The influences of online gaming on leadership development

Abstract

This study seeks to identify the effects gameplay has on leadership behaviors and establish how video games can be use as a didactic tool for leadership development. The leadership behaviors, present in both multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBA) and the real world, are identified. A selfreport questionnaire that categorizes respondents’ game roles (carry, support, ganker) and real-world leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) was conducted. Through contingency leadership theory, this study found that the continuous practice of specific game roles in MOBAs facilitates development of real-world leadership styles. Effects of gameplay on leadership behaviors were estimated using propensity score matching and doubly robust estimation. The empirical analyzes revealed that game players who predominantly play a specific role in games exhibit stronger real-world behaviors of the corresponding leadership style. This study concludes that playing video games helps improve leadership skills and leadership style development.