Induced attitude change on online gaming among adolescents: an application of the less-leads-to-more effect.

Full Abstract

The negative impact of Internet use on adolescents has received much popular attention and has also become a popular research topic. How to induce adolescent players to change their attitudes toward online gaming is one of the most important issues in online gaming addiction. The present study is based on the less-leads-to-more effect of dissonance theory. Experimental research was conducted to examine the effects of rewards and decision freedom on attitude change toward online gaming among adolescents considered at risk for addiction. The results supported predictions based on external justification in dissonance theory. Specifically, fewer rewards produced greater attitude change toward online gaming in the condition of personal freedom of choice after participants exhibited attitude-discrepant behavior. However, the less-leads-to-more effect was not prominent in the condition without personal freedom of choice. Adopting a reward strategy to induce game players to disengage online gaming is discussed.

Author information

Author/s: Chiou, Wen-Bin (WB);

Affiliation: Center for Teacher Education, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan, Republic of China. wbchiou(-atsign-)mail.nsysu.edu.tw

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Cyberpsychology & behavior : the impact of the Internet, multimedia and virtual reality on behavior and society (Cyberpsychol Behav), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Apr; vol 11 (issue 2) : pp 212-6

Dates: Created 2008/04/21; Completed 2008/07/02;

PMID: 18422416, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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