Personality & Game Design Preference: Towards Understanding Player Engagement and Behavior

Abstract: A study was conducted in two parts to first validate a new questionnaire, the GDP-I, measuring game design preferences amongst gamers, and then secondly, to explore the relationship between game design preference and personality traits as per the HEXACO model of personality. Principal components analysis of a sample of gamers (N = 149) found three dimensions of game design preference, labeled narrative design preference, social design preference, and reward design preference. In the second part of the study a sample of gamers (N = 245) were asked to take both the GDP-I and the HEXACO-PR-I (100-item). Correlational analysis indicated that preference for narrative design was significantly related to higher levels of emotionality, openness, and conscientiousness. Preference for social design was significantly related to higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of honesty-humility and openness. Preference for reward based design was significantly related to lower levels of honesty-humility and openness. These findings suggest a strong need for future research into the relationship between personality and video game design preference.