Effects of Video Games Requiring Immediate Response and Mastering Gameplay on Emotional Experience

Abstract

This study examines the effects of video games on emotional experience and stress response. Two experiments were conducted using the Emotion and Arousal Checklist and a portable salivary alpha-amylase biosensor. Subjective data from the questionnaire and saliva samples were collected twice, before and after participants played video games. In Experiment 1, 30 university students were randomly assigned to the following three groups: skill learning, fighting, and control, comprising 10 participants each. The skill-learning group and the fighting group both played a fighting game. The skill-learning group played in training mode, which requires players to learn skills for the fighting game, while the fighting group played in match mode, in which players fight computer-controlled characters. The control group played a game in which players leisurely enjoy village life. In Experiment 2, 10 expert players and 10 novice players participated, with each group playing another fighting game. The results show that there were no significant differences in salivary α -amylase among the three groups in Experiment 1 and between the two groups in Experiment 2. However, there were significant differences in the subjective indexes: energetic and tense arousals were significantly evoked in both the skill-learning group and the fighting group. Additionally, the results show that expert players, defined as those who have long-term experience with a particular video game, sustained energetic arousal for longer than those without such experience.