New research is digging into whether video games have a positive or negative impact on the well-being of people who are unemployed.
Unemployment can have devastating effects on people’s psychological and social well-being. The lack of control over one’s life and the loss of social connection that is often the result of unemployment can become even more serious during a pandemic.
To deal with the negative effects of unemployment and maintain one’s well-being, unemployed workers often develop coping strategies, such as playing video games, that keep them busy, socially connected, and give a sense of purpose and structure to their lives.
Yu-Hao Lee, an associate professor at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, and doctoral student Mo Chen wanted to better understand how unemployed workers used video games to cope with the stress of unemployment, especially during COVID-19. They wanted to know the extent to which playing video games as a form of escapism or recovery would affect their well-being, job search efficiency and actual job search behavior. The researchers also tried to find out if there are differences between gender, age, race and income level when it comes to video game use.
Findings showed that unemployed workers generally used video games both as a way to regain a sense of control and as a form of escapism from the stress of unemployment. Video games can support a sense of control by helping players feel autonomous, competent and connected to others. The researchers found that for the unemployed workers in the study, it was the autonomy and competence video games provide much more than social connection that gave users a sense of control.
Increased playing time after unemployment was also shown to be significantly associated with escapism. However, unemployed workers are less likely to benefit from escapist coping through video games and may instead feel worse about themselves and their engaging behavior in the games.
Ultimately, unemployed workers who gain a sense of control by playing video games are more likely to benefit from games through improved well-being. In contrast, those who use video games to escape the stress of unemployment are more likely to experience a negative impact on their well-being, as well as their job search efficiency and behavior.
When examining which demographic groups were more likely to seek escapism, which is associated with lower well-being, the study found that younger male unemployed workers with lower or middle household incomes were more likely to seek escapism from video games compared to female unemployed workers.
A key limitation is that because the participants were recruited from an online panel, the sample is not representative of all unemployed people in the United States. The sample may be skewed towards unemployed employees who have more experience with the use of the Internet than others. Future research would be wise to examine in more detail gender and racial groups as well as different types of video games to investigate in more detail how specific computer games can affect the handling of the effects of unemployment.
The research is shown in Games and Culture.
