LogInNot that it needed scientific proof, but here it is.
A team of researchers comprising Annisa Arigayota, Barbara Duffek, Congcong Hou, and Andreas Benedikt Eisingerich has published a study providing scientific confirmation of what we all knew all along, proving that playing open-world games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and watching animated movies by Studio Ghibli is good for your mental well-being.
Studio Ghibli
As part of their research, the team conducted an experiment with 518 participants, who were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions – playing an open-world game vs. not playing, and watching Studio Ghibli films vs. not watching – and completed a brief survey assessing their sense of exploration, calmness, and overall life happiness.
The findings revealed that playing an open-world game had a significant positive effect on overall life happiness, the effect that was further amplified when nostalgia from watching Studio Ghibli films was present. An additional analysis further showed that the impact of playing open-world games on happiness is mediated by participants' sense of exploration, mastery and skill, and purpose and meaning.
"This study shows that playing an open-world game, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and nostalgia evoked by Studio Ghibli films significantly foster a sense of exploration and calm in life, as well as a feeling of mastery and skill, and purpose and meaning, hence ultimately contributing positively to one's overall happiness in life," the paper reads.
Nintendo
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