antropologi.info - anthropology in the news blog

    Nordisk | Auf Deutsch | Anthropology Newspaper | Anthropology Journal Ticker | Journals | Contact

Anthropologist: World of Warcraft can be good for your mental health

by lorenz on Apr 10, 2011 in cyberanthropology, internet


The anthropologist and his virtual research team in World of Warcraft. Photo: Colorado State University

It’s always refreshing when anthropologists challenge wideheld assumptions, for example about video- and onlinegames. Many video game studies focus on the negative and addictive aspects of game play.

In two recent studies, Jeffrey Snodgrass and his team show, that video game playing can be healthy.

In a press release, the anthropologist says:

The idea is that if you lose yourself, you escape. So it’s deeply relaxing, what some gamers describe as akin to meditation, or at other times positively challenging and stimulating, like a great chess match where you’re actually one of the pieces, and we show that there are strong associations between these various states of consciousness and the game’s health benefits.

But it is important to note that the escape must be controlled and temporary to be positive so that it leads to rejuvenation rather than simple problem avoidance, which in the end only increases the experience of stress.”

He hopes that people will start to understand that addiction is only one side of video game usage.

According the press release, “both articles are currently available online". That’s true, but they’re behind a pay wall.

SEE ALSO:

Ethnographic Study: Social Websites Important For Childhood Development

Cyberanthropology: “Second Life is their only chance to participate in religious rituals”

Interview with Michael Wesch: How collaborative technologies change scholarship

maxmod :: online among the gamemodders - a research-project in cyberanthropology

How gaming wealth is reviving American Indian traditions

Play as research method - Anthropology Matters

This entry was posted by admin and filed under cyberanthropology, internet.
  • « Global apartheid: Are you expat or immigrant? (updated)
  • Anthropologists and stereotypes about Libya and Japan »

No feedback yet


Form is loading...

Search

Recent blog posts

  • Call for research: How does digital surveillance change society?
  • Corona-Anthropology: We feel safe with "people we know", for the danger always comes from "the others"
  • "Seen from an anthropological view, humanity is at risk of extinction"
  • Twitter bans Sci-hub: Interests of the publishing mafia more important than access to science
  • Anthropologist counters Zoom-fatigue: "Your next video conference might resemble a video game"

Recent comments

  • lorenz on Anthropologists condemn the use of terms of "stone age" and "primitive"
  • Sarn on Anthropologists condemn the use of terms of "stone age" and "primitive"
  • lorenz on ScientificCommons.org - The Open Access Search Engine
  • ARAB NAZ on ScientificCommons.org - The Open Access Search Engine
  • lorenz on The new antropologi.info Anthropology Newspaper and News Ticker

Categories

  • All

Retain only results that match:

XML Feeds

  • RSS 2.0: Posts, Comments
  • Atom: Posts, Comments
What is RSS?

©2021 by Lorenz Khazaleh • Contact • Help • CMS engine