Correlation between determinants of prosocial behavior and life satisfaction in regards to some aspects of gaming

U proteklih je 30 godina procvjetala industrija videoigara kojima popularnost sve više raste. Unatoč tome, istraživanja su u tom području još uvijek malobrojna. Većina dosadašnjih istraživanja fokusirala se na negativne učinke nasilnih videoigara na ljudsko ponašanje, zanemarujući potencijalne pozitivne učinke kao što su razvoj kognitivnih, socioemocionalnih i ponašajnih vještina. Postoje nalazi koji pokazuju mogućnost poticanja prosocijalnog ponašanja i veće empatije kod igrača prosocijalnih videoigara, ali i pozitivan potencijal koji u sebi sadrže čak i nasilne videoigre. U području altruizma i videoigara istraživanja dosad gotovo da i nisu provođena, a u kontekstu zadovoljstva životom videoigre su se promatrale najčešće samo u okvirima ovisnosti o videoigrama. Stoga je cilj ovoga istraživanja bio ispitati postoji li povezanost učestalosti igranja videoigara s odrednicama prosocijalnog ponašanja i zadovoljstvom životom, kao i postoje li razlike u odrednicama prosocijalnog ponašanja i zadovoljstva životom ovisno o preferiranom tipu videoigre na studentskoj populaciji. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da negativna povezanost učestalosti igranja videoigara i prosocijalnog ponašanja postoji bez kontrole spola, a nestaje kad se u obzir uzme samo muški spol. Osim toga, pronađena je i negativna povezanost učestalosti igranja videoigara s empatijom i zadovoljstvom životom, ali nije pronađena povezanost s altruizmom. Također, nisu pronađene nikakve značajne razlike između igrača ovisno o preferiranom tipu videoigre.In the last 30 years, the videogame industry has truly blossomed in its popularity. Despite that, research in that area is still very much scarce. Most research to date focused on negative effects that violent videogames have on human behavior, neglecting potential positive effects such as the development of cognitive, socioemotional and behavioral skills. Some research suggests the possibility of encouraging prosocial behavior and empathy in players who play prosocial videogames, but also a positive potential even violent videogames may have. When it comes to altruism and videogames, research is almost nonexistent, and in the context of life satisfaction videogames were mostly viewed through the lense of addiction. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine if there are correlations between gaming frequency, determinants of prosocial behavior and life satisfaction, and differences between determinants of prosocial behavior and life satisfaction in regards to preferred videogame type as well, on a student population. The results of this research show a significant negative correlation between gaming frequency and prosocial behavior when sex isn't controlled, with this correlation disappearing when only the male sex is considered. Besides that, there was a negative correlation between gaming frequency, empathy and life satisfaction, but no correlation was found in regards to altruism. Also, no significant differences were found among players in regards to preferred videogame type