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Personality and Internet Gaming Disorder: a Systematic Review of Recent Literature

  • Technology Addiction (J Billieux, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

In this study, we present a systematic review of empirical studies that have addressed the relationship between Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and personality in the last 10 years (2007–2016). A systematic search of scientific literature identified 27 peer-reviewed empirical studies that examined the relationship between IGD and personality dimensions.

Recent Findings

The findings of recent empirical studies suggest that IGD is linked to a wide range of personality traits, domains, and disorders.

Summary

Although some personality factors such as high neuroticism, high impulsivity, and high aggressiveness emerged quite consistently as significant predictors of IGD across the studies, the overall result of this systematic review showed that different personality traits (more frequently, in combination) may play a pivotal role in the acquisition, development, and maintenance of IGD. Therefore, further research is needed to understand whether specific patterns of personality traits may predispose people to IGD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Alessia Maria Gervasi

  2. Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, UKE – Kore University of Enna, Cittadella Universitaria, SN/R14, 94100, Enna, Italy

    Luana La Marca, Antonino Costanzo, Ugo Pace & Adriano Schimmenti

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Fanny Guglielmucci

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  1. Alessia Maria Gervasi
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  2. Luana La Marca
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  5. Fanny Guglielmucci
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  6. Adriano Schimmenti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriano Schimmenti.

Ethics declarations

This systematic review is in compliance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for the search, systematization, and reporting of systematic reviews [25].

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Alessia Maria Gervasi, Dr. Luana La Marca, Antonino Costanzo, Dr. Ugo Pace, Dr. Fanny Guglielmucci, and Dr. Adriano Schimmenti declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Technology Addiction

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Gervasi, A.M., La Marca, L., Costanzo, A. et al. Personality and Internet Gaming Disorder: a Systematic Review of Recent Literature. Curr Addict Rep 4, 293–307 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-017-0159-6

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