A study in Taiwan found that people who were more motivated to play online games tended to have higher post-game imagination. Second, imagination was associated with greater creativity, indicating that gaming motivation may contribute to creativity. The paper is Frontiers of behavioral neuroscience.
Researchers broadly agree that Internet technologies, especially online gaming, have a strong impact on people’s lives. However, scientific research mainly focuses on these activities related to problems such as addiction and poor reading comprehension. The potential positive effects of gaming tend to be less discussed.
Most studies that have investigated the potential positive effects of games have focused on their visual and problem-solving benefits, and less on how games support imagination and creativity. However, some studies have shown that children who frequently play video games can score higher on creativity tests, even when the games contain violent content. Other research also suggests that online games can improve students’ creative thinking and attitudes. At the same time, researchers point out that there is still a gap between the potential of games to support creativity and the amount of research actually conducted on the subject.
Study author Yung-hsun Cheng wanted to investigate the relationship between motivation for playing online games, imagination, and creativity. Cheng hypothesized that motivation to play online games would be positively related to imagination and creativity. Cheng also predicted that imagination would mediate the relationship between motivation to play online games and creativity.
For this study, Cheng focused on two specific games: Genshin and Roblox. Genshin is a free-to-play, open-world role-playing game that combines exploration, combat, and story-driven quests in a fantasy world. Roblox is an online platform that allows users to create, share, and play a variety of games created by other players.
The study had two parts: a survey and a small experiment. The survey participants were 202 Taiwanese university students. Six male and six female students participated in the experimental portion of the study. Study participants were required to have basic understanding and experience with Roblox or Genshin Impact.
Study participants completed measures of online gaming motivation (Online Gaming Motivation Scale), imagination (Imagination Ability Scale), and creativity (Creativity Ability Scale). Experiment participants were randomly divided into two groups. One group was to play Roblox in two 2.5-hour sessions per week for four weeks. The other group’s task was to play Genshin for the same number of sessions. These participants underwent EEG measurements of brain activity before and after the intervention.
Research has shown that motivation for online gaming is associated with higher imagination and higher creativity. The study authors tested a statistical model proposing that higher motivation for online gaming leads to higher imagination, and higher imagination leads to higher creativity. Analysis of the results supported this relationship.
The results of the experiment showed that there were differences in activity in some areas of the brain before and after the game intervention. The authors of this study drew inferences about changes in psychological traits of interest, such as creative thinking and imagination, based on the brain regions where differences in activity were detected.
“This study concludes that online gaming can have a positive impact on creativity, especially if imagination mediates the relationship between gaming motivation and creative outcomes. These results highlight the potential cognitive benefits of online gaming, especially for players with high levels of motivation, and highlight the distinct role of RPGs and sandbox games in fostering creativity,” the study authors conclude.
This study contributes to the scientific understanding of the psychological correlates of online gaming. However, it should be noted that the experimental part of the study was conducted on a very small sample, so the inference of psychological characteristics based on brain activity detected in the EEG reported in the paper may be problematic.
This paper “The influence of online games on creativity and the role of imagination” was written by Yung-hsun Cheng.
