Effectance, self-efficacy, and the motivation to play video games

When communication researchers consider computer games (and video games) as a new form of media entertainment, they typically highlight those games’ interactivity because it is the main feature that distinguishes them from most other kinds of entertainment (Grodal, 2000; Vorderer, 2000). Not only do game players actively process information provided by the medium (as do viewers, readers, and users of other noninteractive media), but they also contribute substantially to the quality and progress of the media product itself. Their decisions and actions determine how a game looks, how it develops, and how it ends. Consequently, most theoretical work on the enjoyment of playing computer games has focused on the issue of interactivity and player action during game play (Klimmt, 2003, 2005). In order to handle modern entertainment software successfully, users must stay alert for most of the playing time and be able to respond quickly and appropriately to incoming new information. Some, if not many, of these responses may be automatized (Bargh, 1997) for efficient execution and conservation of cognitive processing resources. But, in general, the use of computer games should be modeled as a complex and multifaceted kind of action. Therefore, research on the psychology of action (e.g., Gollwitzer & Bargh, 1996; Heckhausen, 1977) offers theories and empirical findings that may help explain why people play and what they do during playing. Adopting the perspective of the psychology of action means searching for motifs (and motivations) of playing