Playing It My Way: Understanding the Connection between Personality and Video Game Preference
People who are not gamers may struggle to find a game that matches their preferences. For example, a person with no prior experience with video games may not know whether they prefer fast paced games or slower ones. However, personality traits are more universally understood and have been shown to predict preference in certain domains. Furthermore, there is evidence that self-reported and implicit measures of preference could vary based on personality and investigating this avenue will shed greater light on the possible connections between them. This study aims to better understand the connections between personality and video game preference which would allow easier entry for non-gamers into the medium. In addition, this study also seeks to determine whether implicit game feature preferences, feature preference found through preferences in games, and game feature preference, directly self-reported in the survey, varies with regards to personality. In this study, personality traits such as the Big Five, BISBAS, and vocational interests etc., preference for game features and preference for two hundred games were obtained through a survey (n=115). Results between game features and personality, implicit game features and personality, and game features and implicit game features were obtained through linear regressions. The implications of these results and their connections to previous research are discussed.