January 15th 2007.

 Researchers say they’ve found another reason why video games are so hard to give up: They may help fulfill basic psychological needs.

In a study published in the January issue ofMotivation and Emotion, investigators from the University of Rochester and Immersyve Inc. looked at what motivated 1,000 gamers to keep playing video games.

“We think there’s a deeper theory than the fun of playing,” lead investigator Richard Ryan, a motivational psychologist at Rochester, said in a prepared statement.

The gamers were divided into four groups, each asked to play different games. They answered questionnaires both before and after playing the games. The researchers used the questionnaires to look at the underlying motives and satisfactions that can spark players’ interests and sustain them during play.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011500409.html