How Much Genes Contribute to Playing Video Games

Parents, our environment, and unique experiences influence our behavior, but so does genetics. But is this true for how much time we spent playing video games? Today's study examines this question, showing how much our genes contribute to playing.

Whenever we talk about video games, we mostly assume playing them. From an evolutionary perspective, researchers try to understand how certain behaviors have evolved into play behavior in human history. So, our drive to play stems from our evolutionary past of playing. Therefore, entertainment media may tap into cognitive functions related to play systems from early human development, suggesting that play is an innate trait.

"... while parents cultivate the common environment that children share in the home and demonstrate learned behaviors to their children, they also pass their genetic makeup to their biological children... which is espoused in their behaviors and social experiences." [1]

So, in this episode we're going to talk biology and its link to gaming. Specifically, the study investigates which genetic factors account for the amount of time spent playing video games. And what's the go-to approach when examining genetics? Right, twins! Research using twins shows evidence for the heritability of media behavior, including political discussion, media use, social media use, and problematic internet and phone use. But why twins? It allows the behavior of twins to be compared and separates genetic from environmental influence. Basically, same genes, same behavior, but different environment? That's a hint towards the influence of genes on behavior. However, twin studies cannot indicate if any genes are related to the behavior, nor can they explain aspects of the environment that may have had an effect.

"Since immediate family members are physically similar due to sharing an average of 50% of their DNA, with identical twin-siblings sharing 100% of their DNA, it is expected that observable behavioral similarities would exist as well." [1]

The researchers used data from 5,472 twins between the ages of 12 and 27. They were asked about their average time spent playing video games on PC and consoles.

👫 Twins Are Alike but Different

The first result the researchers found was that there are correlations between identical and fraternal twin pairs for time spent playing video games (for both console and PC).

"In both cases, the correlations for identical twins are stronger than those of fraternal twins, which is a preliminary indication of genetic influence on differing video game playing behaviors." [1]

The second result was that additive genetic traits (cumulative effects of multiple genes) accounted for 25% of the variance in PC playing time and 39% in console playing time. The common environment accounted for 31% for PC and 9% for console. The remaining variance (44% and 52%, respectively) was attributed to non-shared unique experiences of the two individual twins.

"Importantly, the results show that latent genetic traits are just as influential as social and environmental factors, such as parents and culture, when it comes to video game behaviors, specifically, time spent playing." [1]

Common environmental factors and unique experience factors affect variation in time spent playing video games, but the findings also show the importance of genetics and individual differences.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Cya,

Christian 🙂

References

[1] Hassan, 2023