Interpersonal capitalization in esports enhances players' psychological resources and well-being

Interpersonal capitalization refers to psychosocial benefits derived from communicating personal accomplishments to others and receiving active-constructive (enthusiastic) feedback. Little is known about the extent to which interpersonal capitalization generalizes to the digital environment of esports. In esports, players compete through video games, seeking accomplishments and often communicating with other players. Building upon interpersonal capitalization theory, we hypothesized that players who more frequently communicate their accomplishments to others and perceive more active-constructive responses would experience enhanced psychological resources (self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism), thereby improving both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. In contrast, perceived active-destructive feedback (e.g., demeaning feedback pointing out the downsides of the accomplishment) would be associated with lower psychological resources and well-being. Esports players (N = 291, 50.2% male) completed a two-wave online survey with measurements four weeks apart. We found that players who perceived more active-constructive feedback were more likely to increase optimism (direct effect) and positive emotions (indirectly via increased optimism) over the next month. Perceived active-destructive feedback predicted decreases in self-esteem, and players with lower self-esteem were more likely to exhibit more gaming addiction symptomatology. These findings are the first to present specific pathways through which esports players benefit from shared accomplishments and feedback. It highlights the viability of interpersonal capitalization in digital social environments.