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32533-4

22. Dinesen B, Hansen HK, Grønborg GB, Leisted SD. Evaluation of the use of a LOVOT social robot for the elderly with dementia Aalborg University. [Internet]; Aalborg University; 2021 [cited 2022 10 June]. Available from: https://www.labwelfaretech.com/projects/lovot

23. Takada Y, Majima Y, Masuda S, Taira N, Nakamura Y. Reducing Isolation and Cognitive Function of Older People at Home by Family Robot “LOVOT” Intervention. In: 2021 10th International Congress on Advanced Applied Informatics (IIAI-AAI). Niigata, Japan: IEEE; 2021. P. 942–943.
https://doi.org/10.1109/IIAI-AAI53430.2021.00174

24. Üstün F, Öz ND. Validity and Reliability Study of the Mobile Game Motivation Scale (MGMS). Future Trends in Leisure & Recreation. Ankara: Hacı Bayram Veli University; 2022.

25. Demir AG. Validity and Reliability Study of the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Turkish Journal of Psychology, 1987:14–8.

26. George D, Mallery P. SPSS for Windows step by step. A simple study guide and reference. Boston: MA:Pearson Education; 2010.

27. Chapman SJ. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics, 4th Edition. Journal of Political Science Education. 2018;14(1): 145–147.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2017.1366328

28. Homer M. An introduction to secondary data analysis with IBM SPSS statistics, 1st edition. Educational Review. 2018;70(2): 251–252.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2017.1330503

29. Ural A, Kılıç İ. Scientific Research Process and Data Analysis with SPSS. Ankara: Detay Publishing; 2006.
30. Bland JM, Altman DG. Cronbach's alpha. BMJ. 1997;314(7080):572.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.314.7080.572

31. de Jong Gierveld J, Tesch-Romer C. Loneliness in old age in Eastern and Western European societies: theoretical perspectives. European Journal of Ageing, 2012;9(4):285–95.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0248-2

32. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 2015;10(2): 227–237.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352

33. Twenge JM, Park H. The Decline in Adult Activities Among U.S. Adolescents, 1976-2016. Child Development, 2019;90(2):638–54.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12930

34. Vilaplana F, Stein G. Digitalization and People. Revista Empresa Y Humanismo. 2020;23(1): 113–137.
https://doi.org/10.15581/015.XXIII.1.113-137

35. Pinter E, Bago P, Berenyi L, Molnar L, Deutsch N, Szigeti G, et al. How do Digitalization and the Fintech Phenomenon Affect Financial Decision-Making in the Younger Generation? Acta Polytechnica Hungarica. 2021;18(11): 191–208.
https://doi.org/10.12700/APH.18.11.2021.11.11

36. Anderson M, Jiang J. Teens, social media & technology 2018. Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 2018;31:1673–89.

37. Nowland R, Necka EA, Cacioppo JT. Loneliness and social internet use: pathways to reconnection in a digital world? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2018;13(1):78–87.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617713052

38. Valkenburg PM, Peter J. Preadolescents' and adolescents' online communication and their closeness to friends. Developmental Psychology, 2007;43(2):267–77.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.2.267

39. Kuzmenko O, Pyvovar Y, Lyskov M, Kropyvna K, Taldonova K. Digitalization in an innovative society and public administrative: prospects for implementation and development in Ukraine. Journal of Law and Political Sciences. 2021;29(4): 122–138.
40. Aktuğ M. Gaming Sektor Q1 Report. İstanbul: Archerson; 2021.

41. Nygren E, Laine TH, Sutinen E. Dynamics between disturbances and motivations in educational mobile games. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 2018;12(3):120–41.
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v12i3.8490

42. Molinillo S, Muñoz-Leiva F, Pérez-García F. The effects of human-game interaction, network externalities, and motivations on players’ use of mobile casual games. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 2018;118(9):1766–86.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-11-2017-0544

43. Wei R. Motivations for using the mobile phone for mass communications and entertainment. Telematics and Informatics, 2008;25(1):36–46.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2006.03.001

44. Teo TS, Lim VK, Lai RY. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in Internet use. Omega, 1999;27(1):25–37.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0483(98)00028-0

45. Amichai-Hamburger Y, Ben-Artzi E. Loneliness and Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 2003;19(1):71–80.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00014-6

46. Temel A, Yakın M, Misci S. Reflection of organizational genders on organizational behavior. Management and Economy, 2006;13(1):25–37.
https://doi.org/10.1300/J075v25n03_a

47. Havighurst RJ. Life-span developmental psychology and education. Educational Researcher, 1980;9(10):3–8.
https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X009010003

48. Bracha HS, Ralston TC, Matsukawa JM, Williams AE, Bracha AS. Does “fight or flight” need updating? Psychosomatics, 2004;45(5):448–9.
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.45.5.448

49. Taylor SE, Klein LC, Lewis BP, Gruenewald TL, Gurung RA, Updegraff JA. Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 2000;107(3):411–29.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.107.3.411

50. Csikszentmihalyi M, Nakamura J. The Dynamics of Intrinsic Motivation: A Study of Adolescents. In: Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands; 2014. p. 175–197.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_12

51. Stavropoulos V, Griffiths, M. D., Burleigh, T. L., Kuss, D. J., Doh, Y. Y., Gomez, R. Flow on the Internet: a longitudinal study of Internet addiction symptoms during adolescence. Behaviour & Information Technology. 2018;37(2):159–72.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2018.1424937

52. Bandy R, Ottoni-Wilhelm M. Family structure and income during the stages of childhood and subsequent prosocial behavior in young adulthood. Journal of Adolescence. 2012;35(4):1023-34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.02.010

53. Banks J, Breeze E, Lessof C, Nazroo J. Retirement, health and relationships of the older population in England: The 2004 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Wave 2). London: The Institute for Fiscal Studies; 2006.

54. Achdut N, Refaeli T. An ethnocultural perspective on loneliness in young adulthood: a population‐based study in Israel. Sociology of Health & Illness. 2021;43(5):1154–74.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13277

55. Pimlott N. The ministry of loneliness. Canadian family physician Medecin de Famille Canadien. 2018;64(3):166.

56. Hawkley LC, Buecker S, Kaiser T, Luhmann M. Loneliness from Young Adulthood to Old Age: Explaining Age Differences in Loneliness. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 2022;46(1):39–49.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420971048

57. Wang JL, Sheng JR, Wang HZ. The Association Between Mobile Game Addiction and Depression, Social Anxiety, and Loneliness. Frontiers in Public Health. 2019;7:247.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00247

58. Liang TP, Yeh YH. Effect of use contexts on the continuous use of mobile services: the case of mobile games. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. 2011;15(2):187–96.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0300-1

59. Arteaga SM, González VM, Kurniawan S, Benavides RA. Mobile games and design requirements to increase teenagers’ physical activity. Pervasive and Mobile Computing. 2012;8(6):900–8.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmcj.2012.08.002

60. Lieberman DA, Fisk MC, Biely E. Digital games for young children ages three to six: From research to design. Computers in the Schools. 2009;26(4):299–313.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07380560903360178

61. Griffiths M. Internet addiction-time to be taken seriously? Addiction Research. 2000;8(5):413–8.
https://doi.org/10.3109/16066350009005587

62. Rojas de Francisco L, López-Sintas J, García-Álvarez E. Social leisure in the digital age. Loisir et Société/Society and Leisure. 2016;39(2):258–73.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07053436.2016.1198598

63. Sporrel K, De Boer RDD, Wang S, Nibbeling N, Simons M, Deutekom M, et al. The Design and Development of a Personalized Leisure Time Physical Activity Application Based on Behavior Change Theories, End-User Perceptions, and Principles From Empirical Data Mining. Frontiers in Public Health. 2021;8: 528472.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.528472

64. Mueller-Riemenschneider F, Hong Y, Tan KHX, van Dam RM, Uijtdewilligen L. The Association of Different Types of Leisure Time Physical Activities with Cardiometabolic Outcomes in Singapore-Findings from the Multi-Ethnic Cohort Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(23): 9030.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239030

65. Kircaburun K, Demetrovics, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Király, O., Kun, B., Tosuntaş, Ş.B. . Trait emotional intelligence and internet gaming disorder among gamers: The mediating role of online gaming motives and moderating role of age groups. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020;18(5):1446–57.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00179-x

66. Paredes P, Chan M. CalmMeNow: exploratory research and design of stress mitigating mobile interventions. In: Proceedings of the 2011 annual conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems - CHI EA ’11. Vancouver, BC, Canada: ACM Press; 2011. p. 1699.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979831

67. Choi D, Kim J. Why people continue to play online games: In search of critical design factors to increase customer loyalty to online contents. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 2004;7(1):11–24.
https://doi.org/10.1089/109493104322820066

68. Su YS, Chiang WL, Lee CTJ, Chang HC. The effect of flow experience on player loyalty in mobile game application. Computers in Human Behavior. 2016;63:240–8.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.049

69. Iso-Ahola SE, Weissinger E. Perceptions of boredom in leisure: Conceptualization, reliability and validity of the leisure boredom scale. Journal of Leisure Research. 1990;22(1):1–17.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1990.11969811

70. Beard K, Wolf E. Modification in the proposed diagnostic criteria for Internet addiction. CyberPsychology & Behavior. 2001;4:337–83.
https://doi.org/10.1089/109493101300210286

71. Oksman V, Turtiainen J. Mobile Communication as a Social Stage: Meanings of Mobile Communication in Everyday Life among Teenagers in Finland. New Media & Society. 2004;6(3): 319–339.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444804042518

72. Zhong ZJ. Third-person perceptions and online games: A comparison of perceived antisocial and prosocial game effects. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2009;14(2):286–306.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01441.x

73. Wan A, Yang F, Liu S, Feng W. Research on the Influence of Video Games on Children’s Growth in the Era of New Media. In: Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities - Philosophy of Being Human as the Core of Interdisciplinary Research (ICCESSH 2020). Moscow, Russia: Atlantis Press; 2020.
https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200901.037

74. Bjelajac ŽĐ, Merdović B. Influence of Vıdeo Games on Pro-Socıal And Antı-Socıal Behavıor. Kultura Polısa. 2019;16(1):53–65.

Downloads

Published

2022-08-31

How to Cite

1.
Öz ND, Üstün F. Investigation of the relationship between university students’ mobile gaming motivations and loneliness levels. Physical Education of Students. 2022;26(4):196-20. https://doi.org/10.15561/20755279.2022.0405
Statistics

Abstract views: 498 / PDF downloads: 369