Psychometric properties of the Arabic Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire

The Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire (MOGQ) is a widely used instrument for assessing seven motivational domains underlying gaming behavior, yet no validated Arabic version exists despite the widespread use of Arabic across the Middle East and North Africa and the rapid growth of digital gaming in these regions. This study validated an Arabic version of the MOGQ among Saudi online gamers.

Following International Test Commission guidelines, the MOGQ was translated into Arabic through expert panel consensus. A sample of 303 Saudi gamers (60% female; M age = 29.79 years, SD = 8.83; age range: adolescents to middle-aged adults; 60% from Eastern Region; 54% bachelor's degree; 50% single; 42% employed) completed the Arabic MOGQ and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analyses, exploratory factor analysis (EFA; n = 150), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; n = 153), concurrent validity correlations, and multi-group measurement invariance testing.

The Arabic MOGQ demonstrated excellent internal consistency for the total scale (α = .96, ω = .96) and satisfactory to strong reliability for all seven subscales (α range: .78-.85). An exploratory two-factor structure, explaining 49.20% of variance and corroborated by parallel analysis, emerged in the calibration subsample, distinct from a separate confirmatory test of the theoretically hypothesized seven-factor model conducted in an independent validation subsample; the seven-factor model was retained, though with modest fit indices falling below several conventional benchmarks (CFI = .84, TLI = .82, RMSEA = .10, SRMR = .08) and significant standardized factor loadings (.58-.85). All motives correlated significantly with gaming disorder symptoms (r range: .29-.62), with fantasy, social, and escape showing the strongest associations. Measurement invariance testing established metric and scalar invariance across gender; residual/strict invariance could not be separately tested under the ordinal specification.

The Arabic MOGQ is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing gaming motivation among Saudi online gamers, providing an empirical foundation for cross-cultural research and culturally informed clinical practice across Arabic-speaking populations, pending further validation in other national and regional contexts.