Playing WoW as indication of introversionFollow

Trait and personality psychology: Introverts embracing the pseudo-social realm


Joe Davidson
University of Denver






































Introduction


Personality is defined as “an individual’s characteristic style of behavior, thinking, and feeling”. The trait theory approach, being the best approach for observing specific qualities and characteristics within a persona, was heavily used to assess the meaning of certain attributes in terms of finding potential indicators of two huge traits/personalities (introvert and extravert). Using the factor analysis technique, Hans Eysenck (1967) developed a model of personality with only two (later expanded to three) major traits (see figure 1). He identified one dimension that distinguished people who are sociable and active (extraverts) from those who are relatively introspective and quiet (introverts). His analysis also identified a second dimension (not as important as the first in this study) ranging from the tendency to be very neurotic or emotionally unstable to the tendency to be more emotionally stable. He believed that “many behavioral tendencies could be understood in terms of their relation to these core traits”. Eysenck described extraversion-introversion as “the degree to which a person is outgoing and interactive with other people, and that these behavioral differences are presumed to be the result of underlying differences in brain physiology; extraverts seek excitement and social activity in an effort to heighten their arousal level, whereas introverts tend to avoid social situations in an effort to keep such arousal levels to a minimum” (Eysenck 1967). Looking into the issue of introverts and extravert qualities and quality indicators, I conducted a study interviewing 20 of my peers asking them questions on different aspects of their daily lives, friends, hobbies, and personality. The possibility of certain attributes and hobbies as indicators of certain traits/personality was investigated. Included in my study was the overarching theme of video game play (specifically the MMORPG World of Warcraft) and how it (along with some other basic attributes) might serve as a potential indicator for the introvert trait. To compare and contrast these potential indicators I also interviewed peers who did not play video games at all. In a study on the psychology of happiness, researches found a correlation between extraversion and happiness (Myers 1992); this is because “extraverts tend to report feeling more positive emotions more often while introverts tend to report emotions or feelings that are more neutral”. But this by no means implies that introverts are unhappy people. These differences in reported happiness may be a reality in our western culture precisely because we idealize extroverted personality. As opposed to people with more introverted personalities in our culture; and how they probably feel excluded and less desirable within our culture (Cheng & Furnham 2003). In other studies they have also found that in addition to happiness, “extraverts have tended to recount higher levels of self-esteem than introverts” (Swickert, Hittner, Hitos & Cox-Fuenzalida 2004). Another study done by the Cyberpsychology and behavioral institute cleverly called ‘The Ideal Elf’ explores the game World of Warcraft and the concept of in and out of game self-identity. The data in the study suggested that “MMORPG virtual worlds offered players the opportunity to create idealized characters as virtual, alternative selves. On average, participants rated their virtual character as being more conscientious, extraverted, and less neurotic than they themselves in actuality were. Furthermore, these trends were more prominent among those who were more depressed or had lower self-esteem” (Bessière, Seay & Kiesler 2007). These studies open up whole avenues of connections and insight to the mind of the video gamer, the underlying theme and quality of happiness and self-esteem in extraverts and introverts in not only our culture and society that we live in today, but the international virtual world or pseudo-social realm that exists digitally. However, there is still much research that needs to be intricately and methodically conducted to really look at and derive the subtle variables that we can’t observe on the surface. A study that needs to be done is a study looking at the thought process of a gamer while playing a video-game and what consistencies that thought process has with concrete introverted qualities (as well a study looking at the opposite [the thought process behind extroverted activities]). Looking at these very hidden and private functions would give researches a valuable insight to these true personalities and how they are manifested. Therefore, without these studies, my research question then becomes: Do video gamers (specifically WoW players) consistently possess more of the qualities and attributes of introverts as opposed to people who do not play video-games (henceforth called non-gamers)?


Activities and hobbies as indicators

The things a person chooses to occupy his/her time with as well as the types of activities and hobbies a person enjoys to do (what makes them happy) can be a huge guide to the kind of personality one possesses. There are sets of different activities that are most likely to be associated to either introverts or extraverts based on those social aspects that accompany them (Gosling 2008). One study showed that “extraverts had a significantly different pattern of activity preferences from introverts”. It also indicated that people choose various jobs, learning institutions, and leisure-time activities in terms of their personality structure and to satisfy various needs (Furnham 1981). And what all of these studies point to, is that introverts and extraverts can be very different on very basic levels of daily life.



Friends as indicators

One of the main aspects of introversion and extraversion is the social aspect. Carl Jung noted that “extroverts draw energy from engaging with the outside world and especially from being with other people; while introverts need time alone to recharge”. It is not that introverts nessarily avoid friendships, but rather introverts are very selective of who their friends are and usually prefer having very intimate relationships based on trust with a few close friends.



Places and events as indicators

Again looking to the social nature of the deviation between extraversion and introversion I found yet another possible indicator to reveal the possible relation between video games and introversion. It is known that introverts are easily overwhelmed by too much stimulation from social gatherings and engagement (Laney 2002). They are uneasy and very unsociable especially at big social gatherings and events, such as parties. Again, introverts enjoy time alone to reflect. And on the other end of the spectrum it is noted that extraverts are typically “the life of the party”. Extraverts crave social interaction and high external stimulation from others. Much of the qualities of introverts and extraverts seem to come from the individual need of either high stimulation or low stimulation to meet certain needs of personality (Murray 1938).


Self-perception as an indicator

It is hard to be able to accurate judge and define another person’s character or personality. Especially on the surface, it is hard to be able to truly recognize a persons deep and core traits that define them. One way I was able to maneuver around this foreseeable problem was to have the participants, as accurately as they could, describe themselves. The answers both groups (non-gamers and gamers) gave fit pretty well into the Eysenck continuum of trait dimensions. By using Eysenck’s personality continuum I was able to see the wide flux in extravert/introvert surface characteristics that the participants described themselves as being. Also, the idea of self-perception versus the ‘ideal self’ of the introvert and extrovert seems to be a very interesting subject that was researched in the MMORPG WoW (Bessiére et al., 2007).


Role models as indicators

In looking at the aspect of role models and how they might tell us different things about the aspects of one’s personality there are a couple studies that show a significance in role models as social indicators and how they can affect the development of children (Bandura & Walters 1963; Parsons, Adler, Futterman, Goff, Kaczala, Meece & Midgley, 1975). According to these studies, models, parents in particular, exhibit behaviors which children imitate and later adopt as part of their own behavioral repertoire. Also these studies tell us that as children develop, they perceive their parents as “social indicators”. The child grows up perceiving their parents as social indicators and therefore tries to imitate their behavioral aspects thinking that ‘this is the way I’m supposed to act’. Therefore role-models and especially parental role-models can have a very significant impact on the development and eventually stabilized personality of a person.

Methods
Sample
My study consisted of randomly picking 20 of my peers to interview (making sure once I had picked them that at least half were gamers). I conducted these interviews all around various areas of the DU campus (in Denver, Colorado), including centennial halls, Driscoll Bridge, Sturm Hall and the field outside of Sturm Hall.
Measures and Procedures
Student interview- I developed an eleven question interview for my peers using questions that would probe different aspects of their a) daily lives (including whether or not they played WoW [and how often]), b) habits of activities and hobbies, c) self-description, d) current relationship status, d) their personal preferences regarding social activities and e) who their role models were. The interviews were conducted in 5-10 minute sessions during the 2011 spring quarter at Denver University.


Results and Discussion

In my study ([N=20][male/n=15][n/female=5]) (gamers/n=10)(non-gamers/n=10) I asked my participants open-ended questions on what their various activities and hobbies were during the week and also the weekend. The first question I asked was whether or not they played video games, specifically WoW. Out of the 10 people who said that they did play video games, 80% said they played WoW more frequently than any other video game. The average time spent playing video games per week between all the gamers was 13.3 hours/week. While the WoW-gamers average time playing all video games was 15.4 hours/week. The gamer participants also gave other activities and hobbies that included surfing the internet, facebook, playing music, listening to music, composing music, skiing, watching movies/TV, drawing and reading. By means of the qualitative aspect of the survey, and after being asked when these activities took place, some gamers admitted to practicing these activities not only during the week but also during “large portions of [their] weekend”. Something that strikes me about all of these hobbies is there wholly solitary aspect; with most if not with all of these activities it seems that there is inherently little that demands a need for cooperation or involvement with others. Another shared aspect of these hobbies is the essentially high level of mental stimulation. Introversion is defined in the dictionary as the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life. The concern for social interaction is not an apprehensive one; it is not a social discomfort or shyness but instead a social preference. On the other end of the spectrum, it was very interesting to see the contrast with the 10 other non-gamer participants and their activity and hobby preferences compared to the gamer hobby preferences. The non-gamer activities and hobbies included: working out, music, playing sports (soccer, lacrosse, hockey and tennis) TV, “hanging out with friends”, “watching/going to the movies with friends”, “partying”, shopping, skiing, and most interestingly “friends”. It is amazing to see the concrete differences, socially and physically speaking, between the preferred hobbies of the gamers and non-gamers. All of the activities listed by the non-gamers have a very social aspect. Specifically the hobbies including ‘friends’ provide interesting insight; the need for inclusion of friends in their hobbies (team sports) and also in describing their hobbies tells me that these non-gamers are highly social and that they prefer to be doing things with friends and not alone. Highly physical activities such as various team sports and skiing also reveal the need for high levels of stimulation/arousal. This fact shows the need for these stimulations in accordance with the properties of extraversion (Murray 1938). The real difference between introversion and extraversion could be the difference in preference between solitary/mental stimulation versus social/physical stimulation. Introverts by nature enjoy solitary activities; ones that allow for reflection without a lot of social interaction.
By assessing my participant’s friend preferences I was able to gain further insight into the qualities that differentiate extraversion from introversion. I asked my participants a simple question about the kind of groups they hang out in. I asked whether they usually hung out in large groups of people or rather preferred to hang out with a few close friends. 70% of the gamers answered that they preferred small groups of a few close friends rather than a large group. And on the other hand, 60% of non-gamers answered that they preferred to hang out with large groups of people. This tells me a couple of things, namely that those who opted to hang out with a few close friends might have some traits that are consistent with being reserved, mindful of who their friends are and of being careful of who they associate themselves with. Those who opted to hang out with large groups of friends are more likely than not to be outgoing, sociable, easygoing and optimistic about meeting new people (Ryckman 2004). These behavioral choices then show us the variability of surface characteristics (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985) that further strengthens my hypothesis that gamers are more likely to possess more introverted qualities and that people who do not play any video games are more likely to possess more extraverted qualities.
The next question I asked was to identify the preferences of gamers and non-gamers on social events; this preference then lead to an insight on the type of personality they had. When I asked gamers whether they were more likely to be at parties on the weekend or at home or in their dorms, 70% of gamers said that they preferred to stay in. Whereas when I asked non-gamers this same question a whopping 80% said that they preferred to go to parties. Through this I start to see some interesting correlations and probable reasons why video games seem to be a niche of the introvert. It is within video games and especially WoW where a person enters the pseudo-social realm. This again gives my study great insight to the habits and personality traits of gamers versus the personality traits of non-gamers. This question although simple shows the definite social aspect and the flux in the introvert/extravert continuum.
(Figure 1: Eysenck’s Depiction of Trait Dimensions) As the continuum suggests and as Jungian theory tells us: to be high in a surface characteristic on one end of the spectrum (introvert/extravert---unstable/stable) is to be relatively low on the exact other end of the spectrum (Jung, 1921; Eysenck 1985). When the gamers were asked what two adjectives best described them, they gave me the following compilations of answers: pensive, selfish, nerdy, pessimistic, laid-back, facetious, smart, different, and organized. As you can see by looking at figure 1, most of if not all of these surface characteristics fit near the introverted end of the continuum in their own way. Also many of these adjectives possess many underlying characteristics or variability that can be synonymous with each term. For example pensive can be interpreted through the continuum as thoughtful, careful, and quiet. As well as facetious could be interpreted as moody or maybe even pessimistic. All of the variability shows us that these traits are interchangeable and that they point to characteristics being those of the introvert. All this alone however isn’t enough to derive a concrete difference between the gamer and non-gamer in terms of their personality. However, by contrasting these with the statements by the non-gamers on describing themselves, I can get a little bit better of a grasp on separating these two factions of trait and type of person. The non-gamers described themselves as: fun, happy, easygoing, responsible, funny, outgoing, determined, friendly, active, hilarious, attractive and charismatic. Again you can see the synonymy between all these descriptions and the surface characteristics on the Eysenck continuum. All of these descriptions fit perfectly with the characteristics of being extraverted. On a side note, after looking closely at the descriptions given to me and at the traits on the continuum, I noticed a pattern of more traits fitting closer, on both sides, to the bottom (stable end). This tells me that the majority of my peers have relatively stable personalities, which is a very good thing to know about my peers.
This next section deals with the possibity of role-models have a significant affect on personality and is very interesting when incorporated into my study because there are some very exciting notions that pop up with the participants answer to my question asking them who their role models were. It appeared that 10% of all participants (from both non-gamers[6%] and gamers[4%]) chose either one of their parents as role models. This is consistent with the previous studies showing that the behavior and personality of a child is largely based upon seeing their parents as role models and social indicators. Another 4% of participants (this time all non-gamers) chose famous celebrities (including Nicole Kidman) and famous historical figures (Mahatma Gandhi). The reason behind choosing these famous, well known people is not well documented, but based on Bandura and Walters study (1963) I will infer that the non-gamers see these worldly people as being very big social indicators that have very likeable or honorable features and qualities that are desired by people who have the habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self (i.e. possess qualities of an extravert)(Webster). And very interestingly enough, the other 6% of gamers said that they had no role model! One of those even said that he himself was his own role model. This tells me many interesting things; because they did not see their parents (or anyone else) as role models, growing up, they probably did not see anyone but themselves as social indicators! With a lack of social indicators or behavioral models, it is highly likely that these 6% of gamers turned inward, to the ‘self’, for social indication, which probably led to a continuation of self-revolving behavior (i.e. became introverted). However, there is not enough evidence in mine or any other study that I found, which can support these inferences.
Now that I have a solid base to work with I want to talk about the aspects of gamers and how, because of their type of personality, they embrace the pseudo-social realm of WoW. The virtual reality world of World of Warcraft is a huge platform for all sorts of games, challenges, adventures and social interaction but in a completely different way from reality. From the kind of thing one does in the game (go on magnificent quests and battle dragons and demons) it seems like the last thing someone possessing the traits of an introvert would ever want to do. But this is where the gamer thrives; in this pseudo-social world one can be anything that one wants, there are few limitations (especially in the eyes of the introverted) that dictate what one can and cannot do in this world. From looking closely at the study of Bessiére et al. and by looking at my own data, there are many interesting facts that I have pieced together to invite the notion that gamers are highly introverted. Realizing that the players studied in ‘The Ideal Elf’ consistently rated their virtual characters higher in the qualities of extraversion, conscientiousness and less neurotic than they themselves actually were. This tells me that their ideal self, the one that seeks adventure, high stimulation and social connectedness, can be found and manifested in the virtual world of WoW, the pseudo-social realm. Gamers (especially if they possess more of the qualities of introversion) can let go of their social tendencies and thrive comfortably in a pseudo-social world that lets them hide their true identity but yet allows them to truly show what they are made of in terms of conquering this dominion. For an introvert in today’s crazy over stimulated social scene and society, it is hard to conquer even the simplest of social tasks (interactions). Therefore a world that has so much to offer (quests, items, battles, raids, and semi[virtual]-social interactions), all while one can sit quietly in the comfort of their own domain and thoughts, is highly attractive and appealing to the introvert.

Conclusion

From looking at the evidence collected, I have found a couple of different conclusions for my hypothesis. By interpreting the evidence in terms of majority rules, I have come to the conclusion that on average gamers are more inclined to hang out in small groups of friends rather than large groups of friends and also that they are more inclined to stay at home or in dorms on the weekend than to go out to parties. Also I have concluded that gamers more often possess the qualities and attributes that are synonymous to the traits of introverts than do non-gamers. Another interesting aspect I will conclude is that on average, gamers had no role models. From this I can conclude that they formed their “social indicators” (at least somewhat) based on themselves and their own inner thoughts and notions of society. After all this I will finally conclude that based on my study and sample, the majority of my peers who played video games were introverts. And if I apply this random sample to a worldview, then I conclude that the majority of video gamers are introverts.


Citations


Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1963). Social learning and personality development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Bessiére, Katherine M.A., Seay, A. Fleming Ph.D., & Kiesler, Sara Ph.D. (2007). Cyberpsychology & Behavior Volume 10, Number 4, © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2007.9994

Cheng, H. & Furnham, A. (2003). Personality, self-esteem, and demographic predictions of happiness and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 921–942.

Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Thomas Publishing.

Furnham, Adrian.(1981) Personality and activity preference. British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol 20(1), 57-68.

Gosling, S. (2008). Snoop. New York: Basic Books.

Jung, C.J. (1921). Psychologischen Typen. Rascher Verlag, Zurich – translation H.G. Baynes.

Myers, David G (1992). The Secrets of Happiness Psychology Today.

Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford University Press.

Laney, Marti Olsen (2002). The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World. Workman Publishing.

Parsons, J. E.; Adler, T. F.; Futterman, R.; Goff, S. B.; Kaczala, C. M.; Meece, J. L.; & Midgley, C. (1975). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In J. T. Spence (Ed.), Perspectives on achievement and achievement motivation. San Francisco: Freeman, in press.

Ryckman, R. (2004). Theories of Personality. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.


Swickert, R., Hittner, J. B., Kitos, N., & Cox-Fuenzalida, L. E. (2004). Direct or indirect, that is the question: A re-evaluation of extraversion's influence on self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 207–217.

So, you picked just 20 young, developing people, only 10 of whom are "gamers", and concluded that gamers and introversion are near synonymous? I'd hate to remind someone that correlation doesn't equal causation but it could also be the case that people who are introverted are, obviously, less likely to try to make huge friendship groups or attend parties. Thus, their hobbies will often include things they can do alone or with a small group of close friends. Reading, writing, model kits, art, gaming, movie watching, ************ and a bunch of other things would be up as options. But none of that is surprising.

And none of that suggests that gamers = introverted or that introversion = gaming. (There's also the tangled web of how different people define the term "gamer" as well)

Didn't start well.

Sort of OT, but I've never seen so many sub-defaulted threads on the first page of ZAM/WoW before. It's kind of depressing.

Alas, "The Ideal Elf" made it, can this be far behind? After all, it uses the term pseudo-social, which allows all social seeming elements to be dismissed out of hand.

Now, I'm going to have more coffee to help me figure out how my ideal self is apparently fragmented among something over a hundred alts but based on starting over on a new server I appear to want to be a goat girl druid. That's good, I think, because I don't want to know where they would go with the idea that I'm playing a character with tentacles as sexual characteristics. Actually, let's be happy they haven't discovered /silly and /flirt.

I want to punch every UD english/writing professor/student in the face right now. I could have done a research paper that bad in elementary school.

too be honest I didn't even read it, so I only assume by the comments it's terrible

>.>

Tl;dr^23

Way TL;DR...

Same here. I don't have the attention span or the interest to read something that long about a study that is most likely poorly written and insulting to myself and other gamers.

I usually don't post short meaningless posts, but I reckon in this case such a post conveys my thoughts pretty well.

"Lolwut?"

I didn't see it as insulting and it's more overwritten than poorly written (though the formatting definitely could be improved).

Basically, it's just saying that based on a sample of 20 people, he concluded that most gamers are introverts. Of course it sounds like the 20 people he chose weren't random since he said something about picking 10 gamers and then 10 other people that weren't gamers so he'd have a group to measure against. It's also pretty safe to assume that all 20 of the participants were college age students so the representative sample doesn't even begin to reflect the range of ages and backgrounds of the gaming community.

I wouldn't consider being generalized as an introvert to being an insult though. I guess the closest thing to an insult is to come to the conclusion that introverted gamers create characters that are more extroverted than themselves because they wish they were more like that in real life. It's possible that some do this for that reason but it's also possible that some create exaggeratedly extroverted characters to make fun of just how ridiculous some extroverted people are in real life. It's hard to come to a conclusion like that based on such a small sample and so few questions.

Calling someone an introvert is not generally accepted as an insult, no. However I really dislike stereotypes, and this "study" is just reinforcing a bad stereotype. Sure, there are probably proportionately more introverted gamers than extroverted gamers, but the title of this thread makes it sound like the results of the study showed that if you play WoW you are introverted.

Also, just want to point out that interviewing 20 people who are hand-selected, is not a study. I know that a college student's resources are limited, but damn...