Award Date

5-1-2015

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Marriage and Family Therapy

First Committee Member

Katherine M. Hertlein

Second Committee Member

Stephen Fife

Third Committee Member

Gerald Weeks

Fourth Committee Member

Lawrence Mullen

Number of Pages

95

Abstract

This study explored the impact online gaming has on a couples relational intimacy. Gaming has become one of the most popular entertainment Medias in the United States with forty-six percent of American homes having a gaming counsel (Nielsen, 2013). Some of these games are online and gameplay cannot be interrupted and takes up much of the user’s time. Therefore, this study set out to discover if this time commitment had an impact on a relationship’s intimacy levels.

This study used data that had been collected in a previous study and reanalyzed it looking for any correlations between the amount of time spent gaming by either partner and the amount of intimacy reported using both the Miller Social Intimacy Scale (MSIS) and Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR). To discover the correlations both a linear regression and a quadratic regression were used.

Results from the tests found that the correlations varied dependent on which regression analysis was used with both having contradictory results. The quadratic regression showing a positive correlation and the linear regression showing a negative correlation.

Keywords

Couples therapy; Gaming; Internet games; Intimacy (Psychology); Marriage; Online; Therapy; Video games

Disciplines

Counseling Psychology | Psychology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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