Comparison of Psychological and Cognitive Characteristics between Professional Internet Game Players and Professional Baseball Players

Jin Oh Kang, Kyoung Doo Kang, Jea Woog Lee, Jae Jun Nam and Doug Hyun Han
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Jin Oh Kang: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06973, Korea
Kyoung Doo Kang: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06973, Korea
Jea Woog Lee: Department of Information & Technology in Sport, College of Sport Science, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea
Jae Jun Nam: Department of Golf, Korea Golf University, Hoeng Seong, Gang won-do 25247, Korea
Doug Hyun Han: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06973, Korea

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: The esports industry is increasing in popularity and is now played at the professional level. We hypothesized that esports players may have a significant advantage over the general population in terms of psychological and cognitive characteristics, which may be similar to that of professional baseball players. We recruited three participant groups: esports players ( n = 55), pro-baseball players ( n = 57), and age- and sex-matched healthy comparison subjects ( n = 60). We assessed psychological status using the Korean versions of Temperament and Character Inventory and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and cognitive functions using the modified Tower of London, Emotional Perception, and Mental Rotation tests. Esports players had similar psychological characteristics to pro-baseball players (higher novelty seeking [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.818], self-directedness [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.757], and self-transcendence scores [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.853], and decreased state anxiety scores [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.808]), which differed from those of the general population. However, esports players showed higher working memory [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.823] and slower emotional perception than pro-baseball players [ p < 0.01 *, ? = 0.812]. In conclusion, esports and pro-baseball players had similar psychological but different cognitive characteristics.

Keywords: esports players; pro-baseball players; character; temperament; anxiety; cognitive functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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