Like anyone, you’ve probably wondered what you’re good at. What hidden talents within you will help you succeed later in life? Or get a better quality of life in the future. Many of these thoughts probably crossed your mind when you enjoyed playing a video game and felt bad about wasting time.
Well, we have good news for you. A study published in Conversation tells us that video games can help you unlock hidden talents. But that’s not all, they can also help you live a happier life.
The study is directly inspired by the results of several studies. One of them, published in the International Journal of Computer Game Technology, sheds light on “the relationship between gamers’ value systems and their behavior in games.” The other relevant research in this report was published in ResearchnGateet and aims to examine behavior in offline-leadership massively multiplayer video games.
Both studies came to a clear conclusion: who you are in video games largely reflects who you are in everyday life. It has been proven that the real values of the players are often reflected quite well in the decisions made in the game, which gives us a projection of the player’s personality even in fictional scenarios.
Video games are great at uncovering unconscious data
This is true. Video games are good for more than just killing boredom. In fact, if you’re observant enough, they can reveal more about your personality than you think. Our values and skills are often so closely tied to our personality that we are not aware of their existence.
However, entering a fictional and simulated space may allow us to navigate better. This state is known in psychology as the state of flow and allows us to fully focus on a particular task for an extended period of time.
The ego disappears. Time flies. Each action, movement and thought inevitably follows from the previous one, like a jazz game. Your whole being is involved and you are using your abilities to the fullest.
But how does this state of fluidity reveal our true potential? This is where the magic happens. As Mihai describes, the ego disappears, so your reactions often become more authentic, bypassing the old filter of social perceptions, expectations, and rules imposed on you by others or even yourself.
This moment triggered by video games and the actions you take in them can reveal conflict resolution skills, motivation, perseverance and more.
So what does your favorite video game say about your personality?
De Fonderie Quantic has developed a model that combines character traits with three different play styles.
- The first was called Social Action (Action-Social), which expresses extraversion in the context of video games. Priority is given to the search for thrills, interest in explosions, weapons and competition between players.
- The second is Mastery-Logros (Master-achievement). These are players who are focused on long-term goals and generation plans. They are also sensitive and love challenges, strategy, achievement and power.
- Third, we have Immersion-Creative. These players enjoy the outdoor experience and tend to focus more on fantasy and games that encourage discovery. This group attaches great importance to the history of video games as well as their design.
We found a significant correlation between offline personality traits and motivation to gamble. Thus, gamblers with higher scores on extraversion tend to have higher scores on socially active activities. And players who score higher in Openness tend to score higher in Immersion-Creativity. The relationship between conscientiousness and overtaking skill also has partial empirical support.
Who are you?
Now you know that from now on it’s up to you to decide which style suits you best based on your favorite titles. We cannot decide for you, but we can confirm that by paying attention to how and what you play, you can discover much more than you thought.