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Jumpstarting relationships with online games: evidence from a laboratory investigation

Published: 08 November 2008 Publication History

Abstract

The popularity of online games, particularly casual games, has increased tremendously in recent years. Often these game experiences involve partner-based or multi-player interactions. Previous work has shown that computer-mediated interactions and online activities with a stranger have the potential to impact attitudes and liking for that person. Can experiences in online games have a similar impact? This paper presents results from two experiments suggesting that cooperative online game experiences (even without any direct communication interactions) can significantly impact liking for another person and perceptions of that person's characteristics. Implications for the design of online "team-building" style game experiences are briefly discussed.

References

[1]
International Game Developers Association, 2006 Casual Games White Paper. http://www.igda.org/casual/ IGDA_CasualGames_Whitepaper_2006.pdf.
[2]
Blanchard, F. A., Weigel, R., & Cook, S. W. The effect of relative competence of group members upon interpersonal attraction in cooperating interracial groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 32, 3(1975), 519--530.
[3]
Deutsch, M. An experimental study of the effects of cooperation and competition upon group process. Human Relations, 2 (1949), 129--152.
[4]
Ellis, J. B., Luther, K., Bessiere, K., & Kellogg, W. Games for virtual team building, Proc. DIS 2008, ACM Press (2008), 295--304.
[5]
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. Cooperation and competition: Theory and research, Interaction Book Co Edina, MN, (1989).
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Mullen, B, Copper, C. The relation between group cohesiveness and performance: An integration. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 2 (1994), 210--227.
[7]
Zhang, J., Bos, N., Olson, J., & Olson, G. Trust without touch: jump-starting long-distance trust with initial social activities. Proc. CHI 2001, ACM Press (2001), 141--146.

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  • (2025)Online experience sharing without explicit social interaction does not foster social bondingCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace10.5817/CP2025-1-319:1Online publication date: 30-Jan-2025
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  • (2023)Games in Times of a Pandemic: Structured Overview of COVID-19 Serious GamesJMIR Serious Games10.2196/4176611(e41766)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2023
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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CSCW '08: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
    November 2008
    752 pages
    ISBN:9781605580074
    DOI:10.1145/1460563
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Publication History

    Published: 08 November 2008

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    Author Tags

    1. casual gaming
    2. game design
    3. interpersonal attraction
    4. multiplayer games
    5. online games
    6. relationships
    7. teambuilding

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    CSCW08: Computer Supported Cooperative Work
    November 8 - 12, 2008
    CA, San Diego, USA

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    View all
    • (2025)Online experience sharing without explicit social interaction does not foster social bondingCyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace10.5817/CP2025-1-319:1Online publication date: 30-Jan-2025
    • (2023)Acculturative game design with Latine communities: a bridging review on acculturative stress, behavior change, and serious gamesFrontiers in Education10.3389/feduc.2023.12319078Online publication date: 27-Oct-2023
    • (2023)Games in Times of a Pandemic: Structured Overview of COVID-19 Serious GamesJMIR Serious Games10.2196/4176611(e41766)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2023
    • (2023)A Shared Intentionality Account of Uniquely Human Social BondingPerspectives on Psychological Science10.1177/17456916231201795Online publication date: 26-Oct-2023
    • (2023)Social gamingComputers in Human Behavior10.1016/j.chb.2023.107851147:COnline publication date: 1-Oct-2023
    • (2022)Does Playing Apart Really Bring Us Together? Investigating the Link Between Perceived Loneliness and the Use of Video Games During a Period of Social DistancingFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2022.68384213Online publication date: 11-Feb-2022
    • (2021)The Labor of Fun: Understanding the Social Relationships between Gamers and Paid Gaming Teammates in ChinaProceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445550(1-15)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
    • (2020)How Passion for Playing World of Warcraft Predicts In-Game Social Capital, Loneliness, and WellbeingFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2020.0216511Online publication date: 15-Sep-2020
    • (2020)Designing and Evaluating 'In the Same Boat', A Game of Embodied Synchronization for Enhancing Social PlayProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376433(1-14)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
    • (2019)Joining Together OnlineProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/33592503:CSCW(1-27)Online publication date: 7-Nov-2019
    • Show More Cited By

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