Children's choice of games: The influence of prosocial tendency and education-level

Abstract

This study employed the uses and gratifications approach to examine children's choice of gaming genres. The measure of prosocial behavioral tendency was used as an approximation of a child's offline gratification, and this was related to the exposure to three different genres of games (violent, aggressive and prosocial). The influence of education level was also taken into consideration. Data was compiled and analyzed from a survey conducted on Singaporean schoolchildren (N = 2,640). Overall results supported the supplementary model of gratification seeking behavior. Children with higher prosocial scores spent significantly less time playing violent and aggressive games, whereas children of a higher education level spent more time playing games of all genres. The results are presented and discussed. © 2009 Springer.