Basic Psychological Needs and Passion: Exploring Predictors of Problematic Video Gaming Behaviours

Problematic video gaming is a growing concern across the world. Critically, when video gaming interferes with the pursuit of life goals or begins to negatively affect other life domains (e.g., work, school, relationships), they are described as problematic gaming behaviours. Researchers have linked problematic gaming behaviours to negative outcomes in a variety of contexts, such as university performance and mental illness. However, research is only beginning to examine why problematic gaming develops. I explored possible relations between psychological needs frustration, obsessive passion, and problematic gaming behaviours. A direct model and a mediation model were explored across 2 studies. Study 1 found a small effect of psychological needs frustration, and a large effect of obsessive passion, whereas the indirect effect was not statistically significant. Study 2 recruited a larger sample targeted towards gamers and replicated the direct effects of study 1 and found a significant indirect effect in the mediation model.