By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album
Reviewed by Donna Davis, PhD, University of Oregon, Portland School of Journalism and Communication
As every former child of the 80s knows, video games have come a long way since Pong and Frogger. Today’s complex and visually stunning video confections can be incredibly engrossing, even for adults. So-called “massively multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPGs, for short), in which players create an avatar who can fight, talk, and even fall in love with other players’ avatars, may be the most absorbing of all. Players interact in a huge, complex online universe that continues to exist and change, even when a player is not online. Studies show that the average adult player of such games spends an astonishing 20 hours a week on them.
Yet 36% of those who play these games are married, according to a 2006 study. How does this time-consuming habit affect their relationships? A 2012 study of over 300 couples where at least one member regularly played such games for at least 20 hours a week revealed some interesting patterns.
In marriages where only one spouse played MMORPGs, more than 70% of couples said gaming had negatively affected their relationship. Over half of these same couples reported fighting over gaming. However, things looked different in marriages where both spouses had been bitten by the MMORPG bug. The majority of these couples actually reported that gameplay had a positive effect on their relationships.
Still, both kinds of couples mentioned some areas of frustration around gaming. Surprisingly, the actual number of hours of play didn’t seem to be all that important. But when couples fought about gameplay, or when gaming disrupted bedtime routines, marital satisfaction declined.
These findings support previous research suggesting that enjoyable, shared leisure activities tend to increase marital happiness. When only one spouse is deeply involved with any solo activity, however, or when leisure activities cause discord or disrupt couple routines, satisfaction may decrease. While computer gaming can be especially engrossing, it appears that the basic message remains the same: spending leisure time with your spouse can build intimacy, while retreating to separate activities (and fighting about it!) may cause problems.
(Photo credit: World of Warcraft by Jeremy Keith. CC BY 2.0. Cropped.)
References:
Ahlstrom, M., Lundberg, N. R., Zabriskie, R., Eggett, D., Lindsay, G. B. (2012). Me, my spouse, and my avatar. Journal of Leisure Research, 44(1), p. 1-22.
Ng, B. D., & Weimer-Hastings, P. (2005). Addiction to the Internet and online gaming. Cyberpyschology and Behavior, 8(2), 110-113.
Yee, N. (2006). The demographics, motivations and derived experiences of users of Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309-329.
(Originally published in a slightly different form as: Church, C. (2012). How does video gaming affect marriage? [Radio broadcast episode]. Family Album Radio. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida.)
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