Personality, motivations, and information quality: A comparative study across games for human computation

Abstract

The popularity of games has motivated their adoption for pursuits beyond entertainment. One of the emerging strategies is the Human Computation Game (HCG) which channels players' time spent on games toward problem solving. Unlike entertainment-oriented games, players of HCGs contribute output as a byproduct of gameplay. In this paper, we investigate the relationships between personality traits and motivations, and the differences in perceived information quality across HCGs with collaborative and competitive gameplay styles. Using a within-subjects experimental design, 125 participants were recruited from two local universities. The findings demonstrate that the interaction between personality traits and gameplay styles influenced players' satisfaction of the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness,. Further, perceived information quality was found to differ across HCG types.