PIXELS AND PERSONALITIES: INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES, GAMER IDENTITY, VERBAL AGGRESSION, AND RELATIONAL WELL-BEING

Abstract

Online gaming environments pose a visible concern given the ubiquity of online gaming and charges of toxic behaviors enacted by players onto other players. This study attempted to discern what personal factors may contribute to such behaviors. Video game research generally does not focus on underlying personality traits that might predict habitual antisocial behaviors. This study examined the relationships between narcissism, competitive orientation, gamer identity, verbal aggression, and relational well-being in a sample of online video game players (N = 154). It also investigated whether time spent playing video games moderates the relationship between narcissism and relational well-being. Data was collected through Prolific and analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Narcissism significantly predicted verbal aggression (H1a) and positively predicted general, dominance, affectivity, and personal enhancement competitiveness (H1b), all four subscales of Newby and Klein’s (2014) competitive orientation measure. Narcissism positively predicted relational well-being rather than negatively, so H1c was not supported. General competitiveness and personal enhancement significantly predicted gamer identity, offering support for H2. Time spent playing video games did not moderate the relationship between narcissism and relational well-being (H3 was not supported). Findings contribute to communication scholarship by clarifying the role of narcissism in competitive situations, destructive verbal aggression, and their potential effects on relational well-being. Implications for gamer identity formation and gender differences in gaming motives are discussed.