The Journal of the Korea Contents Association (한국콘텐츠학회논문지)

The Korea Contents Association (한국콘텐츠학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

The Effects of Subjective Happiness and Status and Growth in the Virtual World on Changes in Their Subjective Happiness

주관적 행복과 가상 세계에서의 지위 및 성장이 주관적 행복 변화에 미치는 효과

  • 이국희 (경기대학교 진성애교양대학 교양학부)
  • Received : 2022.01.11
  • Accepted : 2022.02.14
  • Published : 2022.04.28
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between social status and happiness in the virtual world, which was not dealt with in previous studies. In addition, this study checked whether people were interested in social status itself or social status growth according to their level of happiness. To this end, the researcher composed conditions of high and low social status, and conditions of large and small growth in social status in online games, and presented them differently depending on the participant. Next, the researcher measured how much happiness level changed before and after exposure to each condition. As a result, happy participants had less of an effect of status on happiness in online games. However, unhappy participants were found to be happy when their status in online games was high and unhappy when they were low. Happy participants also paid attention to whether their status in online game had grown. However, unhappy participants paid attention to their high and low status in online games. This study has implications in that it is a rare study on the effect of happiness on the judgment of social status in the virtual world.

본 연구는 선행연구에서 다루지 못했던 가상 세계의 사회적 지위와 행복 사이의 관련성을 탐구해보고자 이루어졌다. 또한 본 연구는 행복 수준에 따라 사회적 지위 자체에 관심을 가지는지 사회적 지위 성장에 관심을 가지는지도 확인해보았다. 이를 위해 연구자는 온라인 게임에서 사회적 지위가 높은 조건과 낮은 조건, 사회적 지위가 크게 성장한 조건과 작게 성장 조건을 구성하여 참가자에 따라 다르게 제시하였다. 이어서 연구자는 각 조건이 노출되기 전후로 행복 수준이 얼마나 달라지는지 측정해보았다. 결과적으로 행복한 참가자들은 온라인 게임에서 지위가 행복에 미치는 영향이 적었다. 그러나 불행한 참가자들은 온라인 게임에서 지위가 높을 때는 행복해지고, 낮을 때는 불행해지는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 행복한 참가자들은 온라인 게임에서 자신의 지위가 성장했는지 주의를 기울였다. 그러나 불행한 참가자들은 온라인 게임에서 자신의 지위가 높고 낮은지에 주의를 기울였다. 본 연구는 행복이 가상 세계 사회적 지위의 판단에 미치는 효과에 대한 보기 드문 연구라는 점에서 시사점이 있다.

Keywords

References

  1. V. H. Medvec, S. F. Madey, and T. Gilovich, "When less is more: Counterfactual thinking and satisfaction among Olympic medalists," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.69, No.4, pp.603-610, 1995. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.603
  2. W. M. Hedgcock, A. W. Luangrath, and R. Webster, "Counterfactual thinking and facial expressions among Olympic medalists: A conceptual replication of Medvec, Madey, and Gilovich's (1995) findings," Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol.150, No.6, pp.e13-e21, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000992
  3. S. Lyubomirsky and L. Ross, "Hedonic consequences of social comparison: A contrast of happy and unhappy people," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.73, No.6, pp.1141-1157, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.73.6.1141
  4. J. B. White, E. J. Langer, L. Yariv, and J. C. Welch, "Frequent social comparisons and destructive emotions and behaviors: The dark side of social comparisons," Journal of Adult Development, Vol.13, No.1, pp.36-44, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-006-9005-0
  5. J. V. Wood, "What is social comparison and how should we study it?," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol.22, No.5, pp.520-537, 1996. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167296225009
  6. J. Suls, R. Martin, and L. Wheeler, "Social comparison: Why, with whom, and with what effect?," Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol.11, No.5, pp.159-163, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00191
  7. L. Wheeler and K. Miyake, "Social comparison in everyday life," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.62, No.5, pp.760-773, 1992. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.5.760
  8. F. X. Gibbons and B. P. Buunk, "Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.76, No.1, pp.129-142, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.76.1.129
  9. J. Greenberg, C. E. Ashton-James, and N. M. Ashkanasy, "Social comparison processes in organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol.102, No.1, pp.22-41, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.006
  10. J. V. Wood, S. E. Taylor, and R. R. Lichtman, "Social comparison in adjustment to breast cancer," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.49, No.5, pp.1169-1183, 1985. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.49.5.1169
  11. S. Lyubomirsky, K. L. Tucker, and F. Kasri, "Responses to hedonically conflicting social comparisons: Comparing happy and unhappy people," European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol.31, No.5, pp.511-535, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.82
  12. 이국희, "사회적 비교와 주관적 행복의 상호작용이 직장인의 여가의도에 미치는 효과," 여가학연구, 제17권, 제3호, pp.1-21. 2019. https://doi.org/10.22879/SLOS.2019.17.3.1
  13. D. A. De Vries and R. Kuhne, "Facebook and self-perception: Individual susceptibility to negative social comparison on Facebook," Personality and Individual Differences, Vol.86, pp.217-221, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.05.029
  14. G. Brandenberg, P. Ozimek, H. W. Bierhoff, and C. Janker, "The relation between use intensity of private and professional SNS, social comparison, self-esteem, and depressive tendencies in the light of self-regulation," Behaviour & Information Technology, Vol.38, No.6, pp.578-591, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2018.1545049
  15. J. L. Wang, H. Z. Wang, J. Gaskin, and S. Hawk, "The mediating roles of upward social comparison and self-esteem and the moderating role of social comparison orientation in the association between social networking site usage and subjective well-being," Frontiers in Psychology, Vol.8, p.771, 2017.
  16. Y. T. Hu and Q. Q. Liu, "Passive social network site use and adolescent materialism: Upward social comparison as a mediator," Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, Vol.48, No.1, pp.1-8, 2020.
  17. G. F. Niu, Y. J. Luo, X. J. Sun, Z. K. Zhou, F. Yu, S. L. Yang, and L. Zhao, "Qzone use and depression among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation model," Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol.231, pp.58-62, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.01.013
  18. S. S. Ho, E. W. Lee, and Y. Liao, "Social network sites, friends, and celebrities: The roles of social comparison and celebrity involvement in adolescents' body image dissatisfaction," Social Media+ Society, Vol.2, No.3, p.2056305116664216, 2016.
  19. 이국희, "청소년의 온라인 게임 캐릭터 지위 비교가 주관적 행복 변화에 미치는 효과," 인지과학, 제32권, 제2호, pp.55-78, 2021.
  20. 이국희, "온라인 게임세계에서 형성된 청소년의 사회적 지위와 게임 시간이 도덕적 문제 수용에 미치는 효과," 한국콘텐츠학회논문지, 제21권, 제6호, pp.759-778, 2021. https://doi.org/10.5392/JKCA.2021.21.06.759
  21. S. Lyubomirsky and H. S. Lepper, "A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation," Social Indicators Research, Vol.46, No.2, pp.137-155, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006824100041
  22. 이국희, "온라인 게임에서의 지위와 성장 중 무엇이 청소년의 웃음 이모티콘 긍정성 판단에 영향을 미칠까?," 한국HCI학회 논문지, 제16권, 제2호, pp.5-12, 2021.
  23. 이국희, "온라인 게임 캐릭터의 지위, 성장, 게임 시간, 그리고 청소년의 도덕적 문제 수용," 사회과학연구, 제32권, 제4호, pp.23-43, 2021.
  24. B. Stiglbauer, T. Gnambs, M. Gamsjager, and B. Batinic, "The upward spiral of adolescents' positive school experiences and happiness: Investigating reciprocal effects over time," Journal of School Psychology, Vol.51, No.2, pp.231-242, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.12.002
  25. C. I. Teng, "Impact of avatar identification on online gamer loyalty: Perspectives of social identity and social capital theories," International Journal of Information Management, Vol.37, No.6, pp.601-610, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.06.006
  26. S. Cote, P. K. Piff, and R. Willer, "For whom do the ends justify the means?," Social class and utilitarian moral judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol.104, No.3, pp.490-503, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030931
  27. A. A. Duke and L. Begue, "The drunk utilitarian: Blood alcohol concentration predicts utilitarian responses in moral dilemmas," Cognition, Vol.134, pp.121-127, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.09.006
  28. H. Cole and M. D. Griffiths, "Social interactions in massively multiplayer online role-playing gamers," Cyberpsychology & Behavior, Vol.10, No.4, pp.575-583, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.9988
  29. J. Fox, M. Gilbert, and W. Y. Tang, "Player experiences in a massively multiplayer online game: A diary study of performance, motivation, and social interaction," New Media & Society, Vol.20, No.11, pp.4056-4073, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818767102
  30. Y. Guo and S. Barnes, "Virtual item purchase behavior in virtual worlds: An exploratory investigation," Electronic Commerce Research, Vol.9, No.1, pp.77-96, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-009-9032-6
  31. L. J. Papp, M. J. Erchull, M. Liss, L. Waaland-Kreutzer, and H. Godfrey, "Slut-shaming on Facebook: Do social class or clothing affect perceived acceptability?," Gender Issues, Vol.34, No.3, pp.240-257, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-016-9180-7