ABSTRACT

This chapter begins with an overview of the demographic assessments. It presents the findings related to social goals, social skills, attachment, and video game involvement. The social utility of online video game (OVG) and the potential social gains and losses will also be discussed. A summary of the demographic findings across all three studies is presented and the theoretical and practical implications that can be drawn from these outcomes are discussed. Future researchers should remain mindful of these findings and reconsider the assumption that multiplayer games are more 'involving' than their single-player counterparts. To end this, three survey studies evaluating the relationships between social goals, social skills, and video game involvement were conducted. In an attempt to reconcile the inconsistencies within the literature, a social skills approach to conceptualizing social competence was adopted and a new measure of video game involvement that comprised of both behavioral and psychological measures was constructed.