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Video Games and Well-being

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Cyberpsychology ((PASCY))

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Abstract

Anyone who has ever played a video game has likely experienced the joys of a reset button. The game didn’t go well, and so you gave yourself an opportunity to do it over again. Of course, a real-life reset button doesn’t exist because time is linear—what is done is done and can never be truly erased. However, that does not mean that what is done cannot be done over (like redoing a level to get the rest of the missing coins). There is a common misbelief our personality is unchangeable. Namely, how we were born and what we have been through firmly dictate how we are able to live our lives. Through established psychological theories and illustrative examples, this chapter will explore how our personality is not something set in stone. Rather, gaming can be used to overcome the behavioral barriers we experience in our personalities to accomplish lasting, meaningful change.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Riot Games, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Chelsea Hughes

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  1. Chelsea Hughes
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Take This, Seattle, WA, USA

    Rachel Kowert

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Hughes, C. (2020). Press Reset. In: Kowert, R. (eds) Video Games and Well-being. Palgrave Studies in Cyberpsychology. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32770-5_2

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