From xbox to the ballot box? The influence of leisure activities on political engagement and vote choice

ABSTRACT

How does engagement in leisure activities, such as playing videogames, affect political behavior and preferences? Are young adult gamers just a group of basement-dwellers who are disengaged from politics, or are there specific political issues that gamers care about? Analysis of panel data of Swedish young adults suggests that avid gamers are more likely than non-gamers to care about issues that fall under the umbrella of Pirate politics, and therefore support the Swedish Pirate Party. Avid gamers are also more likely to use the Internet to engage in political behavior. These findings help explain the political attitudes of the ever-growing number of young adult gamers, and the effects of seemingly apolitical leisure activities on political behavior more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Political engagement
• vote choice
• issue publics
• young adults
• leisure activities
• videogames
• internet

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Jennifer Fitzgerald, Dr. Anand Sokhey, Dr. Sarah Wilson Sokhey, Dr. Ethan Scheiner, and Dr. Andrew Phillips for feedback and comments on the many versions of the manuscript. The author would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable insights and suggestions.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Notes

1. However, as I noted earlier, I conducted a follow-up analysis using the dichotomized version of the IV as well. The results are included in Appendix 2 and closely match those presented in the main body of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This study was made possible by access to data from the Swedish Political Socialization Panel, a longitudinal research program at YeS (Youth & Society) at Örebro University, Sweden. Responsible for the planning, implementation, and financing of the collection of data were professors Erik Amnå, Mats Ekström, Margaret Kerr and Håkan Stattin. The data collection was supported by grants from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.

Notes on contributors

Pavel Bacovsky

Pavel Bacovsky studies comparative political behavior in advanced democracies. His research explores the impact of non-political leisure activities and new technologies (such as online media and digital entertainment) on political attitudes, political engagement, and vote choice. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder.