Need frustration in online video games

Figures & data

Figure 1. Genres preferred by the participants.

Table 1. Demographics of the participants (N = 390).

Age	18–25	61	15.7%
	26–35	177	45.4%
	36–45	92	23.6%
	>=46	60	15.4%
Gender	Male	192	49.2%
	Female	198	50.8%
Education	Before High School	4	1.0%
	High School Graduate	48	12.3%
	Some College	93	23.9%
	2-year degree	57	14.6%
	4-year degree	142	36.4%
	MSc level degree	35	9.0%
	Doctorate	11	2.8%
Ethnicity	White	296	75.9%
	African American	36	9.2%
	American Indian or Alaska Native	6	1.5%
	Asian	35	9.0%
	Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	1	0.3%
	Preferred not to say	16	4.1%
Weekly Hours Spent on Gaming	1–5	112	36.7%
	6–15	185	39.5%
	16–40	88	22.5%
	>=41	5	1.3%
Total Years of Video Game Play	1–10	218	55.9%
	11–20	134	34.4%
	21–30	29	7.4%
	31–45	9	2.3%
Self-Evaluated Experience in Video Gaming	None at all	2	0.5%
	A little	35	9.0%
	A moderate amount	123	31.5%
	A lot	112	28.7%
	A great deal	118	30.3%

Table 2. Item factor loadings, means and standard deviations.

Scales	Items	Loadings	M	SD
In-Game Need Satisfaction	I feel a sense of choice and freedom in the things I undertake in […].	.61	5.31	1.34
	I feel that my decisions reflect what I really want in […].	.58	4.66	1.51
	I feel my choices express who I really am in […].	.63	4.42	1.57
	I feel confident that I can do things well in […].	.55	5.29	1.23
	I feel capable at what I do in […].	.56	5.36	1.24
	I feel connected with people who care for me, and for whom I care in […].	.54	4.07	1.73
	I feel close and connected with other people who are important to me in […].	.52	4.12	1.75
In-Game Need Frustration	Most of the things I do feel like ‘‘I have to’’ in […].	.53	3.85	1.78
	I feel forced to do many things I wouldn’t choose to do in […].	.76	3.14	1.71
	I feel pressured to do too many things in […].	.70	3.25	1.77
	I have serious doubts about whether I can do things well in […].	.75	3.13	1.70
	I feel insecure about my abilities in […].	.71	3.15	1.76
	I feel like a failure because of the mistakes I make in […].	.82	2.85	1.82
	I feel excluded from the group I want to belong to in […].	.78	3.02	1.77
	I feel that people who are important to me are cold and distant towards me in […].	.74	3.03	1.79
Satisfaction	I feel satisfied with [… .].	.62	5.75	1.29
	[…] is much better than other similar games.	.71	5.30	1.39
	[…] is close to ideal.	.74	4.92	1.45
	[…] makes me very happy.	.77	5.32	1.20
	[… .] does a good job of fulfilling my needs for fun, enjoyment etc.	.79	5.37	1.12
Concentration	[…] provides a lot of stimuli from different sources.	.73	4.80	1.46
	[…] provides stimuli that are worth attending to.	.76	4.88	1.39
	[…] quickly grabs my attention and maintain my focus throughout the game.	.72	5.25	1.27
	[…] has a high workload, while still being appropriate for my perceptual, cognitive and memory limits.	.50	4.61	1.56
Subjective Vitality	I feel alive and vital.	.76	5.24	1.47
	I feel energized.	.84	4.78	1.55
	I look forward to each day.	.77	4.99	1.55
	I nearly always feel awake and alert.	.76	4.72	1.60
	Sometimes I am so alive I just want to burst.	.63	4.23	1.66
Voice	When there are problems with […], I try to work out a solution.	.67	5.05	1.36
	When there are problems with […], I calmly discuss the issues (on the forums, with other players etc.) to solve the problem.	.58	4.21	1.77
Problematic Gaming	I sometimes neglect important things because of an interest in […].	.76	3.18	1.90
	My social life has sometimes suffered because of me playing […].	.83	2.94	1.85
	[…] has sometimes interfered with my work/study.	.77	3.05	1.91
	When I am not playing […] I often feel agitated.	.87	2.68	1.77
	I have made unsuccessful attempts to reduce the time I spend playing […].	.86	2.87	1.86
	I am sometimes late for engagements because I am playing […].	.86	2.76	1.87
	Arguments have sometimes arisen at home because of the time I spend on […].	.84	2.85	1.94
	I often fail to get enough sleep because of playing […].	.77	3.04	1.93
Escapism	I play […] to avoid thinking about some of my real-life problems or worries.	.66	4.46	1.79
	I play […] in order to avoid real-life social encounters or situations.	.86	3.68	1.93
	I continue to play […] so that I won’t have to deal with everyday problems and issues.	.85	3.76	1.91
Stress	I often feel nervous and stressed.	.68	3.67	1.88
	I feel that difficulties are piling up so high that you could not overcome them.	.83	3.37	1.77
	I feel that I am unable to control the important things in my life.	.72	3.65	1.80
	I cannot cope with all the things that I have to do.	.81	3.38	1.80
	I get angry because of things that are outside of my control.	.58	3.77	1.77
Exit	I feel so angry I quit playing the game.	.69	3.16	1.71
	I do things that would drive me away from the game.	.58	3.86	1.62

Table 3. Correlation table.

	NS	Satis	Conc	SV	Voice	NF	ProbGam	Esc	Stress	Exit
NS	–
Satis	0.56**	–
Conc	0.68**	0.64**	–
SV	0.28**	0.34**	0.22**	–
Voice	0.55**	0.43**	0.42**	0.19**	–
NF	0.15**	−0.12*	0.05	−0.06	0.11*	–
ProbGam	0.21**	−0.02	0.16**	−0.11*	0.07	0.65**	–
Esc	0.30**	0.15**	0.26**	−0.14**	0.13*	0.44**	0.61**	–
Stress	0.03	−0.13**	0.06	−0.46**	0.02	0.51**	0.53**	0.49**	–
Exit	0.13**	−0.02	0.08	0.05	0.07	0.52**	0.49**	0.40**	0.39**	–
Mean	4.75	5.33	4.89	4.79	4.63	3.18	2.92	3.97	3.57	3.51
SD	1.03	1.01	1.11	1.26	1.31	1.36	1.60	1.63	1.42	1.40
CR	0.74	0.84	0.78	0.87	0.57	0.90	0.94	0.84	0.85	0.58
AVE	0.57	0.54	0.47	0.62	0.40	0.53	0.67	0.63	0.59	0.41
Sqrt(AVE)	0.75	0.74	0.69	0.79	0.63	0.73	0.82	0.80	0.77	0.64

Notes: NS: In-Game Need Satisfaction; Satis: Satisfaction; Conc:  Concentration; SV: Subjective Vitality; NF: In-Game Need Frustration; ProbGam: Problematic Gaming; Esc: Escapism.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

Figure 2. Structural relations between in-game need satisfaction/need frustration and positive/negative outcomes.

Data availability

The data underlying this article is available in FigShare Repository, at https://figshare.com/s/6d95695f61f03383a92c