Posts with tag wow-study

A new World of Warcraft study attempts to understand why people play video games, particularly ones like WoW that have a strong virtual reality component. The study found some interesting results as to how WoW players are personality wise, and how much they play. Out of the 1,413 participants in the study they have played on average nearly 24 hours a week and have played for 20 months. The mean age of the participant was 26 years.

The study found that those of us who play WoW for socialization are higher on the scales of agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness. Neurotic in this sense might not mean what you think it means; it's part of the Big Five personality dimensions that are commonly used in psychology. People that are high on the scale of neuroticism are, in general, less emotionally stable, have higher anxiety, and can get angry quicker (this shouldn't surprise anyone that reads the forums and the tweets Blizzard staff get). Neuroticism doesn't mean that you're insane, just that you have some of the personality traits described above. Quite literally we are all somewhat neurotic in this sense, it just matters how far along the scale you are (those on the extreme high-end of the scale are where the traditional/societal definition comes from).

Those that seek leadership in WoW tend to be high on the extraverted (meaning they prefer groups and interactions with others), openness, and conscientious scales. Those in leadership (as one could reasonably expect) tend to be highly organized, like to plan things out, and are lower on the neuroticism scale.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R - Virginia) is causing a bit of a stir in gaming circles for citing a study by North Carolina State University involving World of Warcraft as an example of wasteful government spending. The study, which received funding from the National Science Foundation, tested the effect that playing WoW had on the cognitive function of a group of seniors aged 60 - 77, and had some interesting results.

According to the researchers, the study clearly demonstrated that playing World of Warcraft can have a significant positive effect on a person's spacial ability and focus. Last March we conducted an interview with Dr. Jason Allaire, one of the authors involved in the study. Check it out for more insight into the research itself.

Other things Cantor listed as recipients of overzealous government spending include federally-funded conferences, certain property maintenance, and the IRS TV studio.

Wait, hold the phone, the IRS has a TV studio? The more you know!

Update 5:45 pm EDT: So, after we posted this article, Gains Through Gaming, the North Carolina State University lab responsible for the original studies, tweeted us the following: