Leisure preferences

An important dimension in the formation of gamer culture is the relation between video games and other leisure activities. In particular, we wanted to understand teenagers' preferences for a variety of recreational activities including video games. We also sought to explore the kinds of activities that kids gave up in order to play games. 

Other leisure activities

The most popular pastimes for teenagers were social and physical activities. Almost all of the youth surveyed said they enjoyed social events such as "hanging around with friends" (91 per cent) or "going into town for food or movies" (83 per cent). A large majority also said they liked physical activities such as playing outdoors (74 per cent) and competitive sports (62 per cent). Generally, few reported disliking these forms of recreation.  

Boys and girls expressed different tastes in leisure activities. For example "hanging around and talking" or "going out on the town" were more popular with girls than with boys, though boys did report enjoying these activities as well. Girls were also much more enthusiastic about going shopping, reading and creative activities than boys. On the other hand, boys enjoyed competitive sports and watching TV more than girls, though girls also enjoyed these activities. The activity that stood out most clearly as a male pastime was video game play. Indeed, for girls this was the activity they disliked most.

When the leisure preferences of heavy players were examined, it was apparent that though these kids did enjoy playing video games they had not overtaken other forms of leisure activities. For example, heavy players preferred hanging around with friends, going out in town, and watching TV to video games. However, heavy players were more likely to enjoy playing games than doing physical activities. 

Interest in video games

In order to establish the appeal of video game play and to see what proportion of kids considered themselves to be "gamers" we asked them to indicate their level of interest in games.  

In general, the appeal of gaming was rather low. The majority of teens said they were just "sort of interested" (46 per cent) or not interested at all (37 per cent) in playing games. Only 14 per cent of young people considered themselves to by "really into" games. Most of these enthusiasts were boys (22 per cent of male respondents), though there were a number of girls (6 per cent) who were also deeply "into" games.

Though a large proportion of heavy players said they were "really into" games, we were surprised to find that the majority (55 per cent) were only "sort of" interested. Why these kids spend so much time in an activity that is not what they really want to be doing is a matter that merits further investigation. 

Displacement

When teens play video games they report sometimes give up other activities to do so. We found that the most common activity to be sacrificed on this digital alter was the drugery. Homework and chores were cited by 21 per cent of all respondents as something they often gave up. Teenagers were more reluctant to miss out on family activities (8 per cent of respondents), other leisure activities (7 per cent), and time with friends (5 per cent) in the pursuit of their fascination with video games. 
 
We found that boys were slightly more likely to displace all activities than girls. Nevertheless, even for boys the level of displacement was relatively low, which generally supports our conclusion that for most kids, video games simply "fill up" free solitary time. When youths were asked to state what they most enjoyed doing when alone, video games became the most popular activity for boys (28 per cent).

It was clear that for heavy players displacement was a more common issue than for light players. They reported putting off their homework and chores (37 per cent) as well as family activities (18 per cent) far more often. They also occasionally missed out on leisure activities (13 per cent) or spending time with their friends (10 per cent) to a greater degree. This general displacement pattern was found across all male heavy players. Female heavy players normally missed out only on doing their homework or chores. But they rarely displaced any other activity.