An expert in Pacific youth and digital spaces says a new report on online gaming among Pacific youth aged 16–24 shows an urgent need for more research exploring the link between gaming and well-being.
University of Auckland Senior Lecturer Dr Jean Uasike Allen is the lead author of Online Gaming and Well-being Among Pacific Youth: A Scoping Review, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand on 9 April.
She says the review highlights the lack of studies in this area, especially given that young people make up a large portion of online gamers globally and in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Online gaming has often been viewed negatively due to concerns such as mental health issues, bullying, and gambling. However, Dr Allen (Makaunga and Kolovai/Tongatapu, Tefisi/Vava’u – Tonga, and European) wanted to explore the other side, where gaming may also have positive effects. She notes that very little research exists on how Pacific youth engage with gaming, and their voices are largely missing from current studies.
“The issue with these approaches is that they often ignore the perspectives of young people, the largest population who engage in these online gaming spaces. Indigenous and Pacific youth voices are further marginalized,” says Dr Allen.
She says youth involvement in online gaming has steadily increased over the past decade. This is particularly seen in the growth of indigenous scholarship around digital vā—the idea of relationships and connection in digital spaces.
“It is really important to explore digital vā. I believe that research with Pacific communities should include Pacific worldviews and concepts as a means of making sense of our experiences,” she says. “From Pacific collective perspectives, relationality—the notion that we are connected to all things and everyone through our interactions—is central to well-being. Building and maintaining relationships across space and time is a shared principle in Pacific worldviews.”
Dr Allen is currently leading a three-year Marsden-funded research project, Virtual Voyagers: Amplifying Pacific Girl Gamer Voices. The project focuses on Pacific girl gamers and aims to better understand how online gaming impacts their well-being and relationships.
