The impact of video games on student GPA, study habits, and time management skills: What's the big deal?

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THE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMES ON STUDENT GPA, STUDY HABITS, AND
TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS: WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
Jordan Weaver, Walsh University, jordanweaver@walsh.edu
Philip Kim, Walsh University, pkim@walsh.edu
Richard L. Metzer, Robert Morris University, rlmst26@mail.rmu.edu
Julie M. Szendrey, Walsh University, jszendrey@walsh.edu
ABSTRACT
Playing video games has become one of the largest leisure activities in the world. This study examines the
effects video games have on college students, their grade point averages, time management, and study
habits. Existing literature has linked video game usage as being negatively correlated with each of these
three variables. This research, using a sample of the undergraduate student population at a private
university in northeast Ohio, found a statistically significant correlation between video game usage and
grade point average. Statistically significant relationships were not found between video game usage and
the variables of time management skills or study habits. It is important that college students are aware of
these possible negative effects of video game usage on their academic performance. This research can
serve as a foundation for future research on the impact of video game playing and student performance.
Keywords: Videogames, GPA, Study Habits, Time Management Skills, Student Performance
INTRODUCTION
The video game industry has flourished to become the world’s largest entertainment medium [14]. The
industry posted an estimated $34.2 billion in revenue in 2012, and revenue is expected to grow at an
average of 5.5% over the next five years [8]. The advancements in technology have led to video games that
are increasingly complex, immersive, engaging, and enabling of a wide range of activities, goals, and social
behavior [14]. It is now difficult to find a household in the United States that does not have some sort of
video game system, whether it is from common video game consoles or pc-based computer games. Due to
the engaging nature of video games, users often find them to be a common part of their normal leisure
activities, and spend considerable amounts of time playing them. U.S. gamers are now playing video games
an average of 8 hours a week and this number is steadily rising [17].
Purpose Statement
The primary purpose of this research is to explore the correlation of video games with college-age student
grade point average (GPA). Additionally, it aims to discover the relationship between video games, time
management skills, and study habits. Existing research [1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 15 & 16] attempts to look into the
relationship between video game usage and school performance, but the majority of research focuses on
adolescents under the age of 18, primarily elementary-age students. This research will focus on measuring
the impact of video game usage and college students’ performance in the classroom, study habits and the
time management skills.
Target Demographic
College-age students are the primary target demographic of this research. They are a group that needs to be
studied when discussing video games because they constitute large demographic of video game users. This
comes in large part because the majority of students are independent and out from under parental
supervision for the first time [1, 4]. Video games can be played in part to reduce stress that comes with
college and its requirements. They are also sometimes used to shirk the responsibilities of studying for
exams and other coursework. And yet, studying for courses, passing exams, and completing assignments
are necessary for degree completion. A report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development [13] states that “the job market in the U.S. is particularly difficult for those without a college
degree” (p. 5). It is important that students that attend college make the most out of their time in school,
acquire a useful skill set, and graduate with knowledge and proficiency in their chosen major that will help

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them become gainfully employed. A recent study states that the U.S. is “the only country where attainment
levels among those just entering the labor market (25-34 year olds) do not exceed those about to leave the
labor market (55-64 year olds)” [13, p. 2]. A report by the National Center for Educational Statistics states
that the graduation rate of full-time, first-time students attending a four year institution is only 57% [9].
Gerdes and Millinckrodt [6] state that the contributing factors to this number include academic adjustment,
social adjustment, and personal or emotional adjustment. There are multiple factors that can effect on the
academic success of a college student.
Two other factors that go hand in hand with academic success in college are time management skills and
study habits. College is the first time in many students’ lives when they can determine what schedule they
will follow. Some students struggle with that responsibility, and have trouble allotting enough time towards
academic activities such as studying. Britton and Tesser [2] point out that educational achievement, like
intellectual achievement, takes time, and is affected by time management practices. Course work at the
University level and specifically as the student progresses through his/r major requires time management
skills and good study habits to ensure success. Britton and Tesser [2] explain that “67% of students at a
particular university report that their greatest personal need (of 40 needs on a checklist) was to ‘manage my
time more effectively’” (p. 406). College students have a limited amount of time to allocate to academics,
and unfortunately Ogletree and Drake [12] explain that an increase of time spent on a leisure activity, such
as video games could result in problematic consequences in other areas. Students that have good time
management skills are more confident and less stressed with the day to day tasks that come about. Grades
depend on the quality of work that is done, and the quality of performance is affected by time management;
therefore, “grade point average would be expected to be influenced by time-management skills” [2, p. 406].
Time management affects how much a student studies, as well as how much stress the individual is
subjected to. Gerdes and Mallinckrodt [6] state that “time management, study skills, anxiety management,
and an appropriate course load may also be helpful for building confidence, and, ultimately, academic
success” (p. 287). Time management and study habits affect many aspects of a student’s life, and are
essential to maintaining a higher grade point average and achieving academic success in college.
Research Questions
This research aims to find out, how does video game usage impact time management, study habits, and
GPA? The purpose of this study is to observe and determine the extent to which the independent variable
(video game usage) correlates to changes in the dependent variables (GPA, study habits, and time
management).
The study will be designed to test the following hypotheses:
H1: Those students who report higher video game usage will have lower GPA’s.
H2: Higher video game usage will negatively impact students’ study habits.
H3: Higher video game usage will negatively impact the students’ time management
skills.
METHODOLOGY
This study employed a non-experimental and correlational research design. This quantitative study
involved the primary investigator observing and describing a current condition and behavior (video game
usage, GPA, study habits, time management skills). The researchers utilized a modified survey to describe
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of the college-age population. Descriptive correlational research was
chosen for this study because quantitative survey data was going to be collected with the intent of analyzing
the degree of the relationship among the variables.
Prior to conducting the actual study, one pilot study focus group was conducted to determine the clarity,
usefulness, and effectiveness of the of the survey instrument. The draft survey questionnaire was presented
to five individuals, and they gave feedback pertaining to things such as, the ease to which the questions
were understood, as well as the overall structure of the survey and if it worked well to get the types of
responses desired. These individuals were all members of the target demographic of current students at the

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primary investigator’s institution. Using the suggestions and feedback, appropriate changes were made to
the survey.
The age range of the included subjects in the sample population ranged anywhere from 18-35, with the
mean age of respondents being 20.9 years. To be eligible to participate in the study, the subjects were
required to be current university students. The target institution is a small private university located in
northeast Ohio, consisting of slightly fewer than 3000 students, made up of both undergraduate and
graduate students. The sample size was 193 respondents.
In this research study, the independent variable was the amount of video game usage, measured in hours
played by the survey population. On the survey instrument, the initial descriptive demographic questions
were followed up with a yes or no question asking if the subject played video games. An answer of “yes”
moved them on to continue the rest of the survey, while a “no” answer ended the survey for the subject, as
all the following questions were video game related. There were two other specific questions in the survey
that measured the amount of video game usage: one asked the average hours of video games played during
the week (Monday through Friday), and the average hours of video games played on the weekend
(Saturday and Sunday). For the purposes of analysis, the two hour totals were combined into one value of
average hours of video games played per week. This total had a mean video game hours played per week of
13.38 hours. The mean video game usage (13.38 hours) of the population was used as a cutoff point, and
every user that reported a usage less than this mean was coded “0”, and categorized as a low usage video
game user. Every user that reported a usage of higher than the population mean was coded “1”, and
categorized as a high video game user. This was done to simplify and clarify the binomial analysis.
The dependent variables in the research study were the individual student’s GPA, time management skills,
and study habits. The purpose of the research was to see how changes in the independent variable of video
game usage correlated to changes in the above listed dependent variables. There were several specific
questions on the survey instrument that measured each dependent variable. The part of the survey that dealt
with time management asked the subject two questions: how often the subject skipped class due to video
games, and how often the subject lost sleep due to video games. These questions had a fine-point Likert-
type response scale ranging from very rarely to very frequently. For analysis purposes, once the data was
collected, these responses were coded from 1-5, with 1 being very rarely and 5 being very frequently. For
study habits, the survey asked the subject: on average how long they studied per week and how often the
subject had trouble paying attention in class. The first question collected a numerical value of hours per
week. The second question also had a five-point Likert-type response scale response ranging from very
rarely to very frequently. For analysis purposes, once the data was collected, these responses were also
coded from 1-5, with 1 being very rarely and 5 being very frequently. To measure GPA, the survey asked
the subjects to give their high school GPA, college GPA, and a response to whether or not they felt video
games had a negative effect on their grades. Once the data was collected, it was determined that the high
school GPA was unneeded, so that information was not used. College GPA was the more relevant figure
which was reported using a scale of 0.0-4.0. The final question asked whether or not subjects felt that video
games had a negative effect on their school grades, with responses ranging from strongly disagree to
strongly agree. For analysis purposes, once the data was collected, these responses were also coded from 1-
5, with 1 being strongly disagree, and 5 being strongly agree.
RESULTS
The independent variable of video game usage was measured as average hours played in a common week.
The video game usage for the study population ranged from a low of one hour to a high of 60 hours per
week. The mean hours played was equal to 13.38 hours while the mode response was six hours per week.

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The users that reported below 13.38 hours were coded as a “0”, or low usage video game players, and all of
the users that reported above 13.38 hours were coded as a “1”, or high usage video game players. The users
were split into these two different categories, resulting in 93 users that qualified as low usage video game
players, and 50 users that qualified as high usage video game players.
The dependent variables evaluated in the survey questions were the students’ GPA, time management
skills, and study habits. The mean GPA of the survey population was 3.34 out of a 4.0 scale, with a mode
of 3.0. Respondents to the question asking if subjects felt that video games had a negative effect on their
grades reported a mean response, on a coded scale of 1-5 of 1.71, with the mode response being a 1. For
time management, the mean response to how often the subject skipped class due to video games on the
coded scale of 1-5 was a 1.13, with the mode response being 1. The mean response to how often the subject
lost sleep due to video games on the coded scale of 1-5 was a 2.06, with the mode response still being 1.
When looking at the study habits of the subjects, the question of how long the students studied per week
and how often the student had trouble paying attention in class were used. For the average hours studied per
week, the average response of 11.84 hours, with a mode response of 10 hours. The mean response to how
often the subject had trouble paying attention in class on the coded scale of 1-5 was 2.39, with the mode
response being 2.
To test for correlation between the amount of video game usage and the dependent variables, t-tests were
used. As previously stated, there were 93 users in the low usage video game player category and 50 users in
the high usage video game category. The t-tests looked at the mean responses to each question to see if
there was a statistically significant difference between the mean of the low usage players and the high
usage players. The relevant differences in means, along with t-test numbers, p-values, are shown in
figure 2.
Figure 2
From this table, the differences between the two categories of low usage video game players and high
usage video game players are noted. The low usage video game player category reported a mean college
GPA of 3.41, and the high usage video game player category reported a mean college GPA of 3.22. The t-
test results in a value of 2.04 and returns a p-value of.043, noting there is a statistically significant between
the two groups: low and high video game users and overall GPA.
When evaluating the impact of video games on grades, the low usage video game players reported a mean
response of 1.61, and the high usage video game players reported a mean response of 1.88, on the coded
scale of 1-5. The t-test results in a value of -1.67 and returns a p-value of .097, while not statistically
significant at the .05 level. While not statistically significant in a difference of means, the results suggest
that students believe that high video game usage will have a negative impact on grades.

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When evaluating how often the subjects skipped class because of video games, the low usage video game
players reported a mean response of 1.11, and the high usage video game players reported a mean response
of 1.16, on the coded scale of 1-5. The t-test returned a value of -0.61 with a p-value of 0.541. While there
was no statistically significant difference between the two groups, these responses are telling as both low
and high video game user groups feel strongly that any video game usage can contribute to skipping or
missing class.
For the responses to time management, the respondents were asked to determine whether video game usage
caused the students to lose sleep. Low usage video game players reported a mean response of 1.82, and
high usage video game players reported a mean response of 2.50, on the coded scale of 1-5. The t-test
returned a value of -3.82 and a p-value of 0.00. There is a statistically significant difference between the
two groups. Low video game users reported a stronger likelihood of loss of sleep due to video game usage.
Which is an interesting result, as one would expect the higher video game usage group to report loss of
sleep due to video games.
When evaluating the question asking subjects had trouble paying attention in class, the low usage video
game players reported a mean response of 2.28, and the high usage video game players reported a mean
response of 2.60, on the coded scale of 1-5. The t-test value was -1.70, and the corresponding p-value was
0.091. Both low and high user groups did not feel as strongly that video game usage effected their ability
to pay attention in class.
Finally, when evaluating how many hours the subjects spent studying per week, the low usage video game
players reported a mean response of 10.97 hours, and the high usage video game players reported a mean
response of 13.46. The t-test value was -1.30, and the corresponding p-value was .196.
DISCUSSION
The results showed that students reporting a high category usage of video games did report lower GPA’s
than students reporting a low category usage of video games. This data agrees with previously conducted
and cited research such as Anand [1], Harris & Williams [7], and Stinebrickner & Stinebrickner [16].
Research by Anand [1] also found the correlation between higher video game usage and lower GPA to be
significant on a 95% confidence interval, which is comparable to the results of this study. Harris &
Williams [7] also determined a significant decrease in GPA as video game usage went up. The results of
Stinebrickner & Stinebrickner [16] were similar to this study in that increased video game usage resulted in
a drop in GPA of 0.241 on a 4.0 scale, while this research determined a drop in GPA of 0.19. These were
both significant drops in GPA. This research supports previous research conducted and points to the fact
that higher video game usage does indeed have a negative correlation with students’ GPA.
When observing the study habit questions, subjects were asked if they had trouble paying attention in class
and how many hours a week they studied. For the trouble paying attention in class question, the t-test done
on the difference in means between the two categories resulted in a t-test value of -1.71 and a p-value of
.091. There was a difference in means, but not at the statistically significant p-value of <.05. For the
amount of hours studied question, the high usage category reported higher study hours per week than the
low usage category. High users reported a mean of 13.46 hours per week and low users reported a mean of
10.97 hours per week. However, the t-test returned a value of -1.30 and a p-value of 0.196, so this
difference was not found to be statistically significant. Previous research as Britton and Tesser [2] state
that “researchers generally agree that intellectual achievement takes time and perseverance” (p. 405). The
results showed, however, that high usage video game players actually studied almost three hours more than
the low usage video game players. This result was not anticipated. One of the reasons for this result could
be the fact that high usage video game players actually need more study time to comprehend their school
work. They are spending a large amount of time playing video games, and they may feel as if they need to
catch up, so they try to compensate by studying more. This logic could also support the question asking
subjects if they have trouble paying attention in class. There was a difference in mean responses, as high
usage video game players reported that they had more trouble paying attention in class when compared
with low usage video game players. This difference in means, however, was not shown to be statistically
significant. This is in contrast to the research done by Stinebrickner & Stinebrickner [16] which stated that

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first-year college students with a video game console studied forty minutes less a day on average than
students without a video game console. It does, however, somewhat agree with the conclusion by Harris &
Williams [7], in which they could not conclude that study habits were correlated with video game usage.
When looking at the time management questions, the subjects were asked if they skipped class because of
video games, and if they ever lost sleep from video games. For the skipping class question, the difference in
means between the two categories resulted in a t-test value of -0.61 and a p-value of .541. This shows that
the difference in means is not one of significance. However, when asked about loss of sleep, the t-test
resulted in a t-test value of -3.82 and a p-value of less than 0.000. This showed that high usage video game
users were playing video games more, and this was causing them to play late hours that in turn caused them
to lose sleep. Losing sleep can have a large impact on your academic life. Grades depend on the quality of
work that is done, and time management affects the quality of performance. Britton & Tesser [2] state that
“grade point average would be expected to be influenced by time-management skills” (p.406), and Gerdes
and Mallinckrodt [6] state the importance of time management skills when it comes to academic success.
The fact that high usage video game players are losing sleep because of video games shows that these
individuals are not managing their time appropriately enough to ensure that they get enough sleep. This
could also be because video game players lose track of time when they are playing, which is supported by
research done by Woods, Griffiths, & Parke [19].
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, there was a distinct and significant difference in the reported GPA’s between high usage
video game players and low usage video game players. This is a very important finding as it relates to the
college-age demographic that this research focused on. To reiterate previously cited research, Weaver [18]
states that over 70% if college students report being avid video game players, due to the fact that they have
limited parental supervision and flexible schedules. This research suggests that increased video game usage
leads to lower GPA’s in the college-age demographic.
This research set out to discover the relationship between video games, and their effect on time
management skills, study habits, and student GPA. The results show that higher video game usage
correlates to lower GPA. The research was inconclusive in proving that there was a relationship between
video game usage and time management skills or study habits. Further research could possibly look further
into these relationships.
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