A comparative Exploration of Psychosocial Profiles of eSports and sports players
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v28i5.589Keywords:
Esports; Sports; Psychosocial; Personality; Online GamingAbstract
Background: The commercial association has made computer-based games very attractive, providing a platform where they are being considered on similar lines as traditional/real sports. However, despite the similarities there exists considerable difference primarily because of the extent of physical involvement. The study intended to explore the psychosocial profile of Esports players and traditional sports players.
Methods: The study sample consisted of 140 participants (73 esports & 67 sports). In this cross-sectional study, we recruited participants from Esports cafes, Youth Sports centers & Universities and collected their sociodemographic variables and psychosocial profile with Mini-International Personality Pool 6, Self-Concept Clarity Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21.
Results: The mean age of Esports and sports players were 23.11± 4.60 years and 22.24± 3.22 years respectively. Both categories of players differed in terms of hours of play on weekdays/weekend, process of introduction to games, engagement of family and methods used to improve game play. For Psychological variables, esports players were likely to report significant higher scores on openness (β= -0.151, CI=.769-.962) and honesty/Humility (β= -0.151, CI=.672-.863) compared to sports players but not on other variables of depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, self-concept, and satisfaction with life.
Conclusions: Our study points out that despite differing in Socio-demographic and playing variables, esports and sports players tend to exhibit much similarity in psychological domains. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to extend the application and generalizability of our study results.
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