Online Gaming and Interpersonal Relationships Introduction Online gaming has been a popular concept for at least the last fifteen years. Citizens all over the world, people of all ages, either male or female, are engaged in online gaming (Sublette & Mullan, 2010). With online gaming being a popular phenomenon worldwide, a lot of research has already been done on the effects of online gaming, especially on behavioral traits, such as aggression. For this research the aim is to gain more knowledge about the effects of excessive online gaming on interpersonal relationships. Therefore, the research question is: ‘How does excessive online gaming affect interpersonal relationships?’ What is online gaming and why is it addictive? Over the course …show more content…
For this reason, a lot of research has been done on the consequences of online gaming, however, there are only a few longitudinal studies that mainly focus on the excessive online gaming population. Lemmens, Valkenburg and Peter (2011), for example, researched whether psychosocial factors such as loneliness and a low self-esteem were a cause or a consequence of pathological online gaming. Their first main finding was that there is indeed a relationship between low psychosocial well-being and pathological gaming. Factors such as declined social competence, increased loneliness, and lower self-esteem were indicators for an increase in excessive online gaming over the course of six months. Their second main finding was that loneliness can be both a cause and a consequence of pathological gaming, as there is a complementary relation between loneliness and excessive online gaming. Nevertheless, the authors say that it is important to not misinterpret the dangers of online gameplay, as this study also showed that gamers’ time spent gaming was not necessarily related to their psychosocial well-being. With this being said, online gaming does not necessarily impact one’s well-being negatively, nor does lower well-being automatically lead to increased use of games (Lemmens, Valkenburg,& Peter, …show more content…
As was previously mentioned, excessive online gaming can have various effects, an interesting thing to investigate then is, its different effects on one’s interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal relationships can be defined as social connections between individuals. These relationships can either be brief or enduring. Humans experience a variety of interpersonal relationships on a daily basis; on familial, platonic, romantic and occupational level (Berscheid, Snyder, & Omoto, 1989). Excessive online gaming can influence these relationships in either a positive or a negative manner. As mentioned before, sleep deprivation can negatively influence an individual, but it can also affect one’s interpersonal relationships. According to Kahn-Greene, Lipizzi, Conrad, Kamimori, and Killgore (2006) sleep deprivation affects an individual’s responses to stress and frustration. This means that someone who suffers from sleep deprivation, has a higher chance to respond hostile and blaming in frustrating circumstances and may show reduced willingness to take the blame in order to protect interpersonal relationships. This could negatively influence interpersonal relationships in all settings, either occupational, familial and social (Kahn-Greene, Lipizzi, Conrad, Kamimori, & Killgore,