Player behaviour

At its core, a game is an interaction between individuals (including animals) who respond to situations. As individuals, we are unpredictable and cannot be sure of our situations. It is such challenges that provoke the game player to engage in specific behaviour that engages his (refers to ‘she’ also, in this article) time, thoughts and actions. His play helps him to overcome situations and discover more about himself, the unknown and the new. Competition and cooperation are examples of interactions that may explain decisions, strategies, independent factors, and tools and approaches to learn from (Nalebuff and Brandenburger, Co-opetition, Profile Books, 2004).

Player behaviour is a complex mystery hidden in diverse sources and contexts, including a player’s ever-changing notions of his universe. To understand such behaviour, my colleagues, Dr Upinder Dhar and Dr Jigyasu Dubey and I first created an instrument from extant research. Next, we refined it from the expert observations of 45 university teachers, and finally, administered it to 711 university students.

The gist of our insights? Player behaviour emerges from his convictions which are perspectives backed by ready resources, skills and action plans to simplify, understand and respond to situations and likely problems. The study found seven factors such as conviction and uncertainty that described and deepened our understanding of player behaviour.

And here is our paper at this DOI link: 10.1177/10468781241297283

Wherever there are interactions between the young, each factor may offer an explanation of player behaviour from a fresh angle. Whether in teams, organisations or other human systems, a behavioural perspective may provide answers to better productive outcomes.

#interactions #competition #collaborations #coopetition