The Process Model of Gameplay to Understand Digital Gaming Outcomes

Abstract

Common conceptions of digital gaming often allude to its role in promoting aggression, yet little is understood about its function as enjoyable leisure. This alternative lens permits a more comprehensive account of the way in which gaming may hold equivalent benefits to that of other leisure. In developing a rationale for this solution, this chapter evaluates theoretical models explaining the processes through which digital game violence can translate into aggressive behavior. Here, there is a suggestion that these models are too restrictive in accounting for diverse gaming outcomes, suggesting that theoretical frameworks need to be sufficiently complex to account for a wider set of influences. Leisure theory is presented as a framework for understanding diverse gameplay experiences and their impact on gaming outcomes. This framework presents an alternative to the traditional focus of much research by suggesting that differential outcomes of gaming occur as a result of interactions between personal and contextual factors, as well as the dynamic process of gameplay itself.