Marital Satisfaction among Married Couples in which One or Both Members Play a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)

• Main Author: Ahlstrom, A Michelle Elton
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2009
• Subjects: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG); video game; married gamers; marital satisfaction; gaming addiction; individual gamer; marital satisfaction prediction; joint gamer; adult gamer; recreation; Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS); Internet Addiction Test (IAT).; Recreation Business
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/1761; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2760&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the gaming behaviors of married individuals and couples who play Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game(s) (MMORPGs) including gaming addiction, time spent gaming, satisfaction in gaming participation, gaming interaction (between joint gaming spouses), and socio-demographic variables and the subsequent marital satisfaction levels of both individuals in the couple. Hypotheses were generally supported, excluding the hours spent gaming. 685 couples were separated and analyzed according to whether both individuals in the marriage gamed or just one individual gamed (couple-gaming type). Couples in which only one individual gamed (individual-gamer couples) had significantly lower marital satisfaction than all other groups and couples in which both gamed about the same amount of time (equal-gamers) held the highest marital satisfaction of the groups. Prediction models of marital satisfaction were determined for each couple-gaming type. The strongest predictions present in most of the models for marital satisfaction were the frequency that the couple retired to bed at the same time and the frequency that the couple quarreled specifically about gaming. Much MMORPG research has been presented on youth and adults, however to date there is no research on married gamers. Recent research on the video game habits of emerging adults called for further in depth investigation of the implications of video game use in the family formation stage of life.