Competition and Cooperation in Video Games
Competition and Cooperation in Video Games
- Y. Skylar Lei, Y. Skylar LeiMichigan State University
- Hanjie LiuHanjie LiuMichigan State University
- , and David R. EwoldsenDavid R. EwoldsenDepartment of Media and Information, Michigan State University
Summary
Competition and cooperation are both essential to human evolution and social interactions. Humans naturally compete with each other over resources, yet humans also evolved to engage in cooperation to enhance survivability. Competition and cooperation as complex social interactions can be observed in many contexts. Video games are a vivid illustration of how people compete, cooperate, or compete and cooperate at the same time with each other. The history of video games reflects how people are naturally inclined to build environments and construct rules to facilitate competition. Meanwhile, video game play also demonstrates how people are drawn to cooperation with each other whenever the need arises. Competition and cooperation have been examined and discussed in many fields of study. Social interdependence theory provides a clear theoretical framework for understanding competitive or cooperative situations. Competition in video game settings can be seen as a range of negative interdependence between players, while cooperation is a range of positive interdependence. With video game settings becoming more complex and connecting more players virtually, games that facilitate both competition and cooperation between teams of players emerged and became prevalent. Research has previously demonstrated that cooperation in video games tends to result in increased positive outcomes for players compared to competition. However, in games where competition and cooperation between human players coexist, newly observed phenomena, namely toxic behaviors and antisocial interactions, contradict previous findings. It is evident that we still have a lot to learn about human competition and cooperation in video games. With video game technologies improving and diversifying rapidly, more research is needed to understand players’ psychological processes and behaviors in video game settings.
Subjects
- Communication and Technology
- Mass Communication