How Does Conscientiousness Impact on Computer Game Play?

Xiaowen Fang

College of Computing and Digital Media, DePaul University, 243 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, IL 60604, U.S.A.

Keywords: Personality, Conscientiousness, Game Play, Gamification, e-Business.

Abstract: With the rise of social media and mobile computing, hedonic components and gamification play a more and

more important role in the success of e-business systems. In addition, as a majority of users of e-business

have game play experiences, understanding their behavior is essential. This research attempts to investigate

user behavior in computer game play and the findings will likely shed lights on how to design gamification

features in e-business systems. Based on a conceptual framework of computer game play proposed by Fang,

Chan, and Nair (2009), an online survey was designed and conducted to investigate the relationship between

personality traits and players’ choice of games. Results suggest that the personality trait, conscientiousness,

has an impact on how players choose games. Findings and their implications were discussed.

1 INTRODUCTION

The popularity of digital (computer and video)

games has reached phenomenal proportions. Based

on the statistics provided by Entertainment Software

Association (2017), 65 % of American households

play computer or video, and their worldwide

markets are expected to grow strongly also in the

future. Computer games have become a major form

of entertainment. In addition, digital games are used

increasingly for therapeutic, educational, and work-

related purposes (Griffiths, 2003; Robillard et al.,

2003). Given the prominence of computer games for

entertainment, researchers need to acquire a better

understanding about computer game players and

their play experience. However, as Bateman and

Boon (2006) stated in the preface of their book, “a

certain mystery still surrounds game design, and

although much has been written on the subject, the

formal study of game design practices in a definite

sense is still in its infancy.”

Based on a conceptual framework of computer

game play proposed by Fang, Chan, and Nair

(2009), this study investigates the relationship

between the personality trait, conscientiousness, and

players’ choice of games. The key research

questions are: 1) what types of people play what

games? And 2) Does the personality trait,

conscientiousness, matter in players’ choice of

games? We expect that findings of these important

questions will no doubt help game developers

improve design of computer games and also improve

their marketing plan. In addition, the findings will

likely shed lights on how to design gamification

features in e-business systems.

2 BACKGROUND LITERATURE

Much of the Psychological Research on Games Has

Been Focusing on Negative Effects of Violent Video

Games Although Some Recent Studies Have

Changed This Tone and Started to Investigate

Individual Differences among Game Players. in This

Section, We First Review Prior Research on

Personality and Computer Game Play. then We

Examine the Big-Five Personality Model and Its

Personality Traits.

2.1 Personality and Computer Game

Play

Previous research has consistently shown that

exposure to violent video games is significantly

linked to increases in aggressive behavior,

aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, and

ardiovascular arousal, and to decreases in helping

behavior (Anderson and Dill, 2000). Anderson and

Dill (2000) also suggest that the positive relationship

between violent video game play and aggressive

behavior and delinquency is stronger for individuals

who are characteristically aggressive and for men.

Furthermore, a few other studies show that

Fang, X.

How Does Conscientiousness Impact on Computer Game Play?.

DOI: 10.5220/0006779701250130

In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications (ICETE 2018) - Volume 1: DCNET, ICE-B, OPTICS, SIGMAP and WINSYS, pages 125-130

ISBN: 978-989-758-319-3

125

personality is linked to gaming behaviors.

Fetchenhauer and Huang (2004) indicate that the

justice sensitivity could be used to predict decisions

in a number of games using theoretical paradigms

(dictator games, ultimatum games, and a

combination of these two games). Douse and

McManus (1993) suggest that players of a fantasy

Play-By-Mail game were less feminine, less

androgynous, and more introverted than matched

controls. The fantasy game players showed lower

scores on the scale of empathic concern, and were

more likely to describe themselves as “scientific,”

and to include “playing with computers” and

“reading” among their leisure interests than players

in the control group. In a more recent study, Whang

and Chang (2004) explored the lifestyles of online

game players. Based on an online survey, they

classify lifestyles of game players into three groups:

single-oriented players, community-oriented players,

and off-real world players. Players in each group

display distinct differences in their values and game

activities, as well as in their anti-social behavior

tendencies. This study further suggests that

differences in game players’ lifestyles reflect not

only their personality but also their socio-economic

status within the virtual world constructed through

game activities.

Bateman and Boon (2006) applied to Myers-

Briggs Type Indicator (Briggs, 1989) to games and

conducted a survey to investigate game player types.

The survey had two components: a 32-question

Myers-Briggs personality test and a short

questionnaire to determine elements such as game

purchasing and playing habits. About four hundred

participants took part in the study. Based on cluster

analysis results, Bateman and Boon (2006) identified

the following four play styles:

Type 1 Conqueror play involves winning and

beating the game.

Type 2 Manager play revolves around a strategic or

tactical challenges.

Type 3 Wanderer play in which players search for a

fun experience.

Type 4 Participant play.

Within each of these four types, players were further

categorized into two subtypes: hardcore and casual

players.

Bartle (2009) recognizes four types of game

players who play games in the virtual world: 1)

Achievers like acting on the virtual world. Their aim

is usually to succeed in the context of the virtual

world. 2) Explorers like interacting with the virtual

world. They act in order to find out things about the

virtual world and how it works. 3) Socialisers like

interacting with other players. They like talking,

being part of a group, and helping others. 4) Killers

like acting on other players. Sometimes, this is to

gain a big bad reputation, but other times it’s to gain

a big good reputation.

More recently, Fang and Zhao (2009) find: 1)

Sensation seeking has a significant and positive

effect on enjoyment of computer game play through

enhanced engagement during game play for action/

adventure/shooting/fighting, role playing, and

sport/racing games. 2) Sensation seeking has a

significant and positive effect on enjoyment of

computer game play through enhanced cognition

values for family entertainment/simulation games. 3)

Self-forgetfulness has a significant and positive

effect on enjoyment of computer game play through

enhanced engagement during game play for role

playing games.

Despite some of the groundbreaking work in

prior studies, few research has systematically

examined what role player’s personality plays in

choosing games to play. This paper reports the first

attempt to address this research question.

2.2 The Big-five Personality Mode

Personality can be defined as a stable set of

tendencies and characteristics that determine the

commonalities and differences in people’s

psychological behavior (thoughts, feelings and

actions) that have continuity in time. Personality is

one of the most elusive areas of psychology, difficult

to understand, and difficult to test. Nevertheless,

psychologists have developed several theories to

explain personality based on two principles: core of

personality and periphery of personality. Core of

personality addresses the inherent attributes of

human beings which do not change over the course

of living. They are used to explain the similarities

among people. Periphery of personality, on the other

hand, focuses on learned attributes. It helps to

identify the differences among people.

Over the years, the big five-factor personality

model (Digman and Takemoto-Chock, 1981;

McCrae and Costa, 1985; Peabody and Goldberg,

1989; Thurstone, 1934; Tupes and Christal, 1961)

has gained acceptance among researchers because it

establishes a common taxonomy (Goldberg, 1990).

It contains the following five dimensions (or traits)

of personality:

• Extraversion: this factor has been the largest. It

contrasts traits such as talkativeness, liveliness,

and outgoingness versus shyness, quietness, and

passivity.

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• Agreeableness: the second factor. It contrasts

traits such as kindness and gentleness with

rudeness and harshness.

• Conscientiousness: the third factor. It includes

traits such as organization, discipline, and

thoroughness versus sloppiness, laziness, and

unreliability.

• Emotional stability (versus neuroticism): the

fourth factor. This factor contains traits such as

relaxedness, versus moodiness, anxiety, and

touchiness.

• Intellect or imagination: the fifth factor. It has

traits such as philosophicalness, complexity, and

creativity versus shallowness and

conventionality. This factor also has another

name, openness to experience.

The Big Five model has been researched and

validated by many different psychologists and are at

the core of many personality questionnaires.

According to McCrae and Costa (1985), the

conscientiousness factor can be further refined into

six facets: competence, order, dutifulness,

achievement striving, self-discipline, and

deliberation.

In this study, we applied the big-five personality

model in gaming and focus on the third trait:

conscientiousness.

3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Bateman and Boon (2006) identify conqueror play

as one game play style. Players in this play style aim

to win and beat the game.

One of the four player types proposed by Bartle

(2009) is achievers whose aim is usually to succeed

in the context of the virtual world.

Based on media enjoyment theories, personality

theories, and the technology acceptance model, Fang

et al., (2009) propose a conceptual model of

computer game play as depicted in Figure 1.

The prior research on computer game play

strongly suggests that achievement in games is an

important element in the play experience and

personality traits may impact on play experience.

Conscientiousness, as the third personality factor in

the Big-Five personality model, relates to

personality facets: competence, order, dutifulness,

achievement striving, self-discipline, and

deliberation. Therefore, we hypothesize that

conscientiousness will affect players’ choice of

games.

Figure 1: A framework of computer game play (Fang et

al., 2009).

Hypothesis 1: Computer game players will choose

games whose plots and stories are compatible with

players’ conscientiousness trait.

H1a: Computer game players who have a high score

of conscientiousness will likely play a game whose

plots and stories are conventional and orthodox.

H1b: Computer game players who have a low score

of conscientiousness will likely play a game whose

plots and stories are unconventional and unorthodox.

4 METHOD

An online survey was conducted to test the

hypothesis. The survey questionnaire contains three

types of questions: questions about player’s

demographics and gaming experience, questions

about personality traits, and questions about

enjoyment of playing a particular computer game.

Game enjoyment was measured by an 11-item

instrument proposed by Fang et al., (2008).

Personality traits were measured using the 50

item IPIP (Goldberg et al., 2006) inventory available

at http://ipip.ori.org/. Since its inception in 1999,

IPIP has been used in over 60 studies and translated

in over 20 languages.

In the beginning of the survey, a participant was

first asked to answer questions about his/her

demographics and gaming experience such as how

often and how long he/she has played computer

games. Then the participant would answer 50

questions about his/her personality. Upon finishing

the personality questions, the participant was

instructed to choose one or more games that he/she

regularly plays and assess his/her play experience by

answering questions about game enjoyment. If the

How Does Conscientiousness Impact on Computer Game Play?

127

participant chose more than one game, only one

game could be assessed at a time. All the personality

and enjoyment questions were randomized for each

participant to avoid order effect. Participants were

not allowed to skip any questions.

5 RESULTS

5.1 Participants and Descriptive

Statistics

The survey was conducted in four universities in

three different countries: US, Korea, and China. In

total, 1096 computer game players responded to the

survey. Table 1 presents the descriptive statistics of

participants’ demographic information.

Table 1: Demographic Information of Participants.

Variables

Gender

Male (%) 85.2

Female (%) 14.8

Culture

American (%) 85.6

Korean (%) 10.3

Chinese (%) 4.1

Age

Mean 25.7

Std. 6.99

How long have you been

playing computer/video

games?

Mean (years) 14.8

Std. 8.94

How many hours on average

do you play?

Mean 2.81

Std. 2.126

How often do you play

computer/video games?

Daily (%) 41.3

Weekly (%) 40.7

Monthly (%) 9.0

Seldom (%) 9.0

5.2 Validation of Survey Instrument

A factor analysis was conducted to establish the

discriminant and construct validity. Only items

highly loaded (loadings > 0.5) on one of the

following constructs were retained in the analysis:

extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,

emotional stability, intellect, affect, behavior, and

cognition. The first five constructs are the big-five

personality factors and the last three are the factors

of game enjoyment.

Reliability analysis was performed. Cronbach’s

Alpha values were calculated to check the internal

consistency of the items. Table 2 shows Cronbach’s

alpha values of all eight constructs. All of these

alpha values were above 0.7 and satisfactory.

Table 2: Cronbach’s Alpha Values.

Construc

Cronbach’s Alpha

Extraversion 0.893

Agreeableness 0.788

Conscientiousness 0.779

Emotional Stability 0.876

Intellect 0.786

Affec

0.731

Behavio

0.823

Cognition 0.730

Therefore, the survey instrument was valid and

reliable.

5.3 Pair-wise Comparison Analysis

In order to detect personality differences among

players of different games, pair-wise comparisons of

conscientiousness scores among different game titles

were performed. The following procedure was used

in this analysis: 1) All responses were grouped by

game titles. Different editions of the same game title

were assigned the same title with the assumption

that these different editions should have the similar

characteristics and can be categorized as the same

kind of game. For example, “Call of Duty”, “Call of

Duty 2”, and “Call of Duty 3” were assigned the

same title “CallofDuty”. 2) Game titles that were

assessed by at least 10 different game players were

selected for this analysis. 3) Pair-wise comparisons

of conscientiousness scores were performed among

all game titles with at least 10 responses. Table 3

presents the pair-wise comparison results.

Table 3 clearly shows that players of different

game titles have different conscientiousness scores.

It indicates that the personality trait,

conscientiousness, may actually affect players’

choice of games. To understand the true differences

among different game titles, the two games falling in

the two opposite clusters 1 and 3 respectively,

“LegendofZeldaTwilight” and “SimCity”, were

compared.

In the cluster 1, “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight

Princess” is is an action-adventure game developed

by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and

Development. The story focuses on series

protagonist Link, who tries to prevent Hyrule from

being engulfed by a corrupted parallel dimension

known as the Twilight Realm. To do so, he takes the

forms of both a human and a wolf, and is assisted by

a mysterious creature named Midna. This game

involves fantasy violence and animated blood. As

shown in Table 3, players of this game title had

lower conscientiousness scores than those of other

game titles. Therefore, hypothesis H1b is supported.

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“Sim City” is a city-building simulation game.

The objective of the game is to design and build a

city. There is no doubt that its objective is more

conventional and orthodox than “The Legend of

Zelda: Twilight Princess”. Players of this game had

higher conscientiousness scores than those of other

games. Therefore, hypothesis H1a is also supported.

A correlation analysis reveals that no significant

correlations were found between the

conscientiousness scores and scores of enjoyment-

related constructs: affect, behavior, and cognition.

The correlation analysis suggests that the differences

presented in Table 3 were not related or confound to

enjoyment of game players.

Table 3: Pair-wise Comparisons of Conscientiousness

Scores Among Different Game Titles.

Genre N Subset

1 1 2 3

LegendofZeldaTwili

20 2.842857

WarcraftIII 44 3.214286 3.214286

ElderScrollsIVObliv

ion

29 3.221675 3.221675

Quake 14 3.255102 3.255102

NeedforSpeed 33 3.264069 3.264069

WorldofWarcraft 97 3.269514 3.269514

Battlefield 28 3.290816 3.290816

SuperMario 34 3.298319 3.298319

Sims 23 3.304348 3.304348

Fallout 20 3.307143 3.307143

SidMeiersCivilizatio

15 3.323810

StarCraft 62 3.327189

HalfLife 41 3.344948

GuitarHero 24 3.351190

ResidentEvil 22 3.370130 3.370130

CounterStrike 30 3.385714 3.385714

SuperSmashBros 29 3.389163 3.389163

LegoStarWars 14 3.397959 3.397959

Diablo 44 3.405844 3.405844

FIFA 40 3.417857 3.417857

AssasinsCreed 40 3.432143 3.432143

Bioshock 23 3.447205 3.447205

Halo 66 3.456710 3.456710

FinalFantasy 28 3.464286 3.464286

Civilization 14 3.479592 3.479592

Crysis 11 3.519481 3.519481

MarioKart 15 3.533333 3.533333

Doom 23 3.552795 3.552795

GrandTheftAuto 54 3.558201 3.558201

MaddenNFL 38 3.601504 3.601504

DevilMayCry 22 3.603896 3.603896

Rainbow 13 3.604396 3.604396

CommandandConqu

25 3.605714 3.605714

CallofDuty

3.658385 3.658385

Note: The score was out of 5 (maximal score) and p value <

0.05

6 CONCLUSIONS

The online survey we conducted presents

compelling evidence that the personality trait,

conscientiousness, impacts on game players’ choice

of game. The implications of this finding to

developers of computer games are profound. By

changing the design of plots and stories in a game, a

game designer can turn it to serve a completely

different audience. On the other hand, the plots and

stories can also be used to guide marketing efforts.

However, the findings from this study are far

from conclusive due to some limitations: 1) the

participants might not be representative although we

tried very hard to draw players from different

geographic regions and different institutions. 2) The

measurement of personality might not be sufficiently

accurate since we only measured the high-level big-

five personality factors but not the finer personality

facets within each big-five factor. 3) The sample size

was still relatively small in terms of number of

assessed game titles and number of responses for

each game title.

As future steps, we will continue to: 1) refine the

personality instrument to measure finer personality

traits, and 2) collect more data to build a larger and

more representative sample.

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