Your Gaming Hours Won't Matter to Your Well-being, Recent Oxford Study Shows

Joseph Henry, Tech Times 27 July 2022, 10:07 am

According to a new study conducted by the University of Oxford, your time spent on video games could not likely affect your overall wellbeing.

The researchers involved 39,000 respondents in the study who were all gamers. The experiment lasted for more than six weeks, and it tackled seven video game titles that players usually played in their spare time.

Time Spent on Gaming Has No Connection With Wellbeing

Your Gaming Hours Won't Matter to Your Wellbeing, Recent Oxford Study Shows

(Photo : Fredrick Tendong from Unsplash)
The new study reveals that your time spent playing video games won't hugely affect your overall well-being.

According to The Independent, the researchers from Oxford Internet Institute used several factors in the study, including their emotions and their level of satisfaction.

Speaking of emotions, the group asked the gamers if they feel angry, happy, and more whenever they play video games.

There was only one conclusion that the Oxford study found. The report says that the time you consume on gaming has no impact on your well-being. Instead, the "motivation" to play was discovered to be connected to well-being.

Although this showed no causal link between gaming hours and well-being, the researchers acknowledged that the study needed further evaluation to get the research's real picture.

The study has covered seven specific games that players usually play. These include "Apex Legends," "Animal Crossing: New Horizons," "Forza Horizon 4," "Gran Turismo Sport," "Eve Online," and "The Crew 2."

Other Researches About the Impacts of Gaming

The Oxford study came out following the research about gaming last year. The 2020 study said that people who engaged in gaming displayed "higher levels" of well-being.

As per Oxford Institute senior researcher Professor Andrew Przybylski, this study could unveil important gaming data from players that game developers could gather.

"Our study finds little to no evidence of connections between gameplay and well-being, but we know we need much more player data from many more platforms to develop the kind of deeper understanding required to inform policy and shape advice to parents and medical professionals," Przybylski said.

He added that if researchers want to explore the gaming impact on a wide scale, there's a need to collect information regularly from gamers playing daily.

Meanwhile, The Swaddle reported that a new study suggests that video games can boost gamers' decision-making skills. The researchers found out that those people who play video games posted more accurate and faster responses compared to those who do not play video games.

Last year, 2021, Tech Times reported that gaming has three health benefits for a player. First, this activity helps the gamer to enhance his/her thinking skills. Second, gaming is essential in maintaining a healthy weight. Lastly, driving games can boost a person's focus, multitasking ability, and memory, especially in older gamers.

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Written by Joseph Henry