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Self-efficacy relevant to competitive anxiety and gameplay interest in the one-on-one competition setting

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Abstract

Individual gameplay interest is affected by numerous factors and a competition setting is also of importance as there are factors that need to be managed. To understand the motivational variables related to an educational game competition, this study explored the interrelatedness between self-efficacy, competitive anxiety, and gameplay interest in a one-on-one Chinese idiom string up game competition. Effective data from 278 elementary school students from grades five to six were collected and subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results of this study showed that the higher the level of competitive anxiety, the lower the degree of gameplay interest (i.e. Like, Enjoyment, and Engagement). In addition, self-efficacy in learning Chinese idioms was negatively associated with competitive anxiety. The implication of this study contributed towards understanding that low competitive anxiety is more facilitative to interest in gameplay. The results also suggested that enhancing self-efficacy in a specific task can eliminate anxiety and support players’ interests to play the game in a competitive setting.

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Acknowledgments

This research was partially supported by the “Aim for the Top University Project” of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan and the “International Research-Intensive Center of Excellence Program” of NTNU and Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 103-2911-I-003-301 and MOST 101-2511-S-003-056-MY3 and MOST 104-2911-I-003-301).

Conflict of interest

This research was not funded and the authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, China

    Jon-Chao Hong, Kai-Hsin Tai & Pei-Chun Lin

  2. Department of Adult and Continuing Education, National Taiwan Normal University, P.O.Box 7-513, Taipei, Taiwan, China

    Ming-Yueh Hwang

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  1. Jon-Chao Hong
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Hong, JC., Hwang, MY., Tai, KH. et al. Self-efficacy relevant to competitive anxiety and gameplay interest in the one-on-one competition setting. Education Tech Research Dev 63, 791–807 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-015-9389-2

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