The relation between mobile game addiction,
self-esteem and motivations for gameplay
SHULAN LIN 11605170
Graduate School of Communication Word count: 6769
Abstract
Mobile games have become an ever-increasing part of individuals’ daily lives. Coupled with
this phenomenon, more and more people have become concerned about excessive mobile game
use. The aim of present study is to investigate the relationship between mobile game addiction
and self-esteem as well as three game motivations: autonomy, competence and relatedness
which are known as the potential predictors of compulsive gaming behavior. Data revealed that
379 mobile game players filled in a self-report questionnaire which comprised the final sample
(males 44.6%, Mean age 23.56, SD = 4.54). The results indicated that players with higher
self-esteem have stronger autonomy and relatedness motivation for mobile game playing and
they are more likely to get addicted to mobile games. The analyses also revealed that players
who are motivated by autonomy and relatedness get higher addiction scores, whereas players
motivated by competence show less signs of game addiction. In addition, the relationship
between self-esteem and mobile game addiction is fully mediated by relatedness and partially
mediated by autonomy. Results of the study suggested that the self-esteem and psychological
Hence, we should pay attention to individuals’ character development and psychological needs
to prevent mobile game addiction.
Introduction
Playing mobile games (i.e. played on smartphones and tablets) has become one of the most
popular entertainment activities in recent years (Siakavaras et al., 2018). Tens of millions of
active players play certain mobile games every day, in 2020 the number of mobile game players
is expected to exceed 2 billion (Yves, 2017). However, as the popularity of mobile games has
grown, so have worries about problematic mobile game use, that the term mobile game
addiction has been widely concerned by more and more researchers (O’Donnell, 2018; Hsiao &
Chen, 2016; Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018).
Past studies have emphasized the crucial role that motivation played in game addiction
(Xu et al., 2012; Lo et al., 2005; Choi et al., 2004). As a widely used motivational theory,
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has been applied to many studies to investigate players’
psychological motivation and obsessive gaming behavior (Peng, 2012; Suler, 2001). SDT
proposed that one of the most important sources of individuals’ motivation is to maintain and
4 sub-study to investigate gameplay behavior by applying SDT and indicated the importance of
self-esteem on motivational pull of games and game play immersion (Ryan et al., 2006). Some
other studies also indicated that individuals’ character traits like self-esteem may lead to
excessive gaming behavior and suggested that there is a positive relationship between
self-esteem and game addiction (Supardi et al., 2016; Huang et al., 2015; Vorderer et al., 2003).
While some studies showed that self-esteem is negative correlated with game addiction (Niemz
et al., 2005; Shaw et al., 2004; Ng et al., 2005). However, little has been researched about the
relationship between self-esteem, game motivations and game addiction. Moreover, most
studies on game addiction are mainly focused on online games (Kim et al., 2005; Charlton &
Danforth, 2007; Van Rooij et al., 2011), few studies were conducted in the field of mobile
games (Schwabe & Göth, 2005; Barkhuus et al., 2005).
Therefore, the purpose of current study is to investigate the relationship between
self-esteem and three game motivations proposed by SDT: the need for autonomy, competence
and relatedness, and how this may be related to mobile game addiction. Since mobile games
have become the biggest video game segment worldwide in terms of value (Yves, 2017), the
players’ motivational pull. More importantly, the current study can also help researchers to get
insights about the relationship between self-esteem, game motivations and mobile game
addiction. Furthermore, investigating the factors that may influence mobile gaming behavior
can also contribute to prevention or remedy strategies developing and help individuals who are
addicted to mobile games.
Figure 1. Conceptual model
Theoretical Background
Self-Determination Theory in Games
According to Ryan and Deci (2000), the definition of motivation is “to be moved to do
something”. An individual who has no impulses or impetus to take an action is thus referred to
as unmotivated, whereas an individual who is energized or inspired to finish something is
motivation and behavior which emphasizes the importance of individuals’ innate resources for
potential development and behavioral self-regulation. SDT holds the view that human beings’
inherent growth tendencies and innate psychological needs are the foundation of self-drive and
these tendencies and needs are also conditioned and interact with the environment. In
Self-determination theory (SDT), Ryan and Deci (2000) explored three innate psychological
needs of human beings - namely, autonomy, competence and relatedness. The study by Suler
(2001) found that during game playing, the fulfillments of different psychological needs are the
sources of players’ motivation. Thus, autonomy, competence and relatedness have been applied
to many game studies as motivations to explore game engagement behavior. (Ryan et al., 2006;
Sheldon et al., 2008; Lafrenière et al., 2012).
First, autonomy refers to a sense of volition or controlling over one’s own actions (Ryan &
Deci, 2000). In particular, the autonomy in games is reflected in the rights and the amount of
choice that players owned during game play (Rigby & Ryan, 2011). Most mobile games will
provide players with flexible options over fictional characters, strategies and tasks based on
that allow players to generate the following content of the novel game environments which
greatly satisfy players’ autonomy need.
The second, competence refers to individuals’ need to control the environment, that is,
individuals need to experience a sense of competence that they are qualified for the activities
they are engaged in (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Most mobile games will set challenges in different
levels as players’ progress. As the difficulty level increased in line with players’ skill, players
would experience the enhancement of their ability which stimulates their sense of
accomplishment, thus enhancing their game motivation (Ryan et al., 2006).
Third, relatedness means that individuals have the need to feel belonging (Ryan & Deci,
2000). Individuals have some emotional needs that they need the feelings of support,
understanding, love and concern by communicating and interacting with others or the
surrounding environment sometimes (Kim et al., 2008). Acquiring the sense of relatedness is a
very important motivation for many game players and social function has always been a
constituent part in most games (Przybylski, 2010). Mobile games provide players a virtual
world where they can communicate, interact as well as fight together with fellow players who
To satisfy the three psychological needs, Ryan and Deci (2000) proposed two overarching
kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are
important determinants of human behavior and psychological needs fulfillment (Ryan & Deci,
2000). Intrinsic motivation refers to the actions that performed because of the inherent
enjoyment and satisfaction other than for the separable outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Extrinsic motivation is defined as the drive that comes from external sources and rewards to
motivate people to perform in a certain way (Ryan & Deci, 2000). However, extrinsic
motivation is not only referring to the in-kind incentives but also including emotional feelings
or personal belief. In addition, extrinsic motivation can be internalized and can be very
autonomous (Ryan & Deci, 2000). For example, an employee who works hard because he
thinks it’s valuable for improving his own image to others is extrinsically motivated. The
employee is doing this for instrumental value instead of enjoying the work itself. One of the
most important term of extrinsic motivation is ego involvement, in which the primary purpose
for an individual to take an action is to maintain or enhance his self-esteem and obtain the sense
of self-value (Nicholls, 1984).
In previous studies, the term self-esteem has received extensive concern in the field of
games (Colwell & Kato, 2003; Kim et al., 2008; Zhou & Leung, 2012). According to the most
classic definition, self-esteem is an attitude that individual holds towards to himself and the
personal beliefs about one’s own worth, value and importance (Coopersmith, 1967). The study
by Craig indicated that self-esteem is an important predictor of Internet and game use since
people with lower self-esteem may take them as a way to escape from the reality. Especially for
the college students who are not able to adapt to university life (Craig, 1995). Wan and Chiou
(2006) also pointed out that individuals who have lower self-esteem are more easily obsessed
with mobile games due to lack of self-confidence and social intelligence. A study by Supardi et
al. (2016) also found that self-esteem is significantly contributed to game addiction. However,
the result showed that mobile games are more addictive for players with higher self-esteem.
Similar to Supardi et al. (2016), a study by Huang et al. (2015) also found a positive
association between self-esteem and game use intensity. Moreover, they found that players are
driven by different motivations and gratified by various factors. Considering the different
opinions about the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction that previous studies
RQ1: How is self-esteem correlated with mobile game addiction?
Self-esteem and Mobile Game Motivations
Numerous philosophers, psychologist and scholars have stressed that self-esteem plays an
important role in motivations and that people with higher self-esteem may lead to a more
intensive motivation when performing a task (Bénabou & Tirole, 2002). The study by
Baumeister et al. (2003) also indicated that self-esteem has an influence on both individuals’
intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. People with higher self-esteem are more likely to take a task
as a way to cultivate personal strengths and they are always trying to impress others during the
task. While the attitudes of people with lower self-esteem are in a more casual way that they just
want to become adequate when performing a task (Baumeister et al., 1985). A study by
Baumeister et al. (2003) also indicated that the increase or decrease of one’s self-esteem are
always related with one’s motivation to accomplish things or pursue a goal and how individuals
feel about themselves. The study also proposed that people with higher self-esteem have a
stronger desire for achievements, win a competition, figure out a problem or receive
relationship between self-esteem and mobile game motivations are limited. Therefore, the
following research question is investigated:
RQ2: How is self-esteem correlated with three mobile game motivations: autonomy,
competence and relatedness.
Mobile Game Motivations and Addiction
According to SDT, self-esteem is an important factor that influences an individual’s needs
gratification. Moreover, the feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness are also the
basis to intrinsically motivate someone, thus making them become more self-determined to do
something (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Use and gratifications theory (U&G) also posited that
individuals would select different media to fulfill their social and psychological needs and they
would be motivated to continue to use a certain medium which satisfied their expected
gratifications they initially sought (Urista, Dong & Day, 2009). The study by Ryan et al. (2006)
also demonstrated that game enjoyment and immersion could be explained by the motivations
of autonomy and competence to a large extent. The stronger motivations that players have, the
more immersed they become. The study by Dennie (2012) also showed that the greater sense of
addictive gaming consequences. A study by Colwell (2007) also indicated that the
“companionship” factor which refers to a sense of belongingness and connection was a great
predictor of game addiction levels and playing time. The world of games, which provides game
players with an anonymous and interacting environment, is a great channel for them to develop
a friendship and seek the sense of relatedness. Individuals with stronger drive for the sense of
belongingness are more likely to become addicted to gameplay (Lo, Wang & Fang, 2005).
In mobile games, constant triumph, real-time communication, achievement of
self-confidence and imaginary identity have become the important channels for players to
fulfill their needs and motivations. Thus, to fulfill these needs, players will enjoy themselves
during the game process and devote their time to endlessly game playing which may lead to
game addiction (Suler, 2002). Therefore, the following hypotheses are investigated:
H1a: Players with higher autonomy motivation are more addicted to mobile games.
H1b: Players with higher competence motivation are more addicted to mobile games.
H1c: Players with higher relatedness motivation are more addicted to mobile games.
Although some studies addressed that self-esteem and game motivations are robust
predictors of game addiction (Craig, 1995; Chiou, 2006; Supardi et al., 2016). Some studies
indicated that the game motivations are key to understand the effect of self-esteem on game
addiction (Przybylski et al., 2010; Park et al., 2016; Vorderer et al., 2003). The study by
Przybylski et al. (2010) showed that all three motivations: autonomy, competence and
relatedness are highly correlated with self-esteem, and that the fulfillments of these three
motivations have an influence on the following play and can increase the level of game
immersion. The study by Park et al. (2016) also indicated that players with higher self-esteem
seek specific types of gratification from games that fulfill their need of autonomy as they can
possess various options any role they desire in virtual community which makes them more
possibly indulge in games. Another study by Vorderer et al. (2003) also indicated that the
desire for maintaining and enhancing self-esteem would motivate players to choose games with
skill-graded challenges and balancing difficulties which are the key factors of competence.
Normally these individuals have higher self-esteem and are more likely to get addicted to video
games. The study by Colwell et al. (1995) suggested that self-esteem is positively correlated
companionships from games. It’s expected that game motivations would mediate the
relationship between self-esteem and players’ addiction degree. Thus, we propose the
following research question:
RQ3: How do players’ motivations mediate the effect of self-esteem on mobile game addiction?
Method
Respondents and Procedure
Two surveys with two different languages (English and Chinese) which drew up a sample
of 577 respondents were conducted. There are 302 respondents filled out the Chinese
questionnaire and 275 respondents filled out the English version. The surveys used online
response method which respondents could participate via all the internet environments. For
Chinese questionnaire, the respondents were all Chinese recruited from mobile games related
Wechat groups and moments by distributing the flyers which showed the questionnaire
QR-code. Wechat red packets which contained 1 to 10 China Yuan (CNY) were randomly
distributed to respondents who completed the Chinese survey as incentives. For English
questionnaire, the respondents were mainly addressed from the Facebook group and mobile
was randomly sent to 10 respondents who completed the English survey and filled out their
email addresses as incentives. Given that the present research is focused on respondents who
play mobile games, 178 respondents who didn’t play mobile games in the past three months
were omitted. Another 20 respondents were excluded since they didn’t complete the survey.
Overall, 379 respondents constituted the final sample, 44.6% of them were men and 54.4% are
women. There are 197 Chinese mobile gamers and 182 non-Chinese mobile gamers. Most
respondents completed the survey in less in five minutes (regardless of language). Most of the
respondents were students (67.3%) and employees (25.6%), respondents in other employment
status accounted for 7.1%: self-employed (2.4%), out of work (2.6%), home-maker (0.3%) and
other (1.8%). The mean age of these players is 23.56 years (SD = 4.54), ranging from 18 to 47.
Average, players play mobile games 5.33 hours (SD = 8.58) per week.
Measures
Respondents would be asked ‘Have you played games on mobile phone or tablet in the last
three months?’ at first. If the respondents have played games on mobile or tablet in the last
The following answers about motivations and addiction are based on the mobile game that they
have identified.
Self-esteem. The most widely-used scale to measure self-esteem is Rosenberg Self-Esteem
Scale (RES) (Rosenberg, 1965) which proved to be reliable and valid to assess global
self-worth (Schmitt & Allik, 2005). However, some researchers didn’t choose the certain items
or all items of RSE and indicated that the 10-item RSE could be shortened (O'malley &
Bachman, 1983; Tafarodi & Swann, 1995). The Single-Item Self-esteem Scale (SISE), by
contrast, was considered advantageous in large scale survey (Robins, Hendin & Trzesniewski,
2001). In the present study, self-esteem was measured with SISE which showed a great
reliability and validity in adult samples (Robins et al., 2001). SISE contains one item by asking
respondents to rate the statement that ‘I have high self-esteem’. The response was provided on a
Likert-scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), (M = 3.77, SD = 1.09).
Mobile game motivations. Mobile game motivations were measured with fourteen items
selected and adapted from Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS) scale (Rigby &
Ryan, 2007) and Game Play Motivations scale (Yee & Nelson, 2012) which were widely used
SDT (Ryan & Deci, 2000), competence, autonomy and relatedness. The response category was
five-point Likert-scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). To test the
validity of these items, a factor analysis was conducted. The KMO measure of sampling
adequacy is .85, which is higher the required .60 score. Besides that, Bartlett’s test of
sphericity is statistically significant, as it should be. The results showed that there are three
components which explained 59.57% of the variance in the fourteen items. After a Direct
Oblimin Rotation, three motivations, competence, autonomy and relatedness were addressed.
Competence was measured with three items by asking respondents how important it is that
they can master the challenges and experience the sense of efficacy when they are playing
mobile games. For example, the respondents were required to rate the statement ‘When I am
playing the game, it’s important that I feel the challenges in the game are very balanced with my
skills’. A new variable was created by averaging the three items. The Cronbach’s alpha was
borderline acceptable at 0.69 (M = 3.70, SD =0.88).
Autonomy was measured with four items by asking respondents how important it is that
they feel free and the sense of control when they are playing mobile games. For example, the
I feel a lot of freedom’. However, the results showed that one item ‘when I am playing the game,
it’s important that I do not feel controlled to be or act a certain way’ is inconsistency with the
other 3 items. After deleting this item, the Cronbach’s alpha was borderline acceptable at 0.65
(M = 3.82, SD =0.84). Averaging the three items, a new scale which indicates the respondents’
autonomy was created.
Relatedness was measured with seven items by asking respondents how important they
think it is to connect with other players when they are playing mobile games. For example, the
respondents were asked to rate the statement ‘when I am playing the game, it’s important that I
can keep in touch with my fellow players’. A new variable was created by averaging the seven
items. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.89 (M = 2.78, SD =1.17).
Mobile game addiction. Mobile game addiction was assessed with a seven-item game
addiction scale developed by Lemmens, Valkenburg and Peter (2009). The scale measured
seven underlying dimensions of game addiction: salience, tolerance, mood modification,
relapse, withdrawal, conflict and problems. For example, respondents were asked ‘Did you
feel bad when you were unable to play?’. The response was five-point Likert -scale ranging
scale, the more likely they may become addict to mobile games. A new variable ‘mobile game
addiction’ was created by averaging the seven items.The Cronbach’s alpha was .91 (M = 1.80,
SD =0.85).
Time spent on mobile games. Time spent on mobile games was measured by asking
respondents “On average, how many days per week do you play this game?” and “On an
average day that you play this game, how many hours do you spend playing it? Respondents
can choose the answer from 0 to 7 (increased by 1 every time) for average days and from 0 to 16
(increased by 0.5 every time) for average hours. The total time that players spent on mobile
games was calculate by multiplying days and hours (M = 5.34, SD =8.58).
Results
Table 1: The T-test of game motivations, game addiction and time spent on games on gender and nationality.
Gender Nationality
Variable Male M (SD) Female M (SD) Chinese M (SD) Non-Chinese M (SD)
Game addiction 1.76 (.82) 1.82 (.89) 1.97 (.91) c 1.61 (.74) c Self-esteem 3.76 (1.04) 3.77 (1.13) 4.16 (.90) c 3.34 (1.11) c
Autonomy 3.88 (.77) 3.77 (.89) 4.03 (.80) c 3.60 (.82) c Competence 3.70 (.93) 2.70 (.85) 3.60 (.99) ª 3.79 (.73) ª
Relatedness 2.95 (1.10) ª 2.63 (1.20) ª 3.12 (1.15) c 2.41 (1.08) c Time spent on games 5.46 (10.95) 5.27 (6.11) 6.22 (10.75) ª 4.38 (5.18) ª
Note: ª p<05, ᵇ p<.01, c p<.001
Results in table 1 show that there is no significant difference between men and women on
mobile game addiction, t (372) = -.65, p = .39>.05, 95% CI [-0.06, 0.09], self-esteem, t (371) =
-.13, p = .90>.05, 95% CI [-0.24, 0.21], autonomy, t (373) = 1.33, p = .19>.05, 95% CI [-0.06,
0.29], competence, t (373) =.07, p = .94>.05, 95% CI [-0.17, 0.19] and time spent on games, t
(373) = .21, p = .84 >.05, 95% CI [-1.58, 1.95]. While relatedness motivation was found
significantly different between men and women, t (373) = 2.56, p = .01<.05, 95% CI [0.07,
0.54]. Men (M = 2.95, SD = 1.10) have stronger relatedness motivation compare to women (M
= 2.64, SD = 1.21).
Table 1 also shows that there is significant difference between Chinese players and
non-Chinese players on mobile game addiction, t (375) =4.20, p <.001, 95% CI [0.19, 0.53],
autonomy, t (377) =5.08, p <.001, 95% CI [0.26, 0.59], competence, t (377) = -2.17, p=.03 <.05,
95% CI [-0.37, -0.02], relatedness, t (377) =6.17, p <.001, 95% CI [0.48, 0.93], time spent on
autonomy (M=4.03, SD=0.80), relatedness (M=3.12, SD=1.15) and self-esteem (M=4.16,
SD=0.90) compared to non-Chinese players (M=1.61, SD=0.74; M=3.60, SD=0.82; M=2.41,
SD=1.08; M=3.34, SD=1.11). Chinese players (M=3.12, SD=1.15) also spent more time on
mobile game playing than non-Chinese players (M=4.38, SD=5.18). While the competence
motivation of Chinese players (M=3.60, SD=0.99) is significantly lower than non-Chinese
players (M= 3.79, SD=0.73).
Table 2: Correlations between game motivations, self-esteem, game addiction and time spent on games.
Note: ª p<05, ᵇ p<.01, c p<.001
As shown in table 2, correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship
between game addiction, time spent on games and other variables. Results revealed that
autonomy (r =.18, p<.001), relatedness (r =.39, p<.001), self-esteem (r =.19, p<.001) were
positively correlated with mobile game addiction. On the other hand, competence (r =-.17, Game addiction Time spent on games
Autonomy r=.18 c r=.15 ᵇ
Competence r=-.17 ᵇ r=.08
Relatedness r=.39 c r=.18 c
p<.001) was negatively correlated with mobile game addiction. These results also showed that
autonomy (r=.15, p=.00<.05) and relatedness (r=.18, p<0.001) were positively related with
time spent on games. While competence (r=.08, p=.10>0.05) and self-esteem (r=.07,
p=.19>0.05) didn’t show significant correlation with time spent on games.
The Relationship Between Self-esteem and Motivations in Mobile Games
To investigate how self-esteem is correlated with mobile game motivations (RQ1), three
linear regressions with self-esteem as independent variable and autonomy, competence and
relatedness as dependent variables were performed, respectively. The analyses revealed that
self-esteem, F (1, 373) =19.41, p<.001, significantly predicted autonomy and relatedness (F (1,
373) =60.49, p<.001). However, the strength of the prediction is very small: 5% of the variation
in autonomy and 14% of the variation of relatedness could be explained by self-esteem (R²
= .05, R² = .14). The results showed that, self-esteem in both situations, b=.17, b*=.22, t=4.41,
p<.001, 95% CI [0.09,0.25], and b=.40, b*=.37, t=7.78, p<.001, 95% CI [0.30,0.50], has a
positive relationship with autonomy and relatedness. Every unit increased in self-esteem, lead
self-esteem on competence, the analyses didn’t show that self-esteem F (1, 373) =.033, p=0.86,
significantly predicted competence (b=.01, b*=.04, t=.18, p>.05, 95% CI [-0.08,0.09]).
The Relationship Between Motivations and Addiction in Mobile Games
H1a, H1b and H1c hypothesized that individuals with stronger motivations are more likely
to get addicted to mobile games. These hypotheses were tested by linear regressions, with the
autonomy, competence and relatedness as independent variables and mobile game addition as
dependent variable. The results of three regressions are all significant. The autonomy F (1, 375)
=13.12, p<.001, could therefore be used to predict mobile game addiction degree. However, the
strength of the prediction is small: only 3% of the variation in game addiction could be
predicted by autonomy (R² = .03). Similarly, competence, F (1, 375) =10.58, p<.001, can also
explain 3% of the variation in game addiction (R² = .03). Whereas relatedness, F (1, 375)
=66.03, p<.001, showed a stronger strength of prediction of game addiction: 15% of the
variation in game addiction could be predicted by relatedness (R² = .15). As predicted, the
results indicated that both autonomy, b=.19, b*=.18, t=3.63, p<.001, 95% CI [0.09,0.29], and
relatedness, b=.28, b*=.39, t=8.13, p<.001, 95% CI [0.22,0.35], have a significant and positive
increase in game addiction by 0.19 and 0.28 units, respectively. Thus, H1a and H1c were
supported. However, it was found that the competence, b=-.16, b*=-.17, t=-3.52, p<.001, 95%
CI [-0.26, -0.06], has a significant and negative relationship with game addiction. Every unit
increased in competence, lead to a decrease in game addiction by 0.16 units. H1b is not
supported.
The Relationship Between Self-esteem and Addiction in Mobile Games
To find out the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction, a linear regression
with the self-esteem as independent variable and game addiction as dependent variable was
conducted. The whole model is significant, F (1, 373) =13.18, p<.001. Therefore, the
self-esteem indeed can predict game addiction. However, the strength of the prediction is rather
small: approximately 3% of the variance in game addiction is accounted for by self-esteem (R²
= .03). It was found that self-esteem, b=.15, b*=.19, t=3.63, p<.001, 95% CI [0.07,0.22], has a
significant and positive relationship with game addiction. Every unit increased in self-esteem,
Self-esteem, Motivations and Addiction to Mobile Games
Figure 2. Mediation analysis
As the results of RQ1 indicated, no relationship between self-esteem and competence was
found. There is no mediational effect for competence to check. A mediation analysis was
performed by process to investigate how does players’ autonomy motivation mediate the effect
of self-esteem on game addiction. Consistent with the previous results, the findings showed that
self-esteem is a significant predictor of autonomy and that autonomy is a significant predictor
is smaller than the direct effect size (b = .15), consistent with partial mediation. The effect size
of the indirect effect was 0.03 with a 95% confidence interval [0.01,0.05]. It was found that
autonomy partially mediates the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction.
Another mediation analysis by process was used to investigate how does players’
relatedness motivation mediate the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction. Also,
Consistent with the previous results, the outcomes indicated that self-esteem is a significant
predictor of relatedness and that relatedness is a significant predictor of game addiction. As
Figure 2 shows, self-esteem is no longer a significant predictor of game addiction after
controlling for the mediator, relatedness, b=.04, SE=.04, t=.90, p=.37>.05, 95% CI [-0.04,017],
consistent with full mediation. The effect size of the indirect effect is 0.11, and the effect is
significantly greater than zero with a 95% confidence interval [0.07,0.16]. It was found that
relatedness fully mediates the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction.
Discussion
The current study mainly focused on exploring individuals’ psychological trait
(self-esteem) and motivations (autonomy, competence and relatedness), and how these
indicated that self-esteem is positively correlated with autonomy and relatedness motivation for
mobile game playing. These results have supported previous studies which suggested that there
is a positive relationship between self-esteem and motivations of autonomy and relatedness
when playing mobile games (Przybylski et al., 2010; Park et al., 2016; Colwell et al., 1995). As
the study by Baumeister et al. (2003) indicated, individuals with higher self-esteem have the
need for feeling their actions are self-chosen and self-endorsed, and a sense of closeness with
others. They also claim to have better interpersonal relationships compared to people with
lower self-esteem. Thus, players with higher self-esteem are more value the sense of control
over the environment and the interpersonal connections from mobile games compare to people
with lower self-esteem. However, the relationship between self-esteem and competence was
not found. One possible explanation could be that individuals with higher self-esteem are
always accompanied with characteristics of narcissistic, defensive and overconfident
(Baumeister et al., 2000). Thus, the motivation for them to seek the sense of competence from
mobile games is relatively poor because they are pretty confident in their abilities and feel
effective in what they do. Another possible interpretation is that the reliability of the items to
Concerning to the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction, the analyses
showed that players with higher levels of self-esteem scored higher in game addiction. It can be
inferred from this result that the level of self-esteem is a potential predictor of problematic
gaming behavior (Shaw et al., 2004; Ng et al., 2005). People with higher self-esteem are more
persist in pursuing goals and the persistence would be facilitated after failures (Baumeister,
1985). In another words, they may become a bit stubborn when playing mobile games. Once
they lose, they may take it seriously and spend a lot of time on mobile game playing which may
lead to the consequence of game addiction (Marcia, 2017). People normally think that high
self-esteem is a good thing, and a lot of efforts have been made by parents, teachers as well as
therapists to boost individuals’ self-esteem. However, a study by Baumeister et al. (2003)
showed that higher self-esteem doesn’t prevent people from some negative habits like smoking,
drinking, overeating and taking drugs. Such results, which are available from multiple studies,
didn’t indicate that raising self-esteem offers people much benefit (Baumeister & Boden, 1996;
Jordan et al., 2003; Marcia, 2017).
It is still unclear whether the higher self-esteem is the cause or the effect of mobile game
Thus, they become skilled enough to perform the game and they can make the acquaintance of
more fellow players. Moreover, mobile games provide players with a free environment where
they can present a well-managed persona to make a good impression to others. All these
consequences may boost players’ self-esteem (Griffiths, 2000).
In the current study, it was found that the motivations of autonomy and relatedness are
positively correlated with game addiction. This suggested that players with stronger drive for
acquiring the sense of autonomy and relatedness in mobile games are more likely to become
addicted. The results are consistent with previous studies that indicated autonomy and
relatedness motivations contributed significantly to game addiction (Kim et al., 2008; Dennie,
2012; Wan & Chiou, 2006). As SDT proposed, the basic needs of autonomy and relatedness are
important factors which influence individuals’ engagements in all kinds of activities (Deci &
Ryan, 2000). By providing a variety of flexible options over challenges and tasks in a mobile
game environment, and the chances to communicate and interact with friends or fellow players,
the sense of autonomy and relatedness leads to greater enjoyment and makes players become
more immersed in mobile games. Especially in a society where social competence is becoming
much choice in real life and lack of chance to make social interaction. Thus, individuals will
turn to mobile games to seek the feeling of autonomy and relatedness.
Interestingly, it was found that the competence is negatively correlated with game
addiction which is inconsistent with previous study results (Kim et al., 2008; Dennie, 2012;
Przybylski, 2010). It might be due to the mobile game environment. At the time of arcade
games, the level of difficulty in games gradually increased according to players’ ability. As
time goes on, players can experience enhanced competence with their gaming progress, their
comfort above their mind. After that, console-based games and online games appeared. With
the application of network technology, players with the same levels will be matched based on
their history of in-game performance (Sylla et al., 2007). People were mainly looking for fun
and challenges from games at that time and players were enjoying the process. Nowadays,
game devices are becoming more varied and the games themselves becoming more
sophisticated, requiring more creative and intricate game play. Especially for mobile games
which were developed as momentary entertainment, more than half of mobile game players
indicated that they will quit the game immediately if they are overwhelmed or underwhelmed
stronger when playing mobile games, their expectation for feeling competence would also be
higher. Once they feel bored or frustrated when playing a mobile game, their first reaction is
quitting the game instead of continuing the game until they have the sense of competence
(Merikivi & Nguyen, 2017). Another possible reason could also be the reliability of
competence which is just borderline acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.69).
For mediational hypotheses, the results showed that the relatedness fully mediates and
autonomy partially mediates the relationship between self-esteem and game addiction. As
previous studies indicated, to maintain and enhance self-esteem, people have certain
psychological needs and motivations to continue their gaming behavior which may lead to
game addiction (Przybylski et al., 2010; Park et al., 2016; Vorderer et al., 2003). From these
results, it can be inferred that when players with higher self-esteem play mobile games, they are
more likely to take them as a way to fulfill their needs for autonomy and relatedness. The
pursuit of these needs fulfillment makes them more easily be obsessed with mobile games.
Practical Implications
From the findings, some practical implications can be provided. First, everything has two
study, it was found that higher self-esteem is positively correlated with game addiction.
However, enhancing self-esteem has received enormous attention from more and more people
and a lot of efforts have been made. The study by Marcia (2017) suggested that many parents
and teachers are too focused on pumping up students’ self-esteem nowadays. Since most
respondents in the current study are students, instead of boosting their self-esteem blindly,
teachers and parents should keenly aware of their development and encourage them
appropriately. Ultimately, game addiction is a kind of psychological dependence which leads to
physical dependence (Xu et al., 2012), enough attention should also be paid to students’
psychological health. For example, psychosocial counseling for students can be arranged
regularly.
Second, because relatedness motivation is a significant predictor of game addiction.
Measures for fulfilling relatedness need in real life may alleviate game addiction. For example,
more offline social activities can be conducted to get mobile gamers into a group (e.g., sports,
music, reading) which can provide a sense of belonging and comfort (Van Rooij et al., 2011).
Third, mobile game developers may also get some insights from current study. Based on
players’ gaming behavior. Mobile game developers can grant more autonomy to players by
providing a wide range of options over tasks and strategies, giving non-controlling instructions
and allowing players to shape the narrative of a mobile game which have all been identified as
effective ways to enhance autonomy (Ryan et al., 2006). By adding social features to mobile
games like chat channels which allowing players to interact through text, voice or video, and
providing players with chances to form guilds or groups. Developers can help players forge and
strengthen social bonds, thus improving their sense of relatedness (Przybylski et al., 2010).
However, as the finding indicated, developers should also be cautious since these may lead to
game addiction. That is, developers need to focus on developing not only their mobile games,
but also making a conscious effort to help gamers to avoid mobile game addiction.
Limitations and Future Research
Although the current study put forward some results, several limitations shouldn’t be
ignored. First of all, the current study used three basic needs proposed by SDT to measure
mobile gamers’ psychological motivations. However, the human motivational behaviors are
complex and can be influenced by a number of factors. What’s more, motivations for playing
mobile games can be explored in the future. For example, developing a motivation or addiction
scale for mobile games based on mobile gamers’ psychological features and behavior pattern.
Second, the reliability of competence (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.69) and autonomy (Cronbach’s
alpha = 0.65) is slightly below the accepted standard which may make a difference in results.
The problem may be that competence and autonomy only have three items separately which are
limited. For the future research, more related items should be used or as mentioned above, a
new scale can be created to measure these motivations. Also, a larger sample size is needed to
further explore players’ motivations. Third, the sample of this study is limited, 67% of the
respondents are students and their age are relatively young. In order to increase the
generalizability and validity of the study, respondents’ age and employment status can be more
varied.
More new directions of future studies can also be found from the current study.
Comparing to the past studies that mainly focus on one aspect like the effect of self-esteem
(Charlton & Danforth, 2010) or motivating factors (Yee, 2006) on gaming behaviors. The
current study connected self-esteem and motivations to explain mobile gaming behaviors
study showed that about 30.1% respondents don’t play mobile games. It could be also a new
insight to investigate the causality of the personality traits and gaming behavior by examining
the difference between mobile game players and people who don’t play mobile games. In
addition, the cross-cultural studies can also be a good direction for further studies, since we
found a significant motivation and addiction differences between Chinese players and
non-Chinese players from the results of independent samples test. Chinese players have higher
levels of self-esteem, game addiction, autonomy, relatedness and time spent on games, and
lower level of competence than non-Chinese players. It’s still not clear the differences were
caused by mobile game itself or by other factors. Thus, conducting cross-cultural studies about
mobile games would be of great importance to mobile game industry. Similar to online games,
it was also found that relatedness motivation is significantly different between men and women.
Men have stronger relatedness motivation compare to women which is in line with previous
studies that indicated males have greater need for relatedness than females (Huang et al., 2015;
Colwell & Payne, 2000; Colwell & Kato, 2003). Comparing the online games and mobile
games would be also a new direction to investigate gaming behaviors.
The current study bridges a gap in mobile game addiction studies by investigating how is
self-esteem and motivational factors correlated with the addiction levels in mobile games. The
findings suggested that individuals’ personality trait may generate different psychological
needs which motivate them to play mobile gams in varying degrees. It thus implied that
teachers and parents should pay attention to young people’s character development and
psychological needs, like their needs of belongingness and self-esteem. Also, game developers
should be aware of the negative consequences when designing a mobile game. Mobile games
are taking our lives by storm nowadays, but there has been relatively little scientific research in
this field. More studies about mobile games should be conducted in the future. Especially in the
domain of mobile game motivational factors and overuse which could benefit gamers with
addictive problems by providing them with what they seem to miss in real life.
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Appendix
Mobile Phone Game Use (English questionnaire)
Dear participant,
The University of Amsterdam (UvA) would like to request your participation in this study on mobile phone game use.
Firstly, we would like to thank for your participation. Please read all of the questions carefully. Take your time to think about your responses. We want to emphasize that there are no wrong answers to the questions, we are simply interested in your own personal opinion. Please keep in mind that once you have finished your answers and proceeded to the next question, you cannot return to the previous question.
The survey takes about 7 minutes to complete.
All the information we collect in this survey is confidential and anonymous, and there will be no way of identifying your individual responses in the data archive later. The data will only be used for scientific purposes and will not be passed on to others. You can stop filling in the questionnaire at any time.
If you wish to receive more information about this research, either now or in the future, please contact Shulan Lin (shulanlindec@163.com) or Keqin Ling (linkeqin@126.com). If you have any complaints about this study, you can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing the ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020-525-3680; ascor-secr-fmg@uva.nl.
Each participant will get a chance to win 5 Euros as incentives to thank for his/her contribution to this study. A number of winners will be selected at random from all participants.
Q3 By clicking on the button below you agree to participate in this survey.
o
I understand the text presented above, and I agree to participate in this study. (1) Q8 You will now be invited to answer a few demographic questions.Q7 What is your gender?
o
Maleo
Femaleo
Other: ________________________________________________Q9 What is your age? (Please insert your age in years)
________________________________________________________________
Q11 Which country are you from?
Q10 Are you currently ....
o
Employedo
Self-employedo
Out of worko
Home-makero
Studento
Retiredo
Unable to worko
Other, please specify: ________________________________________________Q17 Next, we would like to ask you some questions about your general use of mobile phone games.
Q30 Have you played games on mobile phone or tablet in the last three months?
o
Yeso
NoQ12 Please identify the title of the mobile phone or tablet game you have played most during the last three months.
o
Title________________________________________________Q14 On average, how many days per week do you play this game?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Days
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Q13 On an average day that you play this game, how many hours do you spend playing it? Hours (1)
▼ 0 ... 16
Skip To: Q29 If Q13 = 1
Q29 The next series of questions concern the factors contributing to your enjoyment or lack of enjoyment during gameplay, please indicate to what extent these statements below apply to you and the game you have played the most
Q18 When I am playing the game, it is important that... Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) I feel competent in the game
o
o
o
o
o
I can chat with
other players
o
o
o
o
o
I feel the challenges in the game are very balanced with my skills
o
o
o
o
o
I can group with
other players
o
o
o
o
o
I can achieve victories over
other players
o
o
o
o
o
The game offers interesting
options according to my
preferences
o
o
o
o
o
I can meet new
Q26 When I am playing the game, it is important that... Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) The game allows me to do interesting things
o
o
o
o
o
I feel confident in my performanceo
o
o
o
o
I do not feel controlled to be or act a certain wayo
o
o
o
o
I am part of a guild, clan, team or other form of social communityo
o
o
o
o
I can compete with otherso
o
o
o
o
I can keep in touch with my fellow playerso
o
o
o
o
I feel a lot of freedomo
o
o
o
o
Q19 The following questions are about your experiences with the mobile or tablet game over the last three months. Please indicate to what extent these statements below apply to you and the game you have played the most.
How often during the last three months...
Never (1) Sometimes (2) About half
the time (3)
Most of the time (4)
Always (5)
did you think about playing a game all day
long?
o
o
o
o
o
did you spend increasing amounts of
time on games?
o
o
o
o
o
did you play games to
forget about real life?
o
o
o
o
o
have others unsuccessfully tried to
reduce your game use?
o
o
o
o
o
have you felt bad when you were unable to
play?
o
o
o
o
o
did you have fights with others (e.g., family, friends) over your time
spent on games?
o
o
o
o
o
have you neglected other important activities (e.g., school,
Q31 We would like to ask you a few questions regarding yourself. Please rate the extent to which the pair of traits applies to you, even if one characteristic applies more strongly than the other.
I see myself as…
Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) Reserved, quiet
o
o
o
o
o
Critical, quarrelsomeo
o
o
o
o
Dependable, self-disciplinedo
o
o
o
o
Anxious, easily upset
o
o
o
o
o
Open to new experiences, complex
o
o
o
o
o
Sympathetic, warmo
o
o
o
o
Disorganised, carelesso
o
o
o
o
Calm, emotionally stableo
o
o
o
o
Conventional,o
o
o
o
o
Q32 Please indicate to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements. Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) I am willing to help other people
o
o
o
o
o
I ask others if I can be of helpo
o
o
o
o
I show concern for otherso
o
o
o
o
I show care for
others
o
o
o
o
o
I give support
to others
o
o
o
o
o
Q24 Please indicate to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements. Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) Thanks to my resourcefulness, I know how to handle unforeseen situations
o
o
o
o
o
I can solve most problems if I invest
the necessary effort
o
o
o
o
o
I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my coping abilities
o
o
o
o
o
No matter what comes my way, I am usually able to handle ito
o
o
o
o
If someone opposes me, I can find waysto get what I want
o
o
o
o
o
It is easy for me to stick to my aims and
Q22 Please indicate to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements. Strongly disagree (1) Somewhat disagree (2) Neither agree nor disagree (3) Somewhat agree (4) Strongly agree (5) I lack companionship
o
o
o
o
o
I feel part of a group of friendso
o
o
o
o
I feel left out
o
o
o
o
o
I feel isolated from others
