Can Playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) Help Older Adults?

David Kaufman, Fan Zhang

2015

Abstract

Gerontology researchers have demonstrated that social interaction has profound impacts on the psychological wellbeing of older adults. This paper addresses the question of whether and how playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) help older adults. We analyzed the relationships of older adults’ social interactions in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) to three social-psychological factors (i.e., loneliness, depression and social support). A total of 176 web surveys were usable from the 222 respondents aged 55 years or more who played World of Warcraft and were recruited online to complete the survey. It was found that enjoyment of relationships and quality of guild play had strong impacts on older adults’ social and emotional wellbeing. Specifically, higher enjoyment of relationships was related to higher social support as well as lower levels of loneliness. Higher quality of guild play was related to higher levels of social support and lower levels of loneliness and depression.

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Kaufman D. and Zhang F. (2015). Can Playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) Help Older Adults? . In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015) ISBN 978-989-758-107-6, pages 527-535. DOI: 10.5220/0005551405270535


in Bibtex Style

@conference{agewell15,
author={David Kaufman and Fan Zhang},
title={Can Playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) Help Older Adults?},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015)},
year={2015},
pages={527-535},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005551405270535},
isbn={978-989-758-107-6},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: AGEWELL, (CSEDU 2015)
TI - Can Playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) Help Older Adults?
SN - 978-989-758-107-6
AU - Kaufman D.
AU - Zhang F.
PY - 2015
SP - 527
EP - 535
DO - 10.5220/0005551405270535