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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
07:38
Strategies for Assessing Autistic-Like Behaviors in Mice
Published on: September 20, 2024
935
The associations between autistic characteristics and microtransaction spending.
Tegan Charnock1, Aaron Drummond2, Lauren C Hall3
1School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia.
Scientific Reports
|June 18, 2024
Summary
Autistic individuals show links to problematic gaming and gambling. However, autistic gamers do not spend more on loot boxes when controlling for problematic gaming and gambling behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Game Studies
Background:
- Microtransactions, particularly loot boxes, offer randomized rewards and are psychologically similar to gambling.
- Emerging research indicates a connection between autism spectrum disorder and problematic gaming and gambling behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between autistic characteristics and experiences with excessive video gaming and microtransaction spending.
- To explore potential vulnerabilities in autistic individuals regarding in-game purchases and gambling-like mechanics.
Main Methods:
- Surveying 1178 adults across Australia, Aotearoa, and the United States using Prolific Academic.
- Assessing in-game expenditure, autistic traits, problematic gaming, problem gambling, and loot box use.
Main Results:
- Positive associations were found between autistic characteristics and problematic gaming and gambling symptomatology.
- A small, negative association was observed between autistic characteristics and loot box spending after controlling for problematic gaming and gambling.
Conclusions:
- Autistic gamers may be susceptible to problematic gaming and gambling behaviors.
- The tendency to purchase microtransactions, specifically loot boxes, was not directly associated with autistic characteristics when other factors were controlled.
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