Researchers combed through 478,912 Reddit comments from parenting groups talking about Roblox. Their top worry was digital safety and moderation (24.5%), with in-game spending close behind (15.2%). Screen time itself ranked lower than money, safety, and kids' feelings. doi.org/10.1186/s403...

A review of 48 studies on toxic behavior in online games: researchers find 4 incompatible ways the field defines 'toxic' (umbrella, subconcept, impact-based, intent-based) and argue that's making findings hard to compare across studies. doi.org/10.1177/2152...

Hey, I'm on three panels next weekend at the sci-fi and fantasy convention Archon (archonstl.org)! I'll be talking about the future of TTRPGs, imposter syndrome among writers and other artists, and about Project Hail Mary. Gonna bring psychology angles to all those. Come see me if you're there!

Study: ~350 students were surveyed on why they game and how they feel after: 64% use gaming to cope with stress. Playing for story, social connection, or escapism predicted more positive feelings. Playing for autonomy/exploration cut negative emotions the most. doi.org/10.3389/fcom...

Frontiers | Motivations for the use of games in coping and emotional regulation

IntroductionThis study explores motivations for the use of video games in coping, using the twin theoretical lenses of mood management and stress response th...

doi.org

Year-long ethnography of a Japanese Splatoon 3 Discord: players joined to improve their skill, stayed for belonging. The server flattened workplace-style hierarchy and let members be someone other than their 'real world' role with friendships moving offline. doi.org/10.1177/2056...

Experiment (174 undergrads, same Dimension 20 D&D actual play episode): viewers told to focus on the STORY felt more transported and more parasocially bonded to the cast than viewers told to track dice rolls. Comprehension didn't differ — attention framing did. Unsurprising. doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...

An actual study finds that heritage-themed serious games cut state anxiety more than ordinary games. The mechanism ran through cultural identity and place attachment, not just distraction like other research on games & stress. doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...

Frontiers | Beyond entertainment: cultural–psychological mechanisms underlying the reduction of state anxiety in heritage-based serious games

Anxiety has become an increasingly prominent mental health concern among university students, highlighting the need for effective and engaging intervention a...

doi.org

I'm not affiliated, but here's a study recruiting adults for Playing with Emotion, an online research study examining video games and mood. If you’re 18+, you can participate from your phone or computer in about 10–15 minutes at playingwithemotion.com

A rare RCT actual experiment of TTRPG players appears! 3 weekly D&D-style sessions boosted meaning in life and cut existential anxiety (N=23). ...But so did a plain reflection-discussion control group, with no significant difference between them. doi.org/10.1007/s442...

Loot boxes! 490 loot box openings across 13 livestreams: 93% happened in multi-opening streaks, not one-offs. Monetization cues (offers, currency displays) drove opening streaks more than rare rewards did. Streamers talking about restraint didn't actually stop them. doi.org/10.3389/fpub...

Quasi-experimental study: first-year college students who played 5 weekly Dungeons & Dragons sessions showed bigger drops in college stress and better emotional adjustment than a no-intervention comparison group. Neat! Though it was a small, non-randomized sample. doi.org/10.1080/1540...

Six Twitch Partners on being an accidental mental-health resource for their communities: real benefits, real strain, and monetization complicating their own coping strategies. Small qualitative study, but a first look at this angle. doi.org/10.3390/bs16...

Rolled credits on Big Walk and I absolutely love this game! Puzzle solving requiring coordination of actions and information. Chill stretches of traversal requiring just navigation and sticking together. Game has never made me feel more present with other players. Gotta write on the psychology of it

Meta-analysis of 133 studies, 14,245 participants: gaming shows a small overall cognitive benefit vs. controls, mostly in memory, plus edges in spatial ability, visual attention, and cognitive control. Genre and demographics didn't change the picture much. doi.org/10.1016/j.ac...

I wrote about in-person vs. online D&D in my book. Related: survey of TTRPG players shows in-person gave more meaningful social support than virtual ones, though virtual play still helped and was more accessible. Game masters gave significantly more support than players. doi.org/10.1177/2161...

Trolling judgments and retaliation in video games depend on context cues. Researchers used clips of Overwatch players performing emotes over the bodies of others' avatars and looked at what contextual information made this come across as trolling or not. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Systematic review of 14 studies (2013-2025): trans and gender-diverse players who customize game avatars to match their identity report less gender dysphoria and more gender euphoria, especially when other players affirm it in-game. doi.org/10.1080/2689...

Let's keep going on the self-determination theory front, but with psychological research on Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeon Masters' style shapes whether players' basic psychological needs are met. I wrote about this in my book on the psychology of D&D, too! PDF available. journals.uu.se/IJRP/article...

Dark Souls & self-determination theory: Qualitative content analysis of Reddit comments found punishing difficulty paired with meaningful choice and community support maps cleanly onto SDT's competence, autonomy, and relatedness. doi.org/10.24016/202...

I swear, half my feed is about AI. The other half is about Dungeon Crawler Carl. Stahp.

Guidance counselor: What do you want to do when you grow up? Me: Use Microsoft Authenticator eight to ten times per day to repeatedly log into the same three apps Guidance counselor [writing in notebook]: Absolute legend.

Spent the last 30 minutes trying to log into my Xbox. Dealing with resetting my password using forms that didn’t accept controller input and getting error messages randomly. What a lousy user experience.

Is it weird I wanted to fight this guy in my D&D game last weekend just so we could use the mini?

Sometimes I still think about the Wallgreens cashier who asked if I wanted to buy a king-sized Snickers since all proceeds went to fund diabetes research.

I've gotten multiple scam emails asking to feature one of my books in a virtual book club meeting ...for a fee. Weirdly, getting targeted like this makes me feel like a real author somehow.

Heading to New Orleans tomorrow for the Society for I-O Psychology annual conference! Looks like every other panel is about AI and IO. Anyone else seeing this going to be there?

Have you written a non-fiction book about Dungeons & Dragons or other TTRPG? Something that's NOT a source book, a rules expansion, adventure, or a book about how to play the game? I'm putting a panel together for #GameholeCon this year and could use another author or two. Hit me up!

[Every Weyland-Yutani Project Manager sitting down with their morning coffee to read their email]: Okay, time to read this status update on the team we sent to capture and contain that alien bioweapon. ... Ah, beans.

It is once again time for this image.

Ooh, Crash Course is doing a unit on scientific thinking! Cool. The first video on cognitive bias is great: youtu.be/d2r7Bk1NlgU?...

Introduction to Cognitive Bias: Crash Course Scientific Thinking #1

YouTube video by CrashCourse

youtu.be