Why we play and why it matters: motivations and outcomes of video game play for those with and without schizotypy and schizophrenia

Fillingham-Brown, J.A (2026) Why we play and why it matters: motivations and outcomes of video game play for those with and without schizotypy and schizophrenia. PhD thesis, Bath Spa University. doi: 10.17870/bathspa.00017724

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Abstract

This thesis aims to provide a snapshot of existing research into how video games fulfil motivational needs from the perspective of self-determination theory and build upon it within the context of mental health. Current perspective on recreational video games have focused largely on moral panics surrounding gaming risks, while the potential benefits are often considered in isolation to specific mental health symptoms rather than considering the holistic impact on the individual. Not only this but the broader benefits of recreational gaming, meaning gaming that is engages with for the purposes of entertainment, remains relatively unexplored compared. Firstly, a systematic scoping review was employed to summarise how recreational video games fulfil motivational needs when engaged with healthily and recreationally, identifying three broad ways that game engagement offers fulfilment. The findings suggested that factors external to the game experience can impact how one attains fulfilment from play. It was therefore decided that a follow up study should examine how one's reason to play impacted subsequent motivational fulfilment. Bivariate correlations were then conducted to explore the relationship between one's motivation to play and subsequent motivational fulfilment from gaming engagement. Measures of schizotypy and wellbeing were also included in order to explore whether mental health is impacted by one's play motivations. Results demonstrated multiple correlational links between some motivations to play and the fulfilment attained from play. Following this, an interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted to explore how video games fit into the lives of gamers with schizophrenia. Findings of interviews with nine people with schizophrenia demonstrate that video games are a beneficial activity for managing one's condition. Participants were also aware of the negative impacts on their wellbeing that can come from play and took active steps to manage their gaming habit that would not be needed for those without schizophrenia. Taken together, this thesis summarises how video games offer motivational fulfilment when engaged with recreationally and offers insights into how play can improve the wellbeing of those with, and without, schizophrenia in future.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Keywords:	video games; motivation; self-determination theory; mental health; recreational gaming; schizotypy; schizophrenia;
Divisions:	School of Sciences
Date Deposited:	27 Apr 2026 12:53
Last Modified:	27 Apr 2026 13:05
URN:	https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/17724

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