The effects of narcissism and self-esteem on immersion in social network games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games

Abstract

Recent research has shown growing interest in the process by which narcissism triggers immersion in social network games (SNG). Highly narcissistic individuals are motivated not only by the achievement of goals and monopoly of materials (i.e., self-enhancement), but also by comparison and competition with others (i.e., social comparison). We predicted that the common rules and environments of SNG and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG), such as systems of exchanging items and ranking players, facilitate immersion of highly narcissistic individuals during the game. Structural equation modeling of data from 378 SNG players and 150 MMORPG players recruited online showed that self-esteem inhibited game immersion, whereas narcissism increased game immersion via motivation for goal attainment. SNG players were more likely to be immersed in the game via motivation for goal attainment than MMORPG players. These findings suggest that, compared with MMORPG, the environments of SNG provide strong incentives not for those high in self-esteem who seek acceptance of others, but for those high in narcissism who are motivated by self-enhancement via competition with others.