Assessing Motivational Differences Between Young and Older Adults When Playing an Exergame

Autor: Beatrix Vereijken, Dag Svanæs, Sruti Subramanian, Yngve Dahl, Nina Skjæret Maroni
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Games for Health Journal
Subramanian, S, Dahl, Y, Skjæret Maroni, N, Vereijken, B & Svanæs, D 2020, ' Assessing Motivational Differences Between Young and Older Adults When Playing an Exergame. ', Games for Health, vol. 9, no. 1 . https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2019.0082
ISSN: 2161-7856
2161-783X
DOI: 10.1089/g4h.2019.0082
Popis: Background: Currently, exergames are used by different age groups for both recreational and training/rehabilitation purposes. However, little is known about how to design exergames so that they are motivating for specific age groups and health outcomes. Objective: In this article, we compare motivational factors between healthy young and older adults by analyzing their assessments of the same balance training exergame. Materials and Methods: We performed a laboratory-based assessment of a custom-made balance training exergame with 12 healthy young and 10 healthy older adults. Their answers to a semistructured text input questionnaire were analyzed qualitatively. Results: Both age groups were motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. We found that the young adults tended to be motivated by the game challenge and the in-game reward system (scores). In contrast, the older adults were more motivated by the perceived health effects (both physical and cognitive) and the joy of playing, with less regard for the in-game rewards. Conclusion: The differences in motivational factors that were identified between young and older adults have several design implications. For older adults less effort can be put on designing the in-game reward system and more on showing the player the potential health effects of their play. Furthermore, the competition aspect can be downplayed and more focus placed on simply making the gaming experience itself as joyful as possible. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article. Locked until 3.2.2021 due to copyright restrictions. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2019.0082
Databáze: OpenAIRE