An Examination of Esports Players' Participation Motivations and Flow States
Keywords:
Esports, Digital games, Gaming motivation, Flow experienceAbstract
Despite being a rapidly growing sector intertwined with many major industries worldwide, and despite numerous studies abroad, esports is still in its infancy in Turkey and requires further research. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors motivating esports players in Turkey to participate in esports and to examine their flow experiences. 570 esports players participated in the study, reached through a snowball sampling technique. Data were collected using a demographic information form, the esports participation motivation scale developed by Öz and Üstün, and the recreational flow experience scale developed by Özdemir, Ayyıldız Durhan, and Akgül. The results showed that men had higher levels of flow experiences, while women had higher levels in the anxiety sub-dimension. Male participants were found to have higher motivation to participate in esports compared to female participants. Significant differences were observed in all sub-dimensions and total scores except for the relational self and leisure time evaluation sub-dimensions of esports participation motivation. Participants with longer gaming experience showed higher levels of flow and motivation. A high correlation was found between flow experience and motivation to participate in esports.
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