• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.69-98
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• 2009

We investigated what factors motivate gamers to participate in a guild and why they continue to be engaged as members of the guild. We find that, based on the result of focus group interviews with MMORPG gamers, social support and self-esteem factors play important roles. Considering both prior research and the focus group interviews we have conducted, we define social support and character control as independent variables. Character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem are proposed as mediating variables while guild flow and game loyalty as dependent variables. Accordingly, we develop the research model and hypotheses, and verify them empirically. Based on our experiences of playing the WoW game, we proposed a research model and conducted focus-group interviews (FGIs). FGIs involve formulating a hypothesis and then collecting some relevant data. FGIs were conducted face-to-face with students of C University in Korea. We formulated structured interview schedules, and the questions were based on our research variables and personal experiences. The questions for the interviews encompassed the following areas: (a) the demographic characteristics of the focus group; (b) the number of years for which respondents had played online games; (c) the motive for starting a game; (d) the number of game-characters assumed by each gamer; (e) the type of game played; and (f) other issues such as the reasons for involvement in the play, the willingness to reuse the game in case new versions were released, etc. On average, it took two hours to interview each of three groups. A primary set of FGIs was conducted with three groups on the premise that there would be some differences caused by character race (Horde vs. Alliance) or by playable server (Normal vs. Combat). With respect to the manner of playing, we found that guild members shared information, felt a sense of belonging, and played computer games for quite a long time through the guild; however, they did not undergo these experiences when playing alone. Gamers who belonged to a specific guild helped other players without expecting compensation for that, freely shared information about the game, gave away items for free, and more generous with other members who made mistakes. The guild members were aware of the existence other members and experienced a sense of belonging through interactions with, and evaluations from, other players. It was clear that social support was shown within the guild and that it played an important role as a major research variable. Based on the results of the first FGIs, a second set of in-depth FGIs was carried out with a focus on the psychology of the individual within the guild and the social community of the guild. The second set of FGIs also focused on the guild's offline meetings. Gamers, over all, recognize the necessity of joining a community, not only off-line but also online world of the guild. They admit that the guild is important for them to easily and conveniently enjoy playing online computer games. The active behavior and positive attitudes of existing guild members can motivate new members of the guild to adapt themselves to the guild environment. They then adopt the same behaviors and attitudes of established guild members. In this manner, the new members of the guild strengthen the bonds with other gamers while feeling a sense of belonging, and developing social identity, thereby. It was discovered that the interaction among guild members and the social support encouraged new gamers to quickly develop a sense of social identity and increase their self-esteem. The guild seemed to play the role of socializing gamers. Sometimes, even in the real world, the guild members helped one another; therefore, the features of the guild also spilled over to the offline environment. We intend to use self-esteem, which was found through the second set of FGIs, as an important research variable. To collect data, an online survey was designed with a questionnaire to be completed by WoW gamers, who belong to a guild. The survey was registered on the best three domestic game-sites: 'WoW playforum,' 'WoW gamemeca,' and 'Wow invent.' The selected items to be measured in the questionnaire were decided based on prior research and data from FGIs. To verify the content of the questionnaire, we carried out a pilot test with the same participants to point out ambiguous questions as a way to ensure maximum accuracy of the survey result. A total of 244 responses were analyzed from the 250 completed questionnaires. The SEM analysis was used to test goodness-of-fit of the model. As a result, we found important results as follows: First, according to the statistics, social support had statistically significant impacts on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Second, character control had significant effects on character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity shows its clear impact on self-esteem and game loyalty. Fourth, guild identity affected self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Fifth, self-esteem had a positive influence on the guild flow. These days, the number of virtual community is rising along with its significance largely because of the nature of the online games. Accordingly, this study is designed to clarify the psychological relationship between gamers within the guild that has been generally established by gamers to play online games together. This study focuses on the relationships in which social support influences guild flow or game loyalty through character control, character identity, guild identity, and self-esteem, which are present within a guild in the MMORPG game environment. The study results are as follows. First, the effects of social support on character control, character identity, guild identity and self-esteem are proven to be statistically significant. It was found that character control improves character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Among the seven variables, social support, which is derived from FGIs, plays an important role in this study. With the active support of other guild members, gamers can improve their ability to develop good characters and to control them. Second, character identity has a positive effect on self-esteem and game loyalty, while guild identity has a significant effect on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Self-esteem affects guild flow. It was found that the higher the character and guild identities become, the greater the self-esteem is established. Contrary to the findings of prior research, our study results indicate that the relationship between character identity and guild flow is not significant. Rather, it was found that character identity directly affects game players' loyalty. Even though the character identity had no direct effect on increasing guild flow, it has indirectly affected guild flow through self-esteem. The significant relationship between self-esteem and guild flow indicates that gamers achieve flow, i.e., a feeling of pleasure and excitement through social support. Several important implications of this study should be noted. First, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct this study. Through FGIs, it was observed that both social support and self-esteem are important variables. Second, because guilds had been rarely studied, this research is expected to play an important role in the online community. Third, according to the result, six hypotheses (H1, H5, H6, H7, H8, and H11) setup based on FGIs, were statistically significant; thus, we can suggest the corresponding relationships among the variables as a guideline for follow-up research. Our research is significant as it has following implications: first, the social support of the guild members is important when establishing character control, character identity, guildidentity and self-esteem. It is also a major variable that affects guild flow and game loyalty. Second, character control when improved by social support shows notable influence on the development of character identity, guild identity and self-esteem. Third, character identity and guild identity are major factors to help establish gamers' own self-esteem. Fourth, character identity affects guild flow through self-esteem and game loyalty. The gamers usually express themselves through characters; the higher character identity is, the more loyalty a gamer has. Fifth, guild identity, established within the guild, has clear effects on self-esteem, guild flow and game loyalty. Sixth, qualitative and quantitative methods are employed to conduct this study. Based on the results of focus group interviews and SEM analysis, we find that the social support by guild members and psychological factors are significant in strengthening the flow of guild and loyalty to the game. As such, game developers should provide some extra functions for guild community, through which gamers can play online games in collaboration with one another. Also, we suggest that positive self-esteem which is built up through social support can help gamers achieve higher level of flow and satisfaction, which will consequently contribute to minimizing the possibility for the players to develop negative attitude toward the guild they belong to.

• 핵의학기술
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.3-12
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• 2011

본 연구는 방사성동위원소의 의학적 이용도가 증가함에 따라 의료기관 핵의학과 방사선관계종사자의 직무별 방사선 이용에 대한 개인 방사선피폭선량의 실태를 파악하여, 방사선 위험에 대해 경각심을 고취시키고, 방사선 관계종사자들에게 안전관리와 합리적인 피폭선량 관리에 도움을 주고자 분석하였다. 2010년 1월 1일부터 2010년 12월 31일까지 의료기관에서 근무하는 방사선종사자로 분류되어 개인 방사선피폭선량 측정을 정기적, 연속적으로 1년간 조사 관리된 540명의 종사자를 대상으로 부서별, 선량영역구간별, 근무기간별, 직무별 관련업무를 파악하여 심부선량에 대하여 연간평균피폭선량을 각각 분석하였다. 분석법으로는 빈도분석과 ANOVA를 시행하였다. 의료기관 방사선종사자의 부서별 연간피폭선량은 핵의학과 4.57 mSv로 가장 높았으며, 심장혈관중재술실 2.09 mSv, 마취통증의학과 1.42 mSv, 영상의학과 1.10 mSv, 구강악안면 방사선과 0.59 mSv, 방사선종양학과 0.50 mSv 순으로 높게 나타났다. 선량영역별 분포는 핵의학과, 심장혈관중재술실에서 5.01~19.05 mSv의 높은 선량영역분포를 보였으며, 부서별 방사선사의 연간피폭선량은 핵의학과 7.14 mSv로 가장 높은 피폭선량을 보이고 있으며, 심장혈관중재술실 1.46 mSv로 높았고, 영상의학과 0.97 mSv, 구강악안면방사선과 0.66 mSv, 방사선종양학과 0.54 mSv 순으로 나타났다. 세부업무에 따른 직무별 연간평균피폭선량은 싸이크로트론 관련 합성 업무 17.47 mSv로 가장 높은 피폭선량을 보였으며, Gamma camera 영상실 7.24 mSv, PET/CT 영상실 업무가 7.60 mSv로 높게 나타났고, 인터벤션 2.04 mSv, 심혈관중재술실 1.46 mSv, 일반촬영 1.21 mSv, Primart 치료실 0.90 mSv, 구강악안면방사선과 일반촬영 0.66 mSv 순으로 나타났다. 근무기간별, 선량영역별에 따른 연간평균피폭선량은 구강악안면방사선과에서는 10~14년 종사자가 1.01~3.00 mSv로 높은 평균선량을 보였고, 방사선종양학과는 모든 근무기간에 따라 0.00~1.00 mSv 의 낮은 선량영역구간에서 분포를 보였으며, 심혈관중재술실은 10~14년, 15~19년 근무에 따라 각각 1.01~3.00 mSv 선량영역구간에서 분포하였으며, 영상의학과에서는 1~4년, 5~9년 종사자가 각각 1.01~8.00 mSv의 가장 높은 선량영역구간에서 분포를 보였고, 핵의학과에서는 1~4년, 5~9년 종사자가 각각 3.01~19.05 mSv 의 가장 높은 선량영역구간에서 분포를 보였으며, 10~14년, 15~19년 종사자에서도 각각 3.01~15.00 mSv의 높은 선량영역구간에서 분포를 보였다. 이와 같은 결과로 볼 때 의료기관에서 근무하는 방사선관계종사자의 대부분이 현재의 방사선 안전관리가 실효성 있게 이루어지고 있었으며, 직무특성에 따라 많은 차이가 있는 것을 알게 되었다. 그러나 방사선 피폭을 최소화시키는 노력이 필요하며, 이를 위해서 체계적 교육과 합리적인 피폭량 관리를 위한 체계가 필요하다고 사료된다.