Players control everything from their SimsвЂ™ career choices to their eating habits. First released in 2000, The Sims is a unique computer game that allows players to create and control their own virtual household of people, known as Sims. Recently, both the media and psychologists have shifted attention to a growing phenomenon in the gaming industry: The Sims. Also, a study at Loyola University found that certain online computer games, such as Counter-Strike, foster complex social interactions, which helped remove the stigma that videogame players are socially isolated (Wright, Boria, & Breidenbach, 2002). For instance, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) incorporated biofeedback technology with videogames in order to help increase attention abilities in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Braukus, Henry &, Gardner, 2000). Not until recently have psychologists and sociologists begun studying other aspects of videogames, besides violence and aggression.

Since then, most psychological research on videogames has focused only on negative aspects of this relatively new form of entertainment (Anderson, Funk, & Griffiths, 2004). When the videogame Mortal Kombat was released in 1993, a massive debate erupted over videogame violence. The implications of these results for the use of The Sims 2 as a projective test in clinical psychology settings are discussed. Results indicate personality traits such as neuroticism, openness to experience and conscientiousness, values such as wealth and creativity and other characteristics correlated with specific gameplay behaviours. Afterwards, participants completed a questionnaire that asked detailed questions on how they played the game. Thirty undergraduate university students volunteered to participate in the study, and they were administered a personality test, a values survey and a background information questionnaire before playing The Sims 2 for a total of 10 hours over a six-week span. Apart from these two hypotheses, other exploratory investigations regarding participantsвЂ™ characteristics and gameplay behaviour were conducted in post hoc analyses. Hypothesis 2: Participants will pass their personal values to their Sims for example, participants who place high value on wealth in their own lives will create Sims who earn high incomes. Hypothesis 1: Personality characteristics will relate to gameplay for example, participants who are organized will manage their SimsвЂ™ time more efficiently, and participants who are extroverted will make their Sims more socially oriented.

The goal of this study was to scientifically measure playersвЂ™ personalities and values and find how these characteristics relate to gameplay in The Sims 2. To date, there have been no empirical studies that test whether or not this is true. Self-Portrayal in a Simulated Life: Projecting Personality and Values in The Sims 2 by Thaddeus Griebel AbstractД®ver since the release of The Sims in 2000, there has been talk in the media that people who play the game project aspects of their lives into their Sim characters.

Create a sim free