Online role playing games negatively affect real-life marital satisfaction, according to a new study. The study reports that 75 percent of spouses of sword-carrying, avatar-loving gamers wish they would put less effort into their guilds and more effort into their marriage. The researchers studied 349 couples to learn how online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, affect marital satisfaction for both gamers and their spouses. And in some cases, gaming even increased satisfaction.
It is common knowledge that many couples experience challenges around gaming. Particularly when husbands are heavy gamers, it clearly has a negative impact on their marriages.
What the researchers found confirms popular opinion, with some interesting new details. The study revealed it's not the time spent playing games that caused dissatisfaction, but rather the resulting arguments or disrupted bedtime routines. These issues can cause problems such as poorer marital adjustment, less time spent together in shared activities and less serious conversation, the study reports.
It's not the hours that make a difference, it's really what it does to the relationship - whether or not it creates conflict and quarrelling over the game, the researchers said. The study showed that gaming is dominated by men, but there is a contingent of women gamers who play with their spouses. In those gaming couples where the marital satisfaction was low, the same issues existed. For example, if they argued about gaming and bedtime rituals were interrupted, even though they gamed together, they still had lower marital satisfaction scores.
However, the study found that for couples in which both spouses play, 76 percent said that gaming has a positive effect on their marital relationship. Interestingly, for those who do game together, interacting with each other's avatars - their online persona - leads to higher marital satisfaction. However, both must be satisfied with their mutual participation, especially the individual who plays less.
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