The impact of video games in the society has caused evident trend of addiction among the adolescents and young adults. It is essential to determine the contributing factors of such phenomena in sociological and psychological perspective in order to comprehend the reality of the vastly progressing trend of video addiction.
Problem and its Background
The greatest impact of video games in twenty-first century is undeniably among the age groups of adolescents and young adults. With further development on graphical, functional, realistic applicability and availability of video games globally, the effect among these age group has somehow progressed to wide video game fad.
However, as the major producers of these video games continue the sequence of their innovations, the fad becomes a trend of video addiction among these age groups. Different theories have been proposed in order to support the condition of video game addiction among younger individuals.
According to Vorderer and Bryant (2006), it is widely accepted that playing computer games results to addictive behaviors and thus bring a number of detrimental outcomes such (e.g. irrational spending of money, inappropriate time management, etc.) (332).
Video Game Addictions
Video Games and Computer Addiction Electronic gaming and internet addiction is a new community problem. A number of studies have been done to address these problems, but there is not a reliable treatment in which clinicians can rely on to diagnose and treat them. Although there is not a valid empirical study that supports the treatment of video game and internet addition, some professionals have ...
The contributing factors present between both components (age group and video games) that implicate such result should, therefore, be considered in analysis of this video game addiction. According to Griffiths (1996; cited in Gunter 1998 54), there are four theoretical principles that support the phenomenon of addiction to video games. The theories have been derived by Griffiths from the theory of television addiction of Mcllwraith (1990).
The following theoretical principles are:
· Video game addiction is a function of the video game’s effects on imagination and fantasy life, with people who play these games excessively having poor imaginations
· Video game addiction is a function of the video game’s effects on arousal level
· Video game addiction is a manifestation, dependent or addictive personality, with excessive playing being caused by inner personality factors rather than any external stimulation
· Video game addiction is linked to a district pattern of uses of gratification associated with video games
The accusations towards computer and video game addiction have already carried the common stereotypes that those who play these games eventually end up being addicted to these. However, there have been different arguments from vast research (Shotton 1989; Shimai, Masuda and Kishimoto 1990; Mitchell 1985; Tejeiro 2001) that contradicts the proposed principles of Griffiths. Generally, the effects of video game addiction among teenagers are not yet clearly justified due to inconsistencies from theoretical principles against research outcomes.
Purpose of the Study
In this study, the main objective is to determine the components of video game addiction based on the four theoretical principles proposed by Griffiths. Furthermore, the study includes the possible components that contribute to the addictive response of teenagers towards playing video game through direct inquiry among the appropriate sample population.
