Perception and addiction of online games as a function of personality traits

AbstractWith the growing popularity of online video games, there have been anecdotal reportssuggesting that these games are highly addictive, with some gamers spending in excess of 40 to 50 hours per week playing. Thus, research into the individual characteristics thatlead to excessive play is warranted. This paper examines two individual variables – personality and perceptions of media – and explores how they relate to online game play,specifically online game addiction. By presenting a revised metric for online gameaddiction, this paper explores the relationship between addiction and both personality and perception. Online addiction is presented in this paper as a process addiction with four unique factors: perceived social sanctions, excessive play, uncontrollable play, anddisplacement. Both personality and perception are found to be significantly associatedwith online game addiction. These results are interpreted and discussed, and futureresearch direction is suggested.