Gaming Between Leisure and Addiction: How Young People Perceive Risk in Video Games

Abstract

Young people's leisure activities are a subject of interest and concern. While criminal engagement is a key concern, video gaming has long been in focus for its possible deteriorating effects threatening societal values and interests. As it is often the case with studies on deviancy, studies on problematic gaming frequently rest upon an assumption that risk exists independently of everyday life context and thus use isolated “risk” variables to measure problematic gaming. Contrarily, this study argues that, in gaming, risk cannot be separated from everyday life. We analyze 35 qualitative interviews with young people and use social constructivist perspectives of risk to show how risk is embedded in everyday practices. We find two dominant risks: The risk of gaming monopolizing everyday life and the risk of overspending. Linked to these risks is the social risk of being excluded from the friendship group. We also find that young people integrate discourses of gaming addiction into their risk perceptions and that they actively strive to balance their gaming by avoiding “becoming addicted.” Our findings challenge assumptions that video games carry inherent risks of addiction and prompt an approach to risk in gaming as not being separated from the context of everyday life.