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The Psychology of Achievement In Playing Games

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-you-don't-get-points-for-reading-this dept.

A post on Pixel Poppers looks at the psychological underpinnings of the types of challenges offered by different game genres, and the effect those challenges have on determining which players find the games entertaining. Quoting: "To progress in an action game, the player has to improve, which is by no means guaranteed — but to progress in an RPG, the characters have to improve, which is inevitable. ... It turns out there are two different ways people respond to challenges. Some people see them as opportunities to perform — to demonstrate their talent or intellect. Others see them as opportunities to master — to improve their skill or knowledge. Say you take a person with a performance orientation ('Paul') and a person with a mastery orientation ('Matt'). Give them each an easy puzzle, and they will both do well. Paul will complete it quickly and smile proudly at how well he performed. Matt will complete it quickly and be satisfied that he has mastered the skill involved. Now give them each a difficult puzzle. Paul will jump in gamely, but it will soon become clear he cannot overcome it as impressively as he did the last one. The opportunity to show off has disappeared, and Paul will lose interest and give up. Matt, on the other hand, when stymied, will push harder. His early failure means there's still something to be learned here, and he will persevere until he does so and solves the puzzle."

3 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. stunning by Muggy7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So the conclusion is that some people perservere with longer than others while others get bored and don't always fini

  2. Interesting by DreamsAreOkToo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This seems to have much broader applications than games. I think this speaks volumes in the realm of business management (efficiency) and human psychology in general.

    For Business Management, identifying your "masters" and "performers" would be good for setting up reward systems. Give your masters a tough problem to solve. Give your performers easy repetitive work and ask them to see how quickly they can finish it.

  3. Re:psychological vs intellectual underpinnings by darthdavid · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've noticed that people who make hasty generalizations are generally douchebags ;).