Investigation of the relationship between university students' mobile gaming motivations and loneliness levels

Abstract

Background and Study Aim. The aim of this study is to determine the mobile game motivations and loneliness levels of university students and to evaluate the relationship between them. Material and Methods. In the study, the "Mobile Game Motivation Scale" developed by Üstün ve Öz and the "UCLA Loneliness Scale" developed by Russell et al and adapted to Turkish culture by Demir were used as data collection tools. 365 (Nwomen:140; Nmen:225) university students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. SPSS package program was used in the analysis of the data, and it was tested with parametric tests. Results. As a result of the study, in favor of men in all Mobile Game Motivaton Scale and sub-dimensions according to gender, significant differences were found in the loneliness scale against those who have a higher income level than their monthly income. It can be said that the game motivation increases as the game playing time and weekly free time increase. In addition, a low level of positive correlation was found with Mobile Games Motivation Scale and UCLA Loneliness Scale. Conclusions. The researchers conducted their studies on the concept of 'motivation', which is considered to be a major deficiency in studies in the field of social internet in general and mobile games in particular, and 'loneliness', which is accepted as a universal problem, and reached generalizable results on generation Z undergraduate students. The researchers presented a different perspective to the literature by examining the relationship between 'loneliness' and the structure they created through the sub-dimensions of Mobile Games Motivation Scale 'developmental tasks', 'escape and competition' and 'mobile flow'.