The Impact of Casual Videogames on Competency, Autonomy, and Mood State

Videogames have been historically known for causing negative mood states in players, but there is still more research to be done about the potential for videogames to alleviate these induced negative mood states. Using an online repeated measures survey design, participants were asked to play a game with an impossible difficulty curve unbeknownst to them. They were then instructed to play one of three casual videogames (CVGs). It was hypothesized that increased levels of competency and autonomy would lead to a decrease in participants’ negative mood state as per Self-Determination Theory. In addition, the act of playing CVGs was also predicted to decrease participants’ negative mood state as per Mood Management Theory. To test for this, participants were asked questions regarding their feelings of competency, autonomy, and overall mood state throughout the experiment. Support was not found for competency and autonomy helping alleviate negative mood states, but support was found for CVGs and their healing potential towards negative mood states. The implications of these results as well as the potential for future research is discussed.