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A Motivational Model Explaining Performance in Video Games.

Rame Hulaj¹, Markus B T Nyström¹, Daniel E Sörman²

¹Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.

Frontiers in Psychology

|August 8, 2020

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Basic psychological needs like competence and autonomy significantly predict esports performance in Dota 2. Motivation and relatedness did not predict performance, highlighting the importance of practice and skill development.

Keywords:

Dota 2 basic needs extrinsic motivation intrinsic motivation self-determination theory time on task video game performance

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Human-Computer Interaction
Sports Science

Background:

Esports are a rapidly growing global phenomenon.
Understanding factors influencing game performance is crucial for players and researchers.
Previous research has explored various psychological and performance factors in gaming.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the influence of basic psychological needs (competence, autonomy, relatedness) on Dota 2 performance.
To examine the role of different types of motivation in esports.
To determine the impact of time on task (matches played) on matchmaking rating (MMR).

Main Methods:

Data collected from 315 participants via a web-based questionnaire.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) used for data analysis.
Defence of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) matchmaking rating (MMR) used as the performance metric.

Main Results:

Perceived competence and autonomy were significant predictors of MMR performance.
Relatedness and all investigated motivational factors did not predict MMR scores.
Number of matches played (time on task) strongly influenced MMR, emphasizing practice.

Conclusions:

Competence and autonomy are key psychological drivers of esports performance.
Time and practice are critical for developing expertise in video games like Dota 2.
Further research could explore other psychological or game-specific factors influencing esports success.