Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32914/mcpr.14.2.1
VIDEO GAMES AS AN AGENT OF SOCIALIZATION: WHAT DO PARENTS SAY?
Mateja Plenković
; Department of Sociology, Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Marija Plećaš
; Dubrovnik, Croatia
Ivana Brstilo Lovrić
; Department of Sociology, Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The rapid development of the internet enabled the development of video games that became globally available to users in the Internet space. Today, video games have become an increasingly common way of spending free time among children. Entering the virtual world is a space for children to socialize with their peers and a source of entertainment. The demand in the video game market has become more significant and accessible to a broader audience due to the development of various gaming consoles and numerous interesting genres, the most sensitive consumers of which are children. The paper offers a brief overview of definitions, genres, and consumer determinants of video games, after which video games are described as modern agents of socialization. An overview of the previous research on the positive and negative aspects of playing video games was presented. The empirical part of the paper refers to the results of a 2023 survey conducted with 53 parents of children in the seventh and eighth grades of elementary school in Dubrovnik. The research aims to determine parents' opinions about video games' positive and negative socialization consequences. Most parents agree that video games provide entertainment and help with foreign language learning. On the other hand, most parents also believe that playing video games leads to less socializing with friends in person.
Keywords
video games; socialization; children; parents; positive aspects of video games; negative aspects of video games
Hrčak ID:
313668
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2023.
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