Abstract

Inactivity and its negative implications on health, well-being and quality of life are a global issue with around 40% of adults in the UK not meeting physical activity guidelines currently sat out by the government. Modern sedentary lifestyle behaviours, such as excessive Internet and video game participation, are contributing factors to this issue. With the rise of households having accessibility to high speed connectivity and devices with the ability to access the Internet and play video games these behaviours are likely to increase. Motivation, Addiction and Sensation Seeking were measured in gamers and surfers using a self-report questionnaire survey. It was thought that both gamers and surfers would share facets of these psychological aspects although participation in their chosen activities usually require different energy expenditures and take place in contrasting environments. Gamers and surfers do share similarities in eight out of the ten aspects of Motivation, Addiction and Sensation Seeking that were measured and showed significantly higher results in measures of Sensation Seeking and Intrinsic Motivation when compared to wider population norms. These findings suggest that both gamers and surfers, in this study, have similar psychological make ups and both groups could be described as intrinsically motivated sensation seekers who have similar levels of risk of addiction to their chosen activities. Therefore the activity of surfing could potentially be used as an intervention or therapeutic lifestyle change that would fulfil important psychological requirements. This would assist in enhancing the health, through exercise, the well-being, through participation in the outdoors environment and therefore the overall quality of life of individuals participating in a sedentary lifestyle behaviour, such as excessive Internet or video gaming.

Keywords

Motivation, Addiction, Surfing, Gaming, Sensation Seeking

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2018

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