Psychological need satisfaction and well-being in first-person shooter clans: Investigating underlying factors

Even though clan membership plays an important role in the context of playing first-person shooters, only little is known about the questions, what makes a clan membership attractive and what effects go hand in hand with a clan membership. The current study fills this gap by applying Self-Determination Theory to the context of playing in first-person shooter clans. 585 players of Counter-Strike clans were asked about their behaviors within their clans, the psychological needs clan-life potentially satisfies and the outcomes of playing in clans in terms of well-being. A path analysis shows that playing in a first-person shooter clan could help players to fulfill elementary psychological needs and at least in the short term induce well-being. These results give clear evidence that it is worth broadening the perspective of research on first-person shooters and not only to concentrate on the discussion about media violence and aggressiveness.