This study examined the relationships between video game play motivations identified by Yee (2006), social capital (measured by social trust and neighborliness), political participation, and civic engagement. Results of a survey of 465 college students in the United States showed that the Social motivation for video game play was positively associated with neighborliness. A factor consisting of Discovery/Role-playing/Customization, subcomponents of the Immersion motivation, was positively associated with civic engagement. Also, two marginally significant associations were found: a positive one between the Achievement motivation and civic engagement, and a negative one between Escapism, a subcomponent of the Immersion motivation, and trust. Implications were discussed.
AtkinsonJW (1957) Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review64(6): 359–372.
2.
AustinEWPinkletonBE (1999) The relation between media content evaluations and political disaffection. Mass Communication & Society2(3/4): 105–122.
3.
BanduraA (1997) Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.
4.
BartleR (1996) Hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades: players who suit MUDS. Available at: http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/hcds.htm (accessed 19 April 2012).
5.
BatsonC (2010) Empathy-induced altruistic motivation. In: MikulincerMShaverPR (eds) Prosocial Motives, Emotions, and Behavior: The Better Angels of Our Nature. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 15–34.
6.
BeaudoinCE (2009) Bonding and bridging neighborliness: an individual-level study in the context of health. Social Science & Medicine68(12): 2129–2136.
7.
BeaudoinCE (2011) Neighborliness with ethnic groups in the United States: modeling its news antecedents and health outcomes. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly88(4): 821–842.
8.
BeaudoinCEThorsonE (2004) Social capital in rural and urban communities: testing differences in media effects and models. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly81(2): 378–399.
9.
CampbellSWKwakN (2010) Mobile communication and civic life: Linking patterns of use to civic and political engagement. Journal of Communication60(3): 536–555.
FlanaganCAStoutM (2010) Developmental patterns of social trust between early and late adolescence: age and school climate effects. Journal of Research on Adolescence20(3): 748–773.
15.
GildeZúñigaHJungNValenzuelaS (2012) Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication17(3): 319–336.
16.
GranovetterMS (1973) The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology78(6): 1360–1380.
17.
GrietemeyerTOsswaldS (2010) Effects of prosocial video games on prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology98(2): 211–221.
18.
GriffithsMDaviesMChappellD (2004) Demographic factors and playing variables in online computer gaming. CyberPsychology and Behavior7(4): 487–495.
19.
KahneJMiddaughEEvansC (2009) The Civic Potential of Video Games. Boston, MA: MIT Press.
20.
KobayashiT (2010) Bridging social capital in online communities: heterogeneity and social tolerance of online game players in Japan. Human Communication Research36(4): 546–569.
LimperosAMDownsEIvoryJD. (2013) Leveling up: a review of emerging trends and suggestions for the next generation of communication research investigating video games’ effects. Communication Yearbook37: 349–377.
23.
LinN (1982) Social resources and instrumental action. In: MarsdenPVLinN (eds) Social Structure and Network Analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE, pp. 131–145.
24.
LinN (2001) Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action. Oxford: Cambridge University Press.
25.
LucasKSherryJL (2004) Sex differences in video game play: a communication-based explanation. Communication Research31(5): 499–523.
26.
MannP (1954) The concept of neighborliness. American Journal of Sociology60(2): 163–168.
27.
PaxtonP (1999) Is social capital declining in the United States? A multiple indicator assessment. American Journal of Sociology105(1): 88–127.
28.
PerkinsDDBrownBBTaylorRB (1996) The ecology of empowerment: predicting participation in community organizations. Journal of Social Issues52(1): 85–110.
29.
PinkletonBEAustinEW (2001) Individual motivations, perceived media importance, and political disaffection. Political Communication18(3): 321–334.
30.
PortesA (1998) Social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology. Annual Review of Sociology24: 1–24.
31.
PutnamRD (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
32.
RatanRAChungJEShenC. (2010) Schmoozing and smiting: trust, social institutions, and communication patterns in an MMOG. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication16(1): 93–114.
33.
RyanRMDeciEL (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology25(1): 54–67.
34.
SchackGD (1989) Self-efficacy as a mediator in the creative productivity of gifted children. Journal for the Education of the Gifted12(3): 231–249.
35.
SelnowGW (1984) Playing video games: the electronic friend. Journal of Communication34(2): 148–156.
36.
ShahDV (1998) Civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and television use: an individual-level assessment of social capital. Political Psychology19(3): 469–496.
37.
SherryJGreenbergBLucasS. (2006) Video game uses and gratifications as predictors of use and game preference. In: VordererPBryantJ (eds) Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses and Consequences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 248–262.
38.
SkoricMMKwanGCE (2011) Platforms for mediated sociability and online social capital: the role of Facebook and massively multiplayer online games. Asian Journal of Communication21(5): 467–484.
39.
SteinkuehlerCWilliamsD (2006) Where everybody knows your (screen) name: online games as “third places.”Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication11(4): 885–909.
40.
SwaroopSMorenoffJD (2006) Building community: the neighborhood context of social organization. Social Forces84(3): 1665–1695.
41.
UslanerEM (2002) The Moral Foundations of Trust. New York: Cambridge University Press.
42.
ValenzuelaSParkNKeeKF (2009) Is there social capital in a social network site? Facebook use and college students’ life satisfaction, trust, and participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication14(4): 875–901.
43.
VerbaSSchlozmanKLBradyHE (1995) Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
44.
VieiraET (2012) The relationships among girls’ prosocial video gaming, perspective-taking, sympathy, and thoughts about violence. Communication Research. Epub ahead of print 15 November. DOI: 10.1177/0093650212463049.
45.
WallaceCPichlerF (2009) More participation, happier society? A comparative study of civil society and the quality of life. Social Indicators Research93(2): 255–274.
46.
WilliamsD (2006) Groups and goblins: the social and civic impact in an online game. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media50(4): 651–670.
47.
YeeN (2006) The demographics, motivations and derived experiences of users of massively-multiuser online graphical environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments15: 309–329.
