"I Would Not Be This Version of Myself Today": Elaborating on the Effects of Eudaimonic Gaming Experiences

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Devasia, Nisha, Kenderova, Georgia, Newman, Michele, Kientz, Julie, Lee, Jin Ha
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Devasia, Nisha
Kenderova, Georgia
Newman, Michele
Kientz, Julie
Lee, Jin Ha
author_facet Devasia, Nisha
Kenderova, Georgia
Newman, Michele
Kientz, Julie
Lee, Jin Ha
contents While much of the research in digital games has emphasized hedonic experiences, such as flow, enjoyment, and positive affect, recent years have seen increased interest in eudaimonic gaming experiences, typically mixed-affect and associated with personal meaningfulness and growth. The formation of such experiences in games is theorized to have four constituent elements: motivation, game use, experience, and effects. However, while the first three elements have been relatively well explored in the literature, the effects - and how they may influence positive individual outcomes - have been underexplored thus far. To this end, in this work, we investigate the perceived outcomes of eudaimonic gaming and how different components of the experience influence these effects. We conducted a survey (n = 166) in which respondents recounted meaningful gaming experiences and how they affected their present lives. We used a mixed-methods approach to classify effects and identify significant subcomponents of their formation. We contribute an empirical understanding of how meaningful gaming experiences can lead to positive reflective, learning, social, health, and career effects, extending current theoretical models of eudaimonic gaming experiences and offering implications for how researchers and practitioners might use these findings to promote positive outcomes for players.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_18084
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle "I Would Not Be This Version of Myself Today": Elaborating on the Effects of Eudaimonic Gaming Experiences
Devasia, Nisha
Kenderova, Georgia
Newman, Michele
Kientz, Julie
Lee, Jin Ha
Human-Computer Interaction
While much of the research in digital games has emphasized hedonic experiences, such as flow, enjoyment, and positive affect, recent years have seen increased interest in eudaimonic gaming experiences, typically mixed-affect and associated with personal meaningfulness and growth. The formation of such experiences in games is theorized to have four constituent elements: motivation, game use, experience, and effects. However, while the first three elements have been relatively well explored in the literature, the effects - and how they may influence positive individual outcomes - have been underexplored thus far. To this end, in this work, we investigate the perceived outcomes of eudaimonic gaming and how different components of the experience influence these effects. We conducted a survey (n = 166) in which respondents recounted meaningful gaming experiences and how they affected their present lives. We used a mixed-methods approach to classify effects and identify significant subcomponents of their formation. We contribute an empirical understanding of how meaningful gaming experiences can lead to positive reflective, learning, social, health, and career effects, extending current theoretical models of eudaimonic gaming experiences and offering implications for how researchers and practitioners might use these findings to promote positive outcomes for players.
title "I Would Not Be This Version of Myself Today": Elaborating on the Effects of Eudaimonic Gaming Experiences
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.18084