Social Comparisons and Need Fulfillment: Interpreting Video Game Enjoyment in the Context of Leaderboards |
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| Authors: | John A Velez David R Ewoldsen Michael D Hanus Hyunjin Song Jonathan A Villarreal |
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| Institution: | 1. John A. Velez (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2014) is an assistant professor in the Communication Science Unit in the School of Media at Indiana University - Bloomington.johnvele@iu.edu;3. David R. Ewoldsen (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1990) is an associate professor in the Media and Information department at Michigan State University.;4. Michael D. Hanus (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2016) is an assistant professor of advertising and public relations in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.;5. Hyunjin Song (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2015) is an assistant professor (“Universit?tsassistent, post-doc”) in the Department of Communication at University of Vienna.;6. Jonathan A. Villarreal (M.A., Texas A&7. M University Corpus Christi, 2011) is a doctoral student in the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University. |
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| Abstract: | This study examines how social comparison information provided by video game leaderboards may influence players’ retrospective judgments of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need fulfillment. Participants played a video game and were randomly assigned to receive no postgame feedback or were shown a leaderboard that placed them in the top or bottom quartile of players. Results indicate downward social comparisons increase enjoyment by increasing competence and relatedness perceptions. However, upward comparisons did not have an opposite effect, nor did either type of social comparison influence players’ autonomy perceptions. Implications for applying Self-Determination Theory to video game enjoyment in the context of social comparison feedback is discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Enjoyment Self-Determination Theory Social Comparison Theory Video Games |
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