Cakrawala Pendidikan
Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan
Vol. 44 No. 1, February 2025, pp.177-186
https://journal.uny.ac.id/index.php/cp/issue/view/2822
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v44i1.50434

The impact of online gaming on psychological and social well-being
among college students in Brunei Darussalam
Salwa Mahalle*, Fifi Faulina Zailani
Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei
*Corresponding Author: Author: salwamahalle@ubd.edu.bn
ABSTRACT
Online gaming is becoming popular among teenagers as adults. The impacts of playing games may be
positive or negative. Hence, the research aims to determine the impacts of online gaming on one’s social
and psychological well-being, specifically in terms of how online gaming affects students’ social integration
and social interactions and how online gaming is related to depression. The participants in this study are
180 college students, and data was analysed quantitatively. The findings revealed that among the college
students, the majority identified as explorers (33%), followed by achievers (30%), killers (24%), and
socializers (13%). The study indicated that while moderate gaming can enhance social integration, excessive
gaming is linked to increased feelings of loneliness and depression. Students who spent less than three hours
gaming maintained their real-life social relationships, suggesting that controlled gaming can coexist with
healthy social interactions. Conversely, those who experienced feelings of loneliness in-game were more
likely to report depressive symptoms, highlighting the importance of social support in mitigating negative
psychological outcomes. In conclusion, online gaming does not inherently harm social and psychological
well-being; rather, gaming time management and the nature of social interactions determine its impact.
Recommendations include promoting awareness of mental health issues related to gaming and encouraging
students to seek support when needed.
Keywords: online gaming, psychological and social well-being, college students
Article history
Received:
06 June 2024

Revised:
31 July 2024

Accepted:
25 October 2024

Published:
27 January 2025

Citation (APA Style): Mahalle, S., & Zailani, F. (2025). The impact of online gaming on psychological
and social well-being among college students in Brunei Darussalam. Cakrawala Pendidikan: Jurnal Ilmiah
Pendidikan, 44(1), 177-186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v44i1.50434

INTRODUCTION
Internet use is inevitable in the present era of modern technology and globalization as it has
become an integral aspect of life for communication and networking with people worldwide. The
Internet can be perceived in many ways as being useful, particularly for seeking almost any
information or knowledge and skills, for work or leisure, and in promoting business and
marketing; this includes the increasing growth of business for online gaming (Ku & Gupta, 2008).
The Statistical Portal (2018) has shown an astounding 912 million video gamers in 2016 in Asia
Pacific, whereas in North America, the number of gamers reached 200 million. According to the
Entertainment Software Association (2015), in the United States alone, the number of people who
play video games is 155 million, with an average of two gamers in each U.S. household and four
out of five U.S. households owning a device used to play video games.
For individuals, online gaming often offers opportunities not only to achieve the
satisfaction that comes with the concept of playing in the game but probably more than just that;
that is to socialize, interact and engage with people not just within their proximity but also beyond
that as in anywhere within or outside the country. The study of Griffits et al. (2004) indicated that
35% of players’ motivation to play was to socialize and group with other in-game players. More
recent studies examining motivation for online gaming reported that the social aspect of gaming
indeed plays an essential role in keeping gamers online with their online counterparts (Domahidi,

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Breuer, Kowert, Festl, & Quandt, 2018; Frostling-Henningsson, 2009). According to FrostlingHenningsson (2009), young adults perceived their motivation to stay online due to the kind of
social connection with their counterparts, which was achievable through ‘cooperation,
communication, control, escapism, flow, experience, and as a hallucination of the real’ (p.561).
Research evidence also shows that to achieve high social support, online gamers may need to
continue to stay close to each other during offline activities (Trepte, Reinecke, & Juechems,
2012).
Domahidi et al. (2018) describe social support as an index of relationship quality which
depends on the kinds of social resources achieved through active interaction with others. These
social resources are comprised of specific supportive behaviours, which can be further divided
into ‘tangible or instrumental support and emotional or esteem-enhancing support’ (Malecki &
Demaray, 2003, p. 232). The latter types of social support are known to have important roles that
impact an individual’s overall sense of well-being and psychological and physiological health
(Morelli, Lee, Arnn, & Zaki, 2015). Further, online gamers with high social support are convinced
that they have gained care, respect and recognition as part of the social network and mutual
assistance (Kaczmarek & Drazkowsi, 2014). Those studies imply that the consequences of
prolonged online gaming may be determined by the kind of social support the players gain from
online gaming. An increasing number of research studies have now begun to show the impacts of
online gaming on an individual’s psychological and social well-being due to the kind of social
support gained from online activities (Holt-Lundstadt, 2015; Kaczmarek & Drazkowski, 2014;
McLean & Griffiths, 2019)
Thus, the present study aimed to explore the impact of online gaming, particularly in
looking at the level of social support (as defined by the different characters they chose in video
games) on the gamers’ psychological and social well-being. The following section presents some
findings from related studies on the impacts of online gaming on psychological well-being and
how the consequences of online gaming can also lead to loneliness and depression
The present study explores the psychological well-being of an individual when playing
online games. Ryff and Keyes (1995) proposed that psychological well-being includes six distinct
positive psychological aspects: self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, positive
relations with others, environmental mastery, and autonomy.
Recent studies have shown that playing games online can be rewarding and motivating for
players who have achieved continuous success and recognition from fellow gamers, promoting
positive psychological well-being. According to Chen and Duh (2009), one of the aspects of
understanding players’ motivation in online gaming is self-development, which addresses the
players’ needs to establish their ideal online selves as their alter egos and to gain achievement and
a sense of belonging to a community.
Despite the advantages it has for players, online gaming can also be harmful towards the
well-being of the players, such as being addicted to gaming (Van Rooij et al., 2011), difficulty
taking control over certain behaviours during gaming, which may lead to mental health concerns
such as anxiety and depression (Mandryk & Birk, 2017), or compulsive gaming which often leads
to addiction (Przybylski et al., 2009). In fact, the American Psychiatric Association has recently
added Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) in the manual as a work-in-progress temporary disorder,
which warrants more research to be conducted (Paulus, Ohmann, von Gontard, & Popow, 2018).
Further, online gaming can lead to behavioral changes depending on the context of social
gaming (McLean & Griffiths, 2013). Playing games, with constant exposure to violent video
games, may lead to behavioral changes such as displays of physical and verbal aggression and
low empathy (Anderson & Dill, 2000; Grusser et al., 2006)) although the conclusions about the
harm brought by violent video games are yet to be conclusive (Boyle, Connolly, & Hainey, 2011).
Nevertheless, other behavioural changes due to online gaming may be associated with a feeling
of lower self-worth, which leads to feelings of loneliness and unworthiness (McLean & Griffiths,
2019), especially when there is low social support. There is also evidence showing the impacts of
prolonged time used for playing games on the mental health of the player (Wei, Chen, & Huang,
2012; Peng & Liu, 2010)
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For the present study, both loneliness and depression were also explored to explain whether
both psychological constructs correlate with each other.
For this study, the feeling of loneliness will also be investigated as it is intertwined with
one’s psychological-emotional condition. Based on evidence from previous research, men who
experience feelings of loneliness are often associated with the quality of their relationship with a
spouse or partner. Meanwhile, for women, the absence of wider social networks may lead to
loneliness (Bernard, 2013).
Depression is a mental state of depressed mood characterized by feelings of sadness,
despair and discouragement (Seay, 2006). Depression is often correlated with feelings of low selfesteem, guilt, withdrawal from social contact with others, bad eating behaviour and sleep
disturbances. In online gaming, when one experiences depression which is due to low social
support, it means that the individual frequently feels lonely due to receiving less or no social
support from others.
The present study examines the impacts of online gaming on students’ psychological and
social well-being. Whether the impacts are positive or negative on their well-being, the students
would acknowledge these and how counselling can help overcome any psychological and social
distress. Specifically, the objectives are to examine whether the level of support from online
gaming impacted students’ social integration in-game and psychological well-being. To examine
the relationship of loneliness from online gaming with depression in students.
The conceptual framework for the present study illustrates the social support received from
online gaming, which is the focus of the analysis to explore the impact of online gaming on college
students’ psychological and social well-being. The researcher would examine students’ social
support levels from offline and online friends. Then, the researcher would find out if students are
socially integrated with their gaming team members and social organization in the online game
they play. Would it affect real-life social relationships? They would have fewer interactions with
real-life social relationships, such as siblings, non-gamers, friends, etc.
The study also aimed to explore how students perceived themselves as experiencing the
feeling of loneliness and whether loneliness was associated with low social support from in-game
and offline friends. Further, it was also aimed to observe any correlations between feelings of
loneliness and feeling depressed.

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
Although there are no statistics available on the number of people who play online games
in Brunei, the usage of online gaming is becoming popular and apparent. For instance, the Brunei
E-Sports Tournament in 2017 was said to be the biggest gaming event in Brunei in recent years.
The event attracted more than 500 players from across the country. Students may become socially
confident and socially integrated with other players. These positive aspects of gaming need to be
considered by others, especially by the students themselves. Online gaming not only alleviates
the feeling of fun and excitement but also increases social integration and helping behaviours with
other players, not just in the in-game world but also in the outside world. This study hopes to
encourage students to perhaps utilize games to increase the level of social integration.
There is also, however, the need to acknowledge any potential harm which may come with
prolonged games-playing as it may affect in terms of students’ lack of interaction with real-life
social relationships. Students immersed abnormally in the virtual world often fluctuate from their
real-life state, affecting their education and becoming more anti-social.
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Cohen et al (2000) asserted that social support indicates an individual’s relationship quality
and psychological well-being. Social support is achievable during online gaming, as reflected by
the number of studies showing evidence of social integration. A longitudinal study conducted by
Seay (2006) involved 2883 avid gamers who participated in the Project Massive Websurvey
available for all American regions using an online questionnaire. The data was collected over a
14-month period. The findings suggest that active online gaming reduces isolation by promoting
social integration only for gamers who adopted online gaming as a social platform to connect with
real people, particularly with real-life friends and people close to them. The results found that
there is an increased sense of available social support among relatives and loved ones compared
to players who play without relatives and loved ones. The findings also showed that there has
been no significant relationship between online gaming and depression.
The findings supported an earlier study conducted by Durkin and Barber (2002) with young
adolescents who spent time playing games on computers and game consoles. The study indicated
evidence of stronger positive correlations between the players and their relationship with family
members than those who seldom play games. A recent study by Osmanovic and Pecchioni (2016)
with older adults and their younger family members also reported positive outcomes of online
games in improving interpersonal relationships as well as psychological well-being for both age
groups.
Competition and collaboration also allow gamers to share experiences and time with those
close to them and strengthen social bonds online and offline. Yee (2007) claimed that having
parents and siblings playing together online brings benefits, especially how the gaming
environment allows parent to observe their children in social interactions that they usually
struggle to discover in the real world.
Players who like to help their team members are becoming more empathetic and open to
discussions, even if it is related to sensitive issues. According to Griffiths et al. (2011), online
gamers can obtain advice and reassurance by contributing helpful tips, suggestions and
motivations to alleviate the issues that other players are experiencing. This is due to the
‘anonymity’ that online games offer. Talking to other players without knowing who they are or
meeting them in real life makes them comfortable talking about anything. Conversely, there are
also many debates on how gaming can negatively affect the social condition of an individual if
they are immersed too much in the gaming world.
Hussain and Griffiths (2008) studied the comparison between online relationships and
offline relationships and found that the rate of online socialization increased compared to offline
socialization. A self-selecting sample of 119 online gamers ranging from 18 to 69 years of age
completed a questionnaire. Results showed that one in five gamers (21%) said they preferred
socializing online to offline. In contrast, significantly more male gamers than female gamers said
they found conversing online easier. These results supported research done by Smyth (2007).
According to Ryan and Deci (2001), there are at least two broad approaches to defining
psychological well-being, namely the ‘hedonic approach’, which means being happy at most
times, achieving pleasure and avoiding pain. Secondly, the ‘Eudaimonic Approach’ emphasizes
the importance of meaning, self-realisation, and full functioning. Wang and Hang (2021) in their
study categorized game experiences into hedonic and eudaimonic, whereby the former type
focuses on the enjoyment that is brought by the game itself. On one hand, the eudaimonic type
explains values, meanings and purposes of playing that contribute to personal potential and
growth. Their study with 25 avid in-game players demonstrated that they were more attracted to
games that can provide eudaimonic experience. The findings based on in-depth interviews drew
four distinguishing constructs for ‘the satisfaction of key psychological needs such as
competence, relatedness, autonomy, and purpose in life’ (p. 1850). The findings also revealed that
the players achieved social support and social integration, thus enhancing their psychological
well-being.
Other studies have also shown other psychological impacts of online gaming. Gentile et.al
(2009) explored the effects of pro-social video games on students’ interpersonal skills. A total of
115 students from a German University were involved, and it was found that their interpersonal
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empathy increased and reduced their feeling of pleasure for others’ misfortune. Another study by
Prot et al. (2014) explored longitudinal relations between pro-social violent video game use using
a large sample of children and adolescents in Singapore. It was found that video gaming reduces
aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior while increasing pro-social thoughts, empathy and
helping behavior. Whilst acknowledging the psychological benefits which come with online
gaming, it is noteworthy that negative consequences such as loneliness and depression can occur,
affecting the psychological well-being of the gamer.
Reduced psychological well-being can be attributed to loneliness. Research has shown
some evidence of loneliness and depression due to online gaming. Wang, Sheng and Wang (2019)
defined loneliness as a negative experience occurring due to ‘important deficiencies in a person’s
network of social relationships’ (p. 247). Contacting people within one’s social network does not
necessarily eradicate loneliness (Wright et al., 2014). It is how one perceives the quality of the
relationship with others and the kind of social support one gets. For instance, Segrin and
Passalacqua (2010) reported, based on their study with 265 adults, that loneliness was
significantly associated with lower social support and that loneliness mediates the connection
between social support and health. Further, the findings revealed that loneliness is significantly
associated with the number of close family and friends and not with the amount of interaction
with close family members or significant others. The findings suggest that the quality of
relationships with others is more important than the number of people in a social network who
can overcome loneliness.
Strong feelings of isolation and loneliness resulting from the lack of social support have
demonstrated effects on the psychological state, in particular depression, and how lack of social
support leads to loneliness and eventually depression. A study by Han and Richardson (2010)
examined the relationship between loneliness and depression among homebound older persons
consisting of 40 respondents who lived alone in Columbus, Ohio. Results showed that the
relationship between loneliness and depression was statistically significant, indicating that
depression was correlated to loneliness.
In relation to online gaming, a number of studies have begun to show evidence of
significant associations between online game addiction and loneliness. For example, Van Rooij
et al. (2014) reported that highly addictive gamers who are adolescents showed reduced
psychosocial health as measured with a Video game Addiction Test. The findings suggested that
the adolescents, particularly those who were addicted to online gaming, experienced depression
and loneliness, as well as social anxiety and poor self-esteem, and were academically poor at
school. Research evidence has also shown that men who experience feelings of loneliness are
often associated with the quality of their relationship with a spouse or partner, whilst for women,
the absence of wider social networks may lead to loneliness (Bernard, 2013).
METHOD
For this study, a questionnaire was designed to investigate the impacts of online gaming
towards students’ psychological and social well-being. A total of 180 students from one of the
colleges in Brunei were chosen. The age ranges from under the age of 17 to 26 years old and
above. The participants were intentionally selected based on certain criteria, whereby they had to
be college students of Brunei Darussalam and avid gamers playing any online games regardless
of which platform they play or what games they frequently play. The questionnaire consisted of
70 questions, and there were six sections. Kendall's Tau was used to find the correlation between
two variables because normality is not assumed. The main advantages of using Kendall’s Tau are
the distribution of this statistic, which has slightly better statistical properties, and the direct
interpretation of Kendall’s Tau regarding probabilities of observing concordant and discordant
pairs. The researcher conducted a pilot test involving 30 college students aged 17 to 26 years old
and above. From the pilot test, Cronbach’s Alpha test showed that the internal consistency of the
items is 0.70, which is acceptable (Taber, 2018)

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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Findings
The findings based on the descriptive analysis of the responses revealed that among the
college students, most of them like to play games in explorers (33%), achievers (30%), and killers
(24%), and the last games which are social in nature (13%). For the types of gamers obtained
among the students in college, the researchers use Bartle’s Four Player Types. The achiever,
socializers, explorers and killers (Bartle, 2011). The highest type of player’s type amongst the
participants in college, as shown in Table 2, is the Explorers, with 59 students (33%).
Explorers mean that students play games just to find out as much as they can about the
virtual construct of the gameplay, including mapping its geography and understanding the game
mechanics. Understanding game mechanics is as important as it allows players to be able to play
well and progress well in-game. The second highest is Achievers, with 54 students (30%).
Achievers means that players usually play games to gather points, be it gathering experience
points to level up the character, achieving maximum character level, or achieving money and
resources in-game to use as trade, sell or buy other resources.
The third highest is Killers (Figure 2), with 44 students (24%), which means that students
use the game to cause distress to other players and gain satisfaction from inflicting anxiety and
pain on others. The least types of players amongst these college students are Socializers, with 23
students (13%), which means that students use gaming as a virtual construct to converse and roleplay with fellow gamers in-game, to know more about other gamers and about ones’ themselves
(Bartle, 2011). The present research attempts to uncover whether the students are socially
integrated in-game when given support. However, the results suggested that the students are not
socially integrated or committed to playing in-game. This was because most of the participants or
the students who participated in the study were not a “Socializers” type person. Hence, it hinders
the result that online gaming impacts students’ social well-being.

Killers
(24%)
Explorers
(33%)

Achievers
(30%)

Sociolisers
(13%)

Figure 2. Types of gamers or roles among participants

Less than
1 hour (
13%)

6 hours
above
(13%)

3-5 hours ( 1-2 hours (
36%)
38%)

Figure 3. Hours spent on playing Online Gaming
Figure 3 shows the duration they spent playing games: 38% spent around 1-2 hours, 36%
around 3 to 5 hours, and 13% spent less than 1 hour and 6 hours above. The hours of play players
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spend in-game may also impact one’s social and psychological well-being. As the research was
conducted amongst college students, the highest number of gamers spent on gaming was around
1 to 2 hours per day. With many hours of play in-game, students may obtain some kind of
psychological impact and social impact from playing games. However, with the numbers played
are lesser than 3 hours, the results of most hypotheses were not supported. For instance, the level
of social support, social integration and commitment towards their team in-game. It is proven that
when players are socially active in-game, they will have more trusted bonds and boost their social
interactions with fellow gamers while at the same time boosting their confidence and motivation
to play. With lesser hours spent, students may not socially integrate with other players or socially
active with other players. This, in a way, hinders students’ socializing skills.
On the other hand, fewer hours of play spent in online gaming also benefits students’ social
well-being. The result showed that the students did not displace their social relationships in real
life, meaning they still communicate and interact frequently with their family and friends. Hence,
gaming did not hinder their relationship in real life. The number of hours of play is one major
factor that causes this, as students in this study spent only less than 3 hours in the virtual world.
Discussion
What is the relationship between the level of social support towards students’ social
integration in-game and student’s psychological well-being? The research question tries to
unravel whether there is a relation between players receiving high social support would lead
players to be socially integrated and committed to in-game teams or organization, the result shows
that there is no significant correlation between both variables of social support and social
integration as shown in Table 5, which means that there is no relationship between players who
have high social support be highly socially integrated or committed with their in-game
organization or team. Social integration, in this sense, means players are willing to put in a great
deal of effort to help the team, to be loyal to the team, accept almost any type of mission and quest
to help members of the team, feeling extremely happy being in the team, and seeing the team as
an inspiration to be better in performance.
Thus, the research question is trying to see whether there is a relation between students’
social support in-game and students’ and the hypothesis stating that with high social support by
friends in-game, players would be fully socially integrated and committed to playing games is
proven wrong. These could be caused or determined by several factors, specifically in the number
of hours spent playing online games by these participants, as explained in hours of play
participants have spent in online gaming, which was only about one to two hours. Playing less
time in-game can cause players to not be fully socially integrated or interact with the organization
or team in-game.
The negative impact of this is that the students or the participants did not have that social
bond with their fellow gamers. Students who use the gaming domain to create more bonds with
other players will have a much happier and more trusting relationship. As Seay (2006) mentioned,
players use gaming as a medium to communicate and spend time with friends and loved ones.
The study suggests that gaming can be just as useful as any other social platform in sustaining
close relationships with family and friends (Seay, 2006). However, due to having less time to play
games and not being the “Socializer” type of gamer, students received no social bond impact from
online gaming. Due to this, players may be socially withdrawn in-game life, thus affecting their
progression, which may lead to unhappy feelings. But the positive side to this is that when
students are not socially integrated to spend their time on gaming for more than 3 hours, they are
still able to do other things, for example, interacting and communicating well with their real-life
family and friends, finishing daily chores, works, school assignments, outdoor and indoor
activities. It is often the longer hours, typically 8 to 10 hours daily and at least 30 hours weekly,
that one could be regarded as having compulsive gaming behaviour, which is problematic and
raises attention (Paulus et al., 2018).
The researcher wanted to find out if there is a significant relation between players with
feelings of loneliness in-game and feelings of depression, and the hypothesis result is supported.
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This means that players who are experiencing feelings of loneliness have a high tendency to feel
depressed. Feelings of depression include when one has no supportive friends or playing alone
and feeling alone in-game. As inquired in the questionnaires given to participants, the depression
comes from having no support from other players, restless sleeping due to receiving an
unsupportive team, feeling demotivated for having no teams to play with, having trouble focusing
their mind, feeling bad mood when friends ignored or rejected in-game, feeling irritated and angry
when in-game friends isolated them, feeling the difficulties to overcome task alone, feeling lonely
for having no one to play with, fearful to play alone, and feeling bothered by the things that do
not usually bothers them. The study by David et. Al. (1980), on examining the relationship
between loneliness and depression among undergraduates of the University of Los Angeles,
indicated that loneliness and depression were correlated (David, John, Letitia, & Martin, 1980),
hence this strongly justifies the results obtained for this research whereby feelings of loneliness
and depression are inter-related.
The factors determining the feelings of loneliness in-game are mostly caused by having
unsupportive friends in-game. With unsupportive friends, players’ progression and performance
in-game might be delayed or slow, which could lead players to feel irritated, angry, and in a bad
mood. Due to these feelings, it led to depression. Depression is a mood disorder that causes a
persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest, which affects how people feel, think and behave.
Someone who is experiencing depression may have a hard time living in their real life in terms of
interacting with other people, being unable to focus well on finishing tasks and jobs, experiencing
different emotional problems, and jeopardizing one’s health. “The symptoms of major depression
are disabling and interfere with everyday activities such as studying, eating, and sleeping”, as
stated by the National Institute of Health (n.d) on depression and high school students.
CONCLUSION
As for recommendations, playing online games does not always negatively affect one’s
social and psychological well-being. It is how the students themselves determine their own wellbeing. With good control over the time spent online, i.e. fewer hours of playing games, it will not
affect their social life relationship. Students can still socialize with family and friends despite
playing virtually for an hour or two. Online gaming is used to have fun and gain one’s level of
excitement and enjoyment. However, when one cannot control one's feelings, resulting in
experiencing loneliness and depression, it hinders one’s well-being. Thus, as a recommendation,
counselling therapists should be able to promote themselves to colleges across the country to
make students aware and acknowledge that depression is a mental disease and needs further
treatment. Depression is curable if people are willing to put in a great deal of effort to help
themselves.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Special thanks to the college students who participated in this study and Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, who has given permission for the study to be carried out.
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