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The Potential Mental Health Benefits of Gaming

The popularity of gaming has grown significantly in recent years and has become a way many people entertain themselves. However, many of the older generations have brushed this hobby aside and simply threw it into the “toxic things that younger people waste their time on” category.

When you take a step back and look at it from both sides, you’ll begin to see the real problem more clearly. Most researchers and studies are carried out trying to prove that gaming is all negative, but no one ever looks at the positives that gaming offers - that is up until now.

The Oxford Internet Institute Research (part of Oxford University) recently did a study where they gathered a lot of hard evidence and concluded that gaming could positively impact those involved.

Let's look at what they say in detail.

Hard Data

They focused mainly on Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and EA’s Plants vs Zombies, two top-rated games that have taken off in recent years. The lead researcher of the project, Professor Andrew Przybylski, commented on how surprised he was by how little hard data these games collected on their players. Also, how little information was taken from the data harvested was used in previous investigations.

How, without evidence, can you conclude that gaming has a substantial negative impact on those playing it? Przybylski made it clear that these two games were chosen because they are “all-ages games'' and specifically look at them as “leisure activities.”

Due to the lack of hard data and flawed research done in previous investigations, the result of this new, more informed study will, of course, come across as a surprise to many.

New Study

The study carried out by the University of Oxford was the first of its kind to use actual play-time data and not just self-reported time play. They also involved some psychological questionnaires that linked to the amount of time spent playing that specific game.

To quote, “This is about bringing games into the fold of psychology research that’s not a dumpster fire,” said Prof Przybylski. Honing in on the fact that he is dedicated to finding out how gaming affects our mental health and ensures that all findings are backed by hard evidence, with no preconceived negative opinion of the gaming world.

Prof Przybylski made it very clear that four hours of playing Animal Crossing can lift the mood and make the player a happier person. But this does not excuse the more toxic gaming traits. He followed that up by saying that as the research continues and more demanding data is discovered and used, the more negatives are sure to come to the surface.

By saying that playing Animal Crossing for four hours a day can make you a happier person than someone who doesn't play, he goes against at least 40 years of previous research that suggested quite the opposite. But by uncovering that those studies used very little hard data makes this newer statement a lot more believable.

The New Evidence Goal

One of the main goals for Prof Przybylski and his research team was to try and open the eyes of large organizations such as the World Health Organization and the NHS. He hoped to inspire them to allocate some of their resources to collect and analyze data from the gaming world and create their conclusions with hard evidence.

Since gaming has risen in popularity and technology has improved, it would be a good investment for associated organizations to follow the professor’s lead and carry out their own investigations.

The studies could be used when looking at videogame addiction, and other such digital dangers, that people may be exposed to and offer a remedy guideline based on the findings. It’s good business practice and also the responsible thing to do.

One of the reasons researchers believed that these games created a more positive impact than past games that were ‘investigated’ was that they are very social games that allow players to interact and communicate in a very relaxing environment that often helps them escape from reality.

Animal Crossing is primarily known for the calming music and sound effects and the harmless activities one does when playing the game, such as planting, caring, and harvesting fruits and various other produce. There’s not a lot to get mad at in this game, and it is said to make one feel very ‘zen’ after a few hours of gameplay.

The Takeaway

Hopefully, this study will change the public's perspective and opinion of gaming and the effect on our mental health and encourage other well-known games to provide access to their gaming data for psychologists to study and analyse.

This could provide groundbreaking research that could explain specific bullying theories or how friendships are formed nowadays online.

In conclusion, one can take away from this study that gaming doesn't necessarily deserve the bad reputation that has been forced into our minds and possibly contains the answers to future studies on the cyber-social scene and all the ups and downs that accompany it.