Report Pokemon Go players are happier, friendlier, study finds

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That's the finding of media researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who leapt to study the wildly popular mobile game shortly after its release in July 2016. Their work, newly published in the journal Media Psychology, shows that Pokemon Go users were more likely to be positive, friendly and physically active.

James Alex Bonus, a UW-Madison graduate student studying educational media, says he joined the throng playing the game when it was new, but was surprised by the mix of reactions in news coverage.

"There was plenty of negative press about distracted people trespassing and running into trees or walking into the street," says Bonus. "But you also saw people really enjoying it, having a good time together outside."

Pokemon Go creator Niantic now claims 65 million regular users and more than 650 million app downloads. Even in the first few weeks following release of the game -- in which players "catch" wild, virtual Pokemon creatures lurking in places like parks and public buildings, and train them to do battle against one another -- players were easy to pick out on sidewalks.

To Bonus and grad student collaborator Alanna Peebles, the immediately large pool of players presented an opportunity to capture the effects of augmented reality games -- apps like Pokemon Go that make use of mobile technology to lay the playing field and rules over the real world.

Pokémon Go was associated with various positive responses (increased positive affect, nostalgic reverie, friendship formation, friendship intensification, and walking), most of which predicted enhanced well-being. Additionally, two indirect effects of gameplay were moderated by social anxiety. For highly anxious participants, gameplay showed weaker associations with positive affect (a predictor of enhanced well-being), but also weaker associations with nostalgic regret (a predictor of reduced well-being).

 
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