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A study in Taiwan found that individuals who were more motivated to play online games tended to show higher post-game imagination. Imagination, in turn, was associated with greater creativity, indicating that gaming motivation might contribute to creativity. The paper was published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Researchers widely agree that internet technology, especially online gaming, has a strong impact on people’s lives. However, scientific studies primarily focus on these activities in the context of problems like addiction and reduced reading comprehension. Potential positive effects of gaming tend to be less discussed.
Of the studies that have explored the potential positive impacts of gaming, most have focused on visual and problem-solving benefits, while paying less attention to how games may support imagination and creativity. However, some research shows that children who play video games more often can score higher on creativity tests, even when the games contain violent content. Other studies also suggest that online games can improve students’ creative thinking and attitudes. At the same time, researchers note that there is still a gap between the potential of games to support creativity and the amount of research actually done on this topic.
Study author Yung-hsun Cheng wanted to explore the relationship between the motivation to play online games, imagination, and creativity. Cheng hypothesized that motivation to play online games would be positively associated with imagination and creativity. Cheng also expected that imagination would mediate the relationship between motivation to play online games and creativity.
In this study, Cheng focused on two specific games – Genshin Impact and Roblox. Genshin Impact is a free-to-play open-world role-playing game that combines exploration, combat, and story-driven quests in a fantasy world. Roblox is an online platform where users can create, share, and play a wide variety of games made by other players.
This study had two parts – a survey and a small experiment. Survey participants were 202 Taiwanese university students. The experimental part of the study included 6 male and 6 female students. Study participants were required to have a basic understanding and experience of Roblox or Genshin Impact.
Survey participants completed measures of motivation for online gaming (the Online Gaming Motivation Scale), imagination (the Imaginative Capability Scale), and creativity (the Creativity Capability Scale). Experimental participants were divided randomly into two groups. One group was to play Roblox during two 2.5-hour sessions per week for 4 weeks. The task of the other group was to play Genshin Impact in the same number of sessions. These participants underwent EEG measurements of their brain activity before and after these interventions.
Results of the survey showed that motivation for online gaming was associated with higher imagination and higher creativity. The study author tested a statistical model proposing that higher motivation for online gaming leads to higher imagination, and that higher imagination leads to higher creativity. Analysis of the results supported this relationship.
Results of the experiment showed differences in activity in some areas of the brain before and after the gaming interventions. Based on the region of the brain where the difference in activity was detected, the author of this study drew inferences about changes in the psychological characteristics of interest, such as creative thinking and imagination.
“The study concludes that online gaming can positively influence creativity, especially when imagination mediates the relationship between gaming motivation and creative outcomes. These results underscore the potential cognitive benefits of online games, particularly for players with high levels of motivation, and highlight the distinct roles of RPGs and sandbox games in fostering creativity,” the study author concludes.
The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the psychological correlates of online gaming. However, it should be noted that the experimental part of the study was conducted on a very small sample, and inferences about psychological characteristics based on EEG-detected brain activity reported in the paper might be problematic.
The paper, “The impact of online games on creativity and the role of imagination,” was authored by Yung-hsun Cheng.