Online Digital Game Addiction: How Does Social Relationship Impact Game Addiction

Relationship is one of the most basic needs of human being. When our relationship suffers, we tend to turn to online game as an alternative to fulfill our unmet need. Massive Multi-user Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) environment is an ideal platform for multiple players to interact, to make friends, and to complete a task together. Social Learning Theory deposits that behaviors are learned by observing others in a social context. Gamers learn to be addicts when they constantly associate with online friends who are game addicts. This paper focus on how the offline and online social relationship contribute to online game addiction. Examining social relationship factors that lead to online game addiction allows practitioners the opportunity to identify ways to help pathological individuals breaking away from the game addiction. Researchers could expand our proposed model to further study what specific relationship factors contribute the most to game addiction.