Browsing by Subject "Digitaalinen pelaaminen"

Digital gaming is common nowadays regardless of age, as the majority of individuals aged 10 to 75 play digital games at least occasionally. For this reason, it is necessary to investigate the connection between digital gaming and well-being. Additionally, exploring the relationship between digital gaming and academic performance is essential, as school-age children and students also play digital games. Previous research on the topic has been conducted, but there is relatively little qualitative research based on adult experiences. This study focuses on the experiences of adults who have played a significant amount during their lives and how they perceive gaming’s impact on their well-being, academic performance, and school well-being. Interviewees were asked to define well-being in terms of physical, mental and social aspects, as well as academic performance and school well-being. They were also asked to define problematic gaming. The goal of this study is to gather more information about the positive and negative influences of gaming on an individual’s well-being and academic performance. Educators can use the gathered information when planning the gaming education of the children or youth. The research was conducted as a qualitative study, and data were collected through written interviews with six participants. The interviewees were selected on the assumption that they have played a lot at some point in their lives. The chosen research method was phenomenography because the study focused on the interviewees’ own experiences and perceptions of the phenomenon under investigation. The study found similarities with previous research. Interviewees described connections between digital gaming and well-being like those found in previous studies. One observed connection was the reduction of stress as a result of gaming. Similarities were also found in the interviewees’ perceptions of physical, mental and social well-being, as well as academic performance and problematic gaming, compared to previous research. An example of such similarity was linking the feeling of competence to mental well-being. This research provided a player-centric perspective on digital games. Especially for mental and social well-being, benefits were perceived from gaming. However, drawbacks were also identified and could be described on personal experience. It can be concluded that digital gaming has connections to perceived well-being in its various aspects, both positively and negatively. Academic performance may suffer from excessive amounts of gaming according to interviewees.