Motivation to Play and Loneliness Among University Students: Moderating Role of Online Gaming Addiction

This study aimed at examining the relationship of motivation to play and loneliness among university students. It further explored the potential moderating role of online gaming addiction between motivation to play and loneliness among university students. A purposive sample of 304 university students habitual to play multiplayer online games was chosen from the universities of Islamabad. Motives of online gaming questionnaire (MOGQ) developed by Demetrovics et al. (2011), Internet Gaming Disorder Test (Pontes et al., 2014), and UCLA loneliness scale (Russell, 1996) were used to measure study variables. Results revealed that motivation to play has positive relationship with loneliness among university students. Results also confirmed the significant moderation of online gaming, by employing that online gaming addiction has strengthened the relationship of motivation to play with loneliness among university students. The male students have high motivation to play as compared to female students on each subscale of motives of online games questionnaire. Moreover, male university students spent more time playing online games as compared to female university students. This study has implications for parents, educators as well as for academicians in understanding the association of motivation to play, online game addiction and loneliness among youth.