THE IMPACT OF ONLINE GAMES ON HEALTH AND BEHAVIOR OF PLAYERS

Introduction

In this fast-paced modern world, technology becomes naturally part of people’s daily

lives. Many of the current technologies are the source of entertainment and have become

indispensable (Quwaider, Alabed & Duwairi, 2019). Technology, specifically computers and

mobile phones with its developed online games, are mostly the source of entertainment. Online

games have become more effective source of entertainment because the games are more active

compared to watching televisions (TV) (Zamani, Chashmi & Hedayati, 2018). The development

of online games has brought more interaction and interest among the players.

On the other hand, there are studies made which emphasizes the negative impact of

online games on players’ health and behavior. Negative effects of online games such as

stimulating anger and violence, costing a lot of money, and physical and mental health problems

are much higher than the positive effects of the game such as increasing the coordination of eyes

and hands (Zamani, Chashmi & Hedayati, 2018).

The researcher made this study to identify and better understand the impact of online

games to behavior and health on players of senior high school students of Bagac National High

School (BNHS)-Parang. Also, once negative impacts are identified, there will be an increase of

possibility to develop ways to minimize if not totally eradicate its negative effects. This study is

participated with 50 senior high school students, 25 of which are males and 25 are females and

age ranging from 16-19 years old. It is conducted around the vicinity of BNHS.

To conduct the study, researcher made the student-participants read the informed consent and

affix their signatures if they agree to the terms and leave it blank if they do not. A cover story
will be created to remove any suspicion from the participants. In the cover story, participants will

be asked to report on their mood throughout the experiment because mood had previously been

found to influence memory. After this, they will answer the pre-test measure consisted of online-

games-addiction-related questions to remove the outliers through cut score. Students who get

high scores from the first questionnaire will be the sample of the study and will proceed

throughout the process. The sample will answer the second questionnaire to predict and identify

the impact of online games to their health and behavior. In keeping up with the cover story,

participants will also be informed to answer a short memory task on the test paper in order to

match the cover story. The memory task will contain a list of 30 words which is not related to

online games. This brief task will be shown for 1 minute and they will be asked to jot down as

many words that they could possibly remember from the 30-word list. Finally, the participants

will be debriefed after completion of the study.

The researcher will answer the research problems: (1) What are the effects of online

games to players’ behavior? (2) What are the effects of online games to players’ health? (3) Why

do players spend time on online games? And (4) What online game(s) are/is mostly played?

The research study has four null hypotheses: (1) Online games does not have an effect to

players’ behavior? (2) Online games does not have an effect to players’ health? (3) Players does

not spent much time on online games, and (4) No online game is mostly played.
Methodology

This descriptive correlation study aims to determine the impact of online games on

behavior and health of players of Bagac National High School (BNHS)- Parang.

The sample population are senior high school students of BNHS-Parang, both male and

female, ages between 16-19 years old. The researcher made this study to identify and better

understand the impact of online games to behavior and health on players of senior high school

students of Bagac National High School (BNHS)-Parang. Also, once negative impacts are

identified, there will be increase of possibility to develop ways to minimize if not totally

eradicate its negative effects. This study is participated with 50 senior high school students, 25 of

which are males and 25 are females and age ranging from 16-19 years old. It is conducted around

the vicinity of BNHS.

To conduct the study, researcher made the student-participants read the informed consent and

affix their signatures if they agree to the terms and leave it blank if they do not. A cover story

will be created to remove any suspicion from the participants. In the cover story, participants will

be asked to report on their mood throughout the experiment because mood had previously been

found to influence memory. After this, they will answer the pre-test measure consisted of online-

games-addiction-related questions to remove the outliers through cut score. Students who get

high scores from the first questionnaire will be the sample of the study and will proceed

throughout the process. The sample will answer the second questionnaire to predict and identify

the impact of online games to their health and behavior. In keeping up with the cover story,

participants will also be informed to answer a short memory task on the test paper in order to

match the cover story. The memory task will contain a list of 30 words which is not related to

online games. This brief task will be shown for 1 minute and they will be asked to jot down as
many words that they could possibly remember from the 30-word list. Finally, the participants

will be debriefed after completion of the study.

The researcher will answer the research problems: (1) What are the effects of online

games to players’ behavior? (2) What are the effects of online games to players’ health? (3) Why

do players spend time on online games? And (4) What online game(s) are/is mostly played?

Statement of the Problem

A) What are the effects of online games to players’ behavior?

B) What are the effects of online games to players’ health?

C) Why do players spend time on online games?

D) What online game are/is mostly played?

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