Dimensions of video game behavior and their relationships with personality

As video games become increasingly popular pastimes, it becomes more important to understand how different individuals behave when they play these games. Previous research has focused mainly on behavior in massively multiplayer online role-playing games; therefore, in the current study we sought to extend on this research by examining the connections between personality traits and behaviors in video games more generally. Two hundred and nineteen university students completed measures of personality traits, psychopathic traits, and a questionnaire regarding frequency of different behaviors during video game play. A principal components analysis of the video game behavior questionnaire revealed four factors: Aggressing, Winning, Creating, and Helping. Each behavior subscale was significantly correlated with at least one personality trait. Men reported significantly more Aggressing, Winning, and Helping behavior than women. Controlling for participant sex, Aggressing was negatively correlated with Honesty-Humility, Helping was positively correlated with Agreeableness, and Creating was negatively correlated with Conscientiousness. Aggressing was also positively correlated with all psychopathic traits, while Winning and Creating were correlated with one psychopathic trait each. Frequency of playing video games online was positively correlated with the Aggressing, Winning, and Helping scales, but not with the Creating scale. The results of the current study provide support for previous research on personality and behavior in massively multiplayer online role-playing games.