Presentation given at CHI 2016.

1. contextual autonomy
support in video game playa grounded theory
Sebastian Deterding / @dingstweets
Digital Creativity Labs, University of York
May 11, 2016
c b

2. <1>
introduction

3. autonomy experience is part of game enjoyment
Deen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008

4. game design supports autonomy experience
• Meaningful choice in goals, strategies, actions
• Customisation
• Open explorable worlds
• Ability to create and inhabit “ideal self”
Deen 2015, Przybylski et al. 2012, Rigby & Ryan 2011, Sheldon & Filak 2008, Turkay 2013, Weinstein et al. 2009

5. all about
the game

6. what about
the context?

7. Johan huizinga
»First and foremost, all play is
a voluntary activity.«
homo ludens (1938/1950: 7)

8. serious games in school contexts?

9. gamification in work contexts?

10. Lopez 2011, cf. Heeter et al. 2011,
Mollick & Rothbard 2013
first evidence that contexts matters: but how?

11. Research Question
how does the situational
context of video game play
affect autonomy experiences?

12. <2>
theory

13. Edward Deci, Richard Ryan
»To be autonomous means to behave
with a sense of volition, willingness, and
congruence; it means to fully endorse and
concur with the behavior one is engaged
in.«
motivation, personality, and development (2012: 85)

14. autonomy in self-determination theory
• Action is energised and directed by three basic psychological
needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness
• All motives range from controlled to autonomous
• We are energised by multiple motives at once; sum determines
overall autonomy experience -> autonomy need satisfaction
Ryan & Deci 2002, Deci & Ryan 2012

15. spectrum of motives
Deci & Ryan 2012
Perceivedexternal
locusofcausality
Perceivedinternal
locusofcausality
External
extrinsic
introjected
extrinsic
internalised
extrinsic
integrated
extrinsic
intrinsic
overall controlled:
sense of “having to”,
pressure, coercion
overall autonomous:
sense of “wanting to”,
ease, enjoyment

16. <3>
method

17. method
• Semi-structured episodic interviews, 90-120 min. length
• 19 interviewees gaming in leisurely and presumed-low
autonomy contexts: game journalism, design, research, e-sports
• Interviewees invited to narrate experiences of high/low
autonomy, voluntariness, choice, consequence; then compare
contexts and situations
• Coding and analysis of transcribed interviews with MAXQDA
following grounded theory
Corbin & Strauss 2008, Flick 2008

18. <4>
findings

19. mark twain
»If he had been a great and wise
philosopher, like the writer of this book,
he would now have comprehended that
Work consists of whatever a body is
obliged to do, and that Play consists of
whatever a body is not obliged to do.«
the adventures of tom sawyer (1876)
#1

20. »It’s still a game as such, and defined as such, but I
would not say that *I* play it at that moment.«
»sometimes you just have to play, you have to get
further, no matter whether you want to or not. And then,
then that is, then playing is indeed work.«
autonomy not context drives work/play labelling
#1

21. #2
leisure play: license to reconfigure & leave situation

22. »Apart from Counterstrike I would never play any game when I
don’t want to. [...] When Diablo 3 comes out, I will really want to
play it, so I will play it very much. But if I don’t want to play it […]
then I will not play it«
»At the office, [...] I have to focus on the game analytically, and
not say, I let myself go and play the whole day, and at the end no
results. That would be inappropriate.«
#2
leisure play: license to reconfigure & leave situation

23. #3
leisure play: accomplishment of a relaxed field

24. Interviewer: »So that’s the usual process, that you, that you pick a day, and then on that day
start in the afternoon and stop in the evening?
Interviewee: »If it is that way and I can focus on the afternoon, then I also plan it like that,
such that I have finished everything until then, until that point, that could make me go to the
door or interrupt the game.«
»in my private rooms, then I can show any emotion, because there would be nothing
inappropriate in doing so, because I wouldn’t offend anyone with it«
[With a Nintendo DS] I am then mostly in a public surrounding, loud screaming or throwing
that thing in the corner are not an option. Although you would really want to do it, you have to
restrain yourself a bit there and, let’s put it this way, appear a bit more suited for public.«
leisure play: accomplishment of a relaxed field
#3

25. #4
leisure play: minimised socio-material consequence

26. »[When money is involved] there's the pressure that you have to win. Of
course, everybody who plays wants to win somehow. […] Bu::t when it's
about money, that's a real thing, and that you have to work hard for. That
wouldn't have a playful character for me then.«
»when you fail and know: <<I can’t write the review tomorrow>>, because
you actually haven’t reached these and these things, [...] the consequence
then means for instance, that you have to get up in the morning two hours
early to start the game again. And that can be incredibly infuriating.«
leisure play: minimised socio-material consequence
#4

27. »Especially with WoW you somehow had [...] a social coercion behind it. Because
as I said, this reputation and then also the social contexts that you maintained
through it. Or found there. [...Y]ou don’t feel like training in the evening, or
something, and you still go there. Because you feel socially obliged somehow.«
»[When playing with friends not alone] the considerateness for the friends
dominates, for the people with whom I’m sitting there. So then it’s less the case,
that I focus on the game and say: <<I am now, now I am free and can determine
this.>> Instead it’s also more about me being the host, and being a guest of
somebody and still take regard of that.«
regard for others can make leisure play controlling
#5

28. private solitary play is highly autonomous play
#5a

29. autonomy construal as a meta-process
Play becomes controlled when
provided choices mismatch
spontaneous interests and
perceived-controlling motives
keep players from changing or
leaving the situation
#6

30. »In::: 95 percent of the cases no. It's still a hobby. You- it's still a passion.
You enjoy playing it, also because something like:: a professional level
comes in, money and you get around and you get to know new people.
That's nice, no question. And those remaining five percent, those are the
percentages where you say: <<Hm, not training again from seven to ten
pm? Now I could have gone to the movies with my girlfriend.>> For
example. Where you would say: <<I so would have wanted to go with her
to the movies. Damn, damn, damn. Why do I have to train now?>>«
#6
autonomy construal as a meta-process

31. Intrinsically motivated
gameplay
License to (dis)engage
& configure situation
Minimized social and
material consequence
Salient
autonomous motives
Salient
controlled motives
+
+
+
–
–
Construal of action as
autonomous
+
–
Temporal field cleared
from outer demands
Spatial field shielded
from public observers
+
Self-regulation of
attention & emotion
display
Autonomy need
satisfaction
+
+–
Spatial field cleared
from distraction
–
+
–
more in the paper ;-)

32. <5>
ramifications

33. ramifications
Context affects autonomy through license to configure and leave
situation, spatiotemporal relaxed field, minimised consequence
‣ How does context affect other motives and aspects of enjoyment?
‣ Hard to observe this in lab studies: What are ecologically sensitive methods for
discovery and validation?
‣ How can we design autonomy-supporting contexts within controlled
environment, e.g. games in school, gamification at work?

34. conclusions & ramifications
Leisure play can be controlling, play as work autonomous;
autonomy experience drives play/work labelling
‣ Playbour, goldfarming: Explanatory process not essentialist work/play distinction
‣ The more is always not the merrier
Work contexts thwart autonomy through lack of configuration
choice, high consequence, low intrinsic interest
‣ Gamification, serious games don’t (just) thwart autonomy through extrinsic
rewards undermining intrinsic motivation
‣ To control, rewards should be tied to perceived-controlling consequence

35. sebastian@codingconduct.cc
@dingstweets
codingconduct.cc
thank you.