Investigating the Behavioral Impact of Video Game’s Social Elements on Motivation, Learning, and Student Engagement

The impact of social and competitive mechanics in video games as an approach to foster deeper player engagement is fast becoming an increasingly common phenomenon in modern game design. This is particularly applicable in gamified learning as social comparison and competition in gamified learning environments can significantly influence learner engagement, motivation, and learning behavior. The use of gamification concepts has long been leaning predominantly towards the focus of results and rewards, rather than the experience and emphasis on social centric community, missing the objective of what makes video games so engaging, immersive and pervasive. This research aims to study the reasons behind why video game’s social and competitive elements play such a huge role on learners from a psychological perspective and to gauge its effectiveness in a controlled learning environment. A study on the behavioral impact of social mechanics was conducted using two different gamified systems within an online business course in a Malaysian university. Ninety students were divided into two cohorts: one engaged in a social gamified system, incorporating interactive competition, decision-based reward mechanics, and peer-driven competition mechanics while the other cohort participated in a non-social oriented rewards-based leaderboard-only system that ranked learners based on task completion times. The research examines the impact of social status dynamics, ranking visibility, and rewards-based mechanics on impact learner engagement. The findings from the survey determined that gamified systems based on a social-competitive approach creates a more positive and engaging experience for learners in contrast with a rewards-based standard gamified system.