Gaming behaviours and social versus non-social emotion
Gaming behaviours and social versus non-social emotion
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB)
Video games are more popular than ever, which has led to questions about how frequent gaming affects the way people feel and connect with others. For a small group of gamers, gaming can become a problem that causes stress and interferes with their social lives. In this study, we are interested in whether the amount of time people spend playing video games is related to how they react to emotional videos, both in how they feel and in how their bodies respond.
Healthy Adults
Aged 18-45
Fluent in English
Who can participate in this study?
What is involved?
Participation involves a short online screening questionnaire, followed by one in-person visit to our lab at Western University that takes about 2 hours. During the visit, you will fill out questionnaires about your video game habits, your emotions, and how you feel in social situations. You will then place small sensors on your own chest to measure your heart rate, and we will place sensors on your face to measure small muscle movements. The sensors are painless, attach with gel and sticky pads, and do not involve needles. You will then watch six short videos, each a little over a minute long, showing people, animals, and places, with a rest break before each one. After each video, you will rate how it made you feel.
Principal Investigator & Posting Dates:
Principal Investigator: Derek Mitchell
Study posted on: October 20th, 2026
Recruitment open
Who can I contact to learn more about this study?
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