Led by Psychology lecturers Associate Professor Peter Chew, Dr Patrick Lin and Mr Yow Yong Jie, the study explores how cultural orientation, such as individualism vs collectivism, may influence gaming motivations and the potential for developing IGD – by comparing the gaming behaviours of Singaporean and Australian participants.

The study involved 199 male participants – 101 Singaporeans (55.4% males) and 98 Australians (52.0% males). They completed the following psychometric instruments: the Culture Orientation Scale, the Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire, and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short-Form.

Findings suggest that nationality and cultural orientation play a significant role in shaping gaming motivations, which in turn may influence the likelihood of developing IGD.

“Gamers from different cultures were found to engage in problematic gaming for different reasons, says Associate Professor Peter Chew, Associate Professor in Psychology.

“Singaporeans tend to be collectivistic, meaning they prioritise group over self. As such, they are more likely to play games for social reasons, which can increase the risk of problematic gaming,” he explains.  

“In contrast, Australians tend to be individualistic, where they prioritise self before the group. As such, they tend to play games for competitive reasons, which may also increase the risk of problematic gaming,” he adds.

“This study is the first to examine cross-cultural differences in the pathways leading to IGD, offering significant clinical implications. While cultural orientation itself is not easily changed, the findings suggest that treatment efforts should focus on the motivations driving excessive gaming,” says Mr Yow, Sessional Lecturer in Psychology.

The study also found that vertical collectivism (where individuals accept hierarchy and group loyalty) was linked to competitive gaming. This suggests that some collectivistic players may still be driven by the need to outperform others, particularly in structured ranking systems like those found in online multiplayer games.

Findings suggest that collectivism (both vertical and horizontal) was activated by nationality to enhance social gaming motivation, leading to IGD. However, for individualism, only vertical individualism was activated, which in turn enhanced competition as the motivational factor for IGD. By explaining these mediational pathways, this study not only informs future cross-cultural research but also helps refine treatment efforts aimed at reducing IGD prevalence.

“Practitioners can more effectively adapt treatment efforts to particular cultures if they have a better understanding of why people play, whether it be for competition or social connection. People in collectivistic cultures, for example, might use gaming as their main social interaction tool. In these situations, therapy could concentrate on enhancing social skills in the real world to lessen reliance on online gaming,” says Dr Patrick Lin, Senior Lecturer in Psychology.

PAPER Chew, P.K.H., Lin, P.K.F., & Yow, Y.J. Cross-cultural differences in the pathways to Internet gaming disorder. Asia-Pac Psychiatry (2024). https://doi.org/10.1111/appy.12565

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Contacts

Research team
Dr Peter Chew: peter.chew@jcu.edu.au
Dr Patrick Lin: patrick.lin@jcu.edu.au
Yong Jie Yow: yong.yow@jcu.edu.au

Media: Ms Pinky Sibal pinky.sibal@jcu.edu.au / Ms Hoe Shu Rin shurin.hoe@jcu.edu.au