A new study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking indicates that esports players differ from athletes in terms of two personality characteristics. The research found that esports players were less extroverted and conscientious on average compared to traditional athletes.
Esports, short for electronic sports, refer to competitive video gaming where individuals or teams compete against each other in various video game titles. Esports have gained significant popularity worldwide and have become a professional and organized form of competition. Tournaments, leagues, and teams dedicated to esports have emerged, attracting a large audience and generating substantial revenue.
The researchers were interested in esports due to its status as the fastest-growing area in sports. Esports has met the formal definition of sports as an institutionalized and international form of competition that requires precise movements and high cognitive skills. The researchers noted that despite the rapid growth and popularity of esports, it remains an understudied scientific field.
“I’ve often come across the argument that people should quit playing computer games and instead prioritize ‘traditional’ sports. However, what if this assumption of a one-size-fits-all approach to sports is flawed? What if certain forms of competition are better suited for specific individuals?” said study author Maciej Behnke, a senior researcher at Adam Mickiewicz University.
“It would be truly beneficial if parents and coaches could assist young athletes in selecting or rejecting activities based on their unique personality traits. With this in mind, we ran a study to identify the characteristics that set esports players apart from ‘traditional’ athletes.”
The researchers recruited a total of 868 participants, including esports players and athletes, through a targeted Facebook advertisement. To assess personality, the researchers used the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI-PL) questionnaire, which is based on the Big Five personality model.
The Big Five personality model, also known as the Five-Factor Model (FFM), is a widely accepted framework used to describe and measure human personality. It proposes that personality can be described in terms of five broad dimensions or traits. These traits are considered to be relatively stable and consistent across different situations and over time.
Openness to Experience reflects an individual’s openness, curiosity, and preference for novelty. Conscientiousness relates to organization, responsibility, and self-discipline. Extroversion captures sociability, assertiveness, and preference for external stimulation. Agreeableness reflects cooperativeness, empathy, and consideration for others. Neuroticism relates to emotional stability and the tendency to experience negative emotions.
The study found that esports players were less extroverted compared to athletes. This suggests that esports, which involve less physical social interaction, may attract individuals who prefer indirect forms of interaction. Traditional sports, on the other hand, typically involve more direct social interaction, which may appeal more to extroverted individuals.
Esports players were found to be less conscientious than athletes. This difference may arise from the nature of the activities themselves. Traditional sports usually have well-established clubs and structures that provide a more organized and supervised environment for skill development.
In contrast, esports, particularly in the early stages of a player’s career, may offer less structure and organization. Esports players often train independently and have more flexibility in their training schedules, which may contribute to lower levels of conscientiousness compared to athletes.
“Esports is often presented as displacing traditional sports. In our article, we emphasize that esports is not a substitute for traditional sports, but esports might be a more suitable form of competition for less extroverted and conscientious individuals.”
But the researchers found no evidence that esports players differed from athletes in terms of their openness to experience, agreeableness, or neuroticism.
“When discussing esports with the average person, it is common for them to focus on negative aspects such as aggression, outbursts of anger, and other unfavorable feelings. This prevalent perception might lead one to assume that esports players are more neurotic – a tendency toward negative feelings such as anxiety, depression, and self-doubt. However, contrary to these stereotypes, our findings indicate that esports players do not exhibit significant differences from traditional athletes in this particular dimension.”
But the study, like all research, includes some caveats.
“Naturally, the study’s most significant limitation lies in its correlational design, preventing us from establishing a causal relationship between participation in sports or esports and changes in personality or the development of specific traits.
“To truly understand these relationships, a longitudinal or experimental study would be ideal, where young athletes are intentionally assigned to specific forms of competition. Such a study would be invaluable in determining the true nature of these associations.”
“Esport has gone from being a ‘nerdy’ activity over the past decade to becoming a phenomenon of the most-watched sport among the younger generation. As the popularity of esports continues to skyrocket, it becomes increasingly important to back it up with rigorous scientific research.”
“By conducting high-quality studies, we can prevent biased opinions from forming and gain a deeper understanding of esports and gamers based on empirical evidence. By embracing this approach, we can ensure that the future of esports is supported by evidence-based insights, further propelling its growth and acceptance.”
The study, “Esports Players Are Less Extroverted and Conscientious than Athletes“, was authored by Maciej Behnke, Michał M. Stefańczyk, Grzegorz Żurek, and Piotr Sorokowski.
