Department of Psychology Department of Arts and Sciences San Beda College Manila

Does Games, in General, Relieve Stress?

Asturiano, Argie C. Bunao, Rafael A. Lozare, Benjamin Martin Nacpil, Arvin Jasper C. Sulit, Darren Jed M. Tigas, Joseph Christian M. 3APS

Chapter I Introduction This research will mainly focus with the number of hours a person plays videogames and its effect on their perceived stress level. Stress may be experienced by most of the people every day. Stress is frequently present in people and it is almost guaranteed that people will experience stress in the average day. There are many reasons as to why stress is

frequently present, it may be from the people surrounding them or from the situation they are currently experiencing or going through. Study shows that stress can be a form of "traumatic events, daily hassles or chronic strains" (Liang, Alvarez, 2007). Due to this evident concern, researchers and people are at a constant search of ways to not get stressed: Some find solutions to their problems by facing it head on. There are two strategies that were developed by Parker and Endler: there is the problem-focused coping and the

emotional-focused coping. On the other hand, some people are to choose the avoidance as their type of strategy to cope with stress and this is one of the main concepts that will be tackled in this research. The origin of the concept of stress predates antiquity (Parker and Endler, 1996).

Stress is manifested through the symptoms of a 'General Adaptation Syndrome'. Psychological stress refers to a "state of the organism or the individual and the experienced stress is complex" (Selye, 1930). The physical consequences include psychosomatic disorders, depersonalized and frustrated. Thus, it can be said that stress occurs at an individual level and it is an internal psychological experience involving feelings, attitudes, motives and expectation. Schuler defines stress "as a dynamic condition in which an individual is: (a) confronted with an opportunity for

being/having/doing what he desires and/or (b) confronted with a constraint on being/having/doing what he desires and/or (c) confronted with a demand on being/having/doing what he desires and for which resolution often is perceived to have

uncertainly but which will lead (upon resolution) to important outcomes" (Schuler, 1930). In psycho-physiology, stress refers to some stimulus

resulting in a detectable strain that cannot be accommodated by the organism and which ultimately results in impaired

health or behavior. If one asks people about their stress and in particular how they know it exists: there are two general kinds of things to be described:

Firstly, there are experience of metal discomfort, often accompanied by feelings of not being able to cope, that things are falling apart, that one is not in control of oneself and one`s situation or just a general unease that all is not well without any particular cause being apparent. Secondly, they are physiological manifestation of loss of appetite, sleeplessness, sweating and ulcers or other physical illness of various degrees. Theoretical / conceptual framework "Dissociative" attempts to is an English-language experiences adjective and that

describe

reported

observed

behaviors that seem to exist apart from, or appear to have been disconnected from, the mainstream, or flow of one's self-

conscious

awareness,

behavioral

repertoire,

and/or

identity. "Dissociation" is a noun used to describe a persons involvement observed in these reported behaviors dissociative (Krippner, experiences 1997). or

dissociative

Becoming

detached from the world and fully immersing ones self into focusing on a certain action or set of actions. It is also a form of avoidance which in this case stress is relieved

through alternative means so as to not have the mind on the matter that stresses the person. The theory goes along the lines of a person that plays videogames avoids stress or

relieves stress through playing videogames because it makes the mind focused on the game then having the player in an immersed state where they detach themselves from the real

world and/or the problem. Statement of the Problems The purpose of this study is to find out the significant effect of playing video games and the perceived level of

stress. The researchers aim to answer the following questions at the end of the research: What is the number of hours of playing video games of the 2nd and 3rd year College Students? What is the perceived level of stress of the 2nd and 3rd year College students according to the Perceived Stress Scale? What is the relationship of the hours of playing video games and the range of stress as perceived by the 3rd year BS Psychology students? Hypotheses There is a 0.5 significant relationship between playing videogames and ones perceived stress level

Significance of the Study Some people believe that video games only have bad

effects to a persons health and corrupt their mind. There are lots of past research that claimed and has proven that video games can also be beneficial to a person but in our study we will focus on stress and how video games affect it. Mostly young adults are heavily influenced by both video games and stress. The purpose of this study is to convince other people that video games can also be a means to relieve stress. It will enumerate the physical, mental and emotional benefits of playing games. It will also enumerate the effects of stress to an individual. It will explain how games affect a persons feelings and state of mind. It will determine the correlation between games and stress. Limitations of the Study This research is only able to focus on games in general, meaning that it is not possible for this research to cover how it can directly affect ones stress between specific games in detail such as first person shooting, role-playing games,

turn-based strategies, fantasy, etc. Video game platforms or consoles (the equipment) are not discussed in this research. The respondents only consist of 2nd year and 3rd year students of San Beda College. This research also doesnt cover on the factor which specifically causes stress.

Chapter II Review of related literature: Stress relief is one thing a person will eventually need once in a while and many recent studies support the claim that video games are effective stress relievers. One way in which video games are supposed to relieve stress is by giving the mind a vacation, some time off whatever it is the ails it and there have been reports of some of these people becoming

completely into their games that when they become so absorbed, they tend to be dissociated (the feeling of getting

disconnected from a familiar reality). When videogame players were asked why, They commonly

tells that a feeling like they actually are their characters and really in the game grows inside them, they admitted that with such fantastic characters and places potentially only loosely connected to offline selves and realities, who would not be immerse in that. While this might seem counter-

productive, studies show that thirty minutes of playing video games can reduce stress levels significantly. Individuals can dissociate not only for temporary stress reduction but also for more long-term stress avoidance.

Mark Baldwin a McGill professor suggests that the reason for video games as an effective stress reliever is that it can reduce production of the stress-related hormone cortisol.

While others do seems sceptical about this and says that video games, mainly the violent ones, are stress inducers and

majority of the public claims that violent video games cause aggression contention. or But violent Dr. crime and of has Texas been A&M a source of

Ferguson

International

University states that in his study the results do not support a link between violent video games and aggressive behaviour. To relief, know what type of video game is of best for & stress Mary

Professor

Trent

Kilcannon

William

University, conducted a study and conclude that the best games for stress relief are repetitive games that are easy to master but which have a goal that can be difficult to achieve. Aside from video that games may being improve stress a reliever many studies dexterity have and

stated

player's

manual

computer literacy, which is highly useful in todays time. Another astonishing benefit of video games besides it being a stress reliever is its ability to be a therapeutic for children released regular with a chronic last illnesses; year that The University the of Utah of

study on

examined with

effects

gaming

children

diagnosed

illnesses

like

autism, depression, and Parkinson's disease. Kids who played certain games, including one designed just for the study,

showed signs of improvement in "resilience, empowerment, and a 'fighting spirit.'" Researchers believe the games' ability to act on "neuronal mechanisms that activate positive emotions and the reward system" helped improve kids' demeanors as they faced 2013). Parents always said that playing video games ruins your eyesight but in a study recently conducted video games, the daily challenges of their illnesses (Gallagher,

believe it or not, improves your vision. People suffering from cataracts can improve their vision by playing first-person shooter games such as Medal of Honor and Call of Duty (Maurer, 2012). The reason for this is that fast-paced games extreme amount of attention, training the visually impaired to view things more sharply. They can also produce higher levels of dopamine and adrenaline that "potentially may make the brain more plastic (Maurer, 2012). Decision-making skills will also be improve by playing video games, Most video games require fast reactions and split-second decisions that can mean the difference between virtual life and virtual death, these games give players' brains plenty of practice for making decisions in the real world.

Researchers suggest that action-oriented games act as a simulator for the decision-making process by giving players several chances to infer information from their surroundings and forcing them to react accordingly. The public always said that too much playing videogames makes a person introvert and we stereotypes gamer to be uninterested in social interaction but a study was conducted to prove this wrong. Video games on contrary improves our collaboration and social skills

contemporary video games often encourage players from around the world to work together to solve problems or complete

tasks. This can help build social skills and improve problemsolving abilities in children and adults. Particularly for self-described loners and introverted people, video games may be a less stressful way to interact socially. (Griffiths,2002) although prolonged video games of have video a lot games of can benefits also too much or

playing

cause

negative

effects to a person. In terms of health it may be a major cause of obesity, video-induced seizures. and postural,

muscular and skeletal disorders, such as tendonitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome. Surprisingly, playing video games for extremely long

periods of time can also cause death. A 28-year-old South Korean man died after playing an online computer game for 50

hours straight after losing his job. He had only taken a few brief naps and bathroom breaks during that time. One police officer said, We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion. Interestingly, he had lost his job because he had skipped out on work to play a massive

multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). As mentioned earlier in this article, MMORPGs are highly complex computer games where a person can interact with thousands of other gamers and perform various tasks and missions to gain powers or abilities, and such games are highly addictive. Video games also waste a lot of time that could be better used for more productive tasks such as homework, physical exercise, creative hobbies, or sports. A study was conducted by Mart, G. And et. al. on the effects of video games on adolescents and adults. The

instrument Problem Videogame Playing (PVP) survey that was developed in Spain was used in this said study. The survey correlated excessive videogame use with compulsive behaviours (e.g. gambling) (Gordon, 2009). According to the study, dependence syndrome is connected to the excessive use of videogames. 15% of young adolescent players were identified as addicted to videogames through the PVP survey. The sample of the study consisted of 204

participants and 85% of this were males while the 15% were females, both from East Coast University. No correlation was found between the PVP survey scores and reported grades achieved in the school of high school students. No correlation was found between the hours of play per week and PVP scores. The studys results show that

excessive playing is used as a coping strategy by people who are experiencing mood disorders, social problems, parental

conflicts or academic difficulty. (Gordon, 2009) People with Posttraumatic Disorder were treated using a visual game of a virtual Iraq. It is a helmet type console with a joystick. While playing the game, bio feedback systems were monitoring their respiration, heart rate, and palm sweat. Most of the people involved in this treatment were war

veterans in the USA. The aim of this study is to expose war veterans in the sights and sounds of the war in order to help them overcome by their Eugene horrible Gochicoa, experiences. a Navy This study 1st was

proposed

corpsman

class.

(Mileham, 2008) Brandeis researchers used games to study their patients epileptic seizures, while wired to a monitor in 2003. The game used was a taxi simulation game. The studys result shows that there were three kinds of brain cells that were individually

assigned to the jobs of working out where you are, what you see and what youre looking for. The study results show how cells in the human brain learn rapidly in responding to our environments complex features. The study found out that there are cells that respond to a single object when it is the goal of an action. (Mileham, 2008)

Chapter III Methodology This number of study hours aims to find out the correlation games and between stress

spent

on

playing

video

relief. The Perceived Stress Scale was used. 2nd and 3rd year students of San Beda College, Manila who regularly play games were asked to participate. The respondents were asked to

indicate how much time they spend on playing video games. The Perceived Stress Scale measured how much stress is perceived by a person from the past month. The degree of stress measured with the Perceived Stress Scale was associated with the amount of hours playing video games. Participants The researchers chose 50 2nd and 3rd year students from San Beda College Manila as the respondents. The respondents age range from 17-19 years old. The researchers asked these 2nd and 3rd year students if they regularly play games. The ones who agreed were chosen as the respondents. The researchers preferred respondents who frequently play games which is

recommended by Hart and his fellow researchers in their study about the Effects of Video Games on Adolescents and

Adults(Gordon, et al., 2009).

Measures The Stress Perceived Scale is 10 item questionnaire by Gregory Kelly and Mark Percival. After reading each question, respondents considered how often they felt or thought that way over the past month (Never, Almost Never, Sometimes, Fairly Often, or Very Often) in the box to the right of the question, labeled Rating. Then, the researchers rate each question. They referred the tables under Perceived Stress Scale

Scoring to get the numerical grade for each response, and write these numbers to the right of each question in the box labeled Score. For Questions 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, & 10, Never (N) is 0, Almost Never (AN) is 1, Sometimes (S) is 2, Fairly Often (FO) is 3 and Very Often (VO) is 4. For Questions 4, 5, 7 & 8, Never (N) is 4, Almost Never (AN) is 3, Sometimes (S) is 2, Fairly Often (FO) is 1 and Very Often (VO) is 0. Total Score 0-7 8-11 12-15 16-20 21 and over Perceived Stress Level Much lower than average Slightly lower than average Average Slightly higher than average Much higher than average

Scores from the Stress Perceived Scale was associated with a particular of level of stress. and This indicates of the an

likelihood

vulnerability

susceptibility

individual to stress. Respondents also interpreted their own scores by getting the total score and referring to the table above. This is the Then, same the as the one provided collected in all the the

questionnaires.

researchers

questionnaires for further analysis. Data Analysis The researchers used the Mean and Standard Deviation to calculate the average time spent on playing video games of the respondents for problem number one. The researchers also used the Mean and Standard Deviation in order to find out the average range of stress as perceived by the respondents for problem number two. And lastly, the researchers used the Pearson r in order to find out the relationship of the average time spent on playing video games and the average range of stress as

perceived by the respondents for problem number 3.

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Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Improving Mood and Decreasing Stress. Journal of Cyber Therapy &

Rehabilitation, Volume 2, issue 1. 53 - 56. Hasan, Y., Laurent, B., Bushman, B.J., (ND) Violent Video

Games Stress People Out and Make Them More Aggressive. 1 - 23. Harit, G.M., et al. and (2009). Adults. Effects Cyber of Video & Games on

Adolescents

Psychology

Behavior,

Volume 12, Number 1. 63 - 65. Snodgrass, J.G., et.al.(2010). Magical Flight and Monstrous Stress: Technologies of Absorportion and Mental Wellness in Azeroth. Cult.Med.Psychiatry. 26 - 61. Mileham, R. (2008). Powering Up: Are Computer Games Changing Our Lives. Southern, Gate, Chinchester, West Sussex,

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