Surface level observations of video game addiction and people who identify as “gamers” may lead to the assumption being made that this activity could lead to self imposed anti-social behaviour being exhibited. As a group we unanimously shared this opinion that increased video game consumption time would have a direct correlation to increased anti social behaviors being exhibited in the individual. We initially formed this idea around personal experience from observations of self identifying gamer friends of group members as well as from material and media presented during the 401 lecture including a documentary style film on video game addiction amongst adolescents in China and the extreme measures parents will take to “cure” their afflicted child. Video game access over a fairly recent and short amount of time has drastically changed, going from only being able to play video games on consoles at home or arcades to now being able to play high quality multiplayer games virtually anywhere on phones, tablets, and laptop computers at a moments notice. A byproduct of this change in video game accessibility has naturally lead to a huge increase in the number of people playing video games, along with changing the definition of what traditionally might be thought of as a video gamer. By having constant access to games on cell phones or other portable electronic devices the physical barriers that might have seperated someone from a game addiction or the ability to play video games in the past no longer exist. In addition to the ever increasing access to video games there has been an increase in quantity of games made specifically to addict or entice the player to continue to come back to the game to spend more and more time playing. This shift in game type and development has been and is increasingly pushed by subscription models and in game currencies to generate increased revenues for developers. These are just a few of the contributing factors we took into account when formulating our hypothesis on researching if there was any connection between video game consumption and antisocial behaviors. With these factors in mind we began to pursue options to best go about researching this link we had identified. Initially we had suspected there would have been a wealth of data and prior research done regarding anti social behavior and video game addiction but with further research we began to realize that while a number of recent studies all covered topics in this realm they only circled the central aspect of our topic and didn't explicitly go into depth on this suspected link. We did not get discouraged by this but instead became more empowered to use the resources we had available to conduct our own research and use the prior research that had been done to compare our methods and results against and act as a guide to find and remain on the correct heading in pursuit of uncovering some trut.

1. Surface level observations of video game addiction and people
who identify as “gamers”
may lead to the assumption being made that this activity could
lead to self imposed anti-social
behaviour being exhibited. As a group we unanimously shared
this opinion that increased video
game consumption time would have a direct correlation to
increased anti social behaviors being
exhibited in the individual. We initially formed this idea around
personal experience from
observations of self identifying gamer friends of group members
as well as from material and
media presented during the 401 lecture including a documentary
style film on video game
addiction amongst adolescents in China and the extreme
measures parents will take to “cure”
their afflicted child.
Video game access over a fairly recent and short amount of time
has drastically changed,
going from only being able to play video games on consoles at
home or arcades to now being

2. able to play high quality multiplayer games virtually anywhere
on phones, tablets, and laptop
computers at a moments notice. A byproduct of this change in
video game accessibility has
naturally lead to a huge increase in the number of people
playing video games, along with
changing the definition of what traditionally might be thought
of as a video gamer. By having
constant access to games on cell phones or other portable
electronic devices the physical barriers
that might have seperated someone from a game addiction or the
ability to play video games in
the past no longer exist. In addition to the ever increasing
access to video games there has been
an increase in quantity of games made specifically to addict or
entice the player to continue to
come back to the game to spend more and more time playing.
This shift in game type and
development has been and is increasingly pushed by
subscription models and in game currencies
to generate increased revenues for developers. These are just a
few of the contributing factors we
took into account when formulating our hypothesis on

3. researching if there was any connection
between video game consumption and antisocial behaviors.
With these factors in mind we began to pursue options to best
go about researching this
link we had identified. Initially we had suspected there would
have been a wealth of data and
prior research done regarding anti social behavior and video
game addiction but with further
research we began to realize that while a number of recent
studies all covered topics in this realm
they only circled the central aspect of our topic and didn't
explicitly go into depth on this
suspected link. We did not get discouraged by this but instead
became more empowered to use
the resources we had available to conduct our own research and
use the prior research that had
been done to compare our methods and results against and act as
a guide to find and remain on
the correct heading in pursuit of uncovering some truth.
As a group we felt that the topic we had chosen and the
hypothesis we were able to refine
gave us enough material to make a fruitful effort into
conducting research and creating a

4. worthwhile project. Though we faced some challenges initially
regarding the understanding of
the hypothesis and how to most efficiently go about conducting
research we were able to
quickly overcome these hurdle through a process of collective
brainstorming and discussions
with the professor and teaching assistant. In the findings
presented throughout this paper and the
understandings we have uncovered throughout the process of
researching and presenting the
progress and methods pursued over the duration of this project,
we feel confident in the ability of
our conclusions reached and the data we conducted to be a valid
contribution to the continued
discussion of if increased video game consumption has a
positive and direct correlation to the
increase in antisocial behaviors exhibited amongst “gamers”.
Literature Review
Overall, the multitude of studies that examine the relationship
between video games and
social isolation find that these same games lead to no
correlation or a slightly negative effect on

5. social skills. Overuse (addiction) and the preference of playing
violent games can be classified as
huge factors to why this leads to isolation. The first paper that
would support our hypothesis
would be Ali Kheradmand (et al) “Comparing the Social Skills
of Students Addicted to
Computer Games with Normal Students”. This specific research
paper looks at the correlation
between grade schoolers and a test of addiction that was given
to them by those same
researchers. “The results of the study showed that generally,
there was a significant difference
between the social skills of students addicted to computer
games and normal students. In
addition, the results indicated that normal students had a higher
level of social skills in
comparison with students addicted to computer games.”
(Kheradmand, et al. 2010). The basis of
taking the “addiction test” was meant to prove that these video
gamers would show an addictive
and less-social side to them. Even though a low amount of the
whole sample size (93 out of 564)
were classified as full-on “addicted”, that same group also had
the tendency to be classified as

6. “less social”. “In addition, they showed that the individuals who
were addicted to these games
had lower social skills than those who were normal.”
(Kheradmand, et al. 2010). The next set of
literature that helps solidify our hypothesis would be AJ Van
Rooij’s (et al) “Online video game
addiction: identification of addicted adolescent teenagers”. This
specific study takes a look at
teenagers rather than grade schoolers and I felt as if it were
important to separate the two and
observe the possible similarities or differences. “This group is
likely to have various
psychological and social problems, as game overuse can be
severely disruptive to school, work
and ‘real-life’ social contacts”. (Van Rooij, et al. 2010).
Methods
Participants
Participants throughout this study included 109 participants
ranging in ages of 15 to 26.
Out of those participants, 36 were female and 67 were male. Six
participants chose not to specify
their gender. All of these participants volunteered on their own

7. time for this study and were
thanked for their contribution. Most participants were Michigan
State University underclassmen
who volunteered to take the survey, others could be considered
distant ties.
Materials
The most effective way to collect information from participants
for this study was to send
out surveys to participants via email, texting, or by simply
asking people to submit their form
through a device provided. From what was gathered for this
research question, it is a collection
of volunteers for questioning from weak ties to answer if
“Video Games Lead to Social
Isolation?” The best method that was taken to research the
impact of this question was to use a
survey to collect information about people’s gaming habits and
how it has affected their social
life for better or worse. Over one-hundred people have taken the
survey and answered twelve
multiple choice questions. The questions started with simple
demographic questions such as age
and gender. The next few questions dive into the habits of these
test subjects and how they

8. interact with others within gaming and outside of it. To
understand whether participants were
gaming socially, we asked how often they played with friends,
whether it be online or offline.
Questions would then continue to ask how many hours have
people played, any feelings of
embarrassment between the participant or friends and family
members by how much the user
plays, and many more. Half of the questions asked included a
five-point Likert scale ranging
from strongly agree to strongly disagree to help users comment
about their video game habits.
Design and Procedure
The main purpose of this study was to find if there was a
connection between heavy use
of video games and social isolation. The variables that were
tested were in relation to heavy
video game usage, which can range from mobile games to
consoles and personal computers, and
not wanting to participate in social activities. The design of the
survey was quite simple with an
easy to answer, multiple choice questionnaire to complete. The

9. best hope for the results would be
for every participant to answers as honestly as possible, but
there is no guarantee. Those who
participated would receive a survey either given out by the
researchers or through an
acquaintance that was asked to pass along the survey. Since this
entire survey was conducted
online, the results would be received quickly to the creator and
could be analyzed quickly. The
results were quickly made into a series of charts and graphs to
help analyze the data much easier,
and even provide a visual to present to an audience. All of this
data provided by the participants
has helped greatly in understanding the effects that video games
have made in a University
environment.
Final Presentation
-Video Games and Social Isolation

10. Research Question and Hypothesis
The question: Does increased video game consumption lead to
self imposed social isolation?
Hypothesis: Yes. We believe increased video game consumption
leads to social isolation.
We believe this due to:
the increasing number of people self identifying as anti-social
lack of close friends
feelings of self isolation due to various causes in their lives.
Research Methods and Procedures
Materials:
Electronic Survey
Library and Internet resources
Participants:
MSU Students
Gamers/non-gamers
Clubs
Friends
Participants were selected from both Michigan State University
gaming clubs and anyone outside the clubs.
They received a questionnaire survey regarding video game

11. addiction, personality factors, social isolation, and health
variables.
The participants will be categorized based on there response.
Sample Survey Question: How many hours do you play a week?
Less than 5 c. 10-20
5-10 d. 30-40
Findings
Majority of the people who responded are in their early 20’s
Majority play less than 5 hrs of games a week
Most people play games with friends
Most people don't feel incomplete without video games
Usually does not interfere with social events
Therefore: our hypothesis would be incorrect in assuming that
spending time playing these games leads to social isolation.
Survey Data 1

12. Survey Data 2
Survey Data 3
Age vs “I would feel incomplete or lonely if I could not play
games”

13. Would you play video games over going to social events? Vs
How many hours do you play weekly?
Conclusion
What we have found from our data is the following:
Generally,
The more hours you game the more likely you are to skip social
events
Gender doesn’t play a role
Use of Specific consoles do not contribute significantly
Video games don't directly contribute to social isolation