A Hudson Valley graduate researcher is studying how individual video game mechanics may influence short-term emotional responses. Victoria Alexeev, a graduate researcher in Bradley University’s Neurocounseling program, is recruiting adults for Playing with Emotion, an online video game psychology study examining how specific game mechanics affect short-term emotional responses.
Video games have had a complicated history with mental health. As games have become a larger part of everyday life, research on their effects has become increasingly important within the scientific community. Better research can help consumers, parents, and gamers understand how gameplay may affect emotion, behavior, and mental health.
Much of video game research examines entire games or broad genres, which can make it difficult to determine how individual game systems affect players. Game systems are the specific rules, actions, choices, and forms of feedback that make up the experience of playing a game. A role-playing game, for example, might include combat, dialogue choices, exploration, character relationships, inventory management, and story decisions. A competitive first-person shooter may instead include aiming and shooting, rapid movement, team coordination, scoring, and repeated rounds against other players. When researchers study the game as a whole, all of those systems are operating at the same time, making it harder to determine whether a particular feature is associated with a change in mood or emotional response.
That is why Alexeev chose to focus her master’s research project, Playing with Emotion, on individual game mechanics. The study was designed to separate specific forms of interaction so their short-term emotional effects could be examined more directly.
Alexeev built both the browser-based video game and the experimental battery used in the study. Participants play three short video game levels that include isolated activities. Throughout the study, they are asked brief questions. Gameplay data are recorded so they can be examined alongside participants’ interactions with the game.
The study is open to adults age 18 and older who can complete the study in English. Participation takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes and can be completed online using a computer. The research team is recruiting approximately 1,650 participants for the larger study.
Playing with Emotion has been approved by Bradley University’s Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research under protocol I-2026-031-BU.
Alexeev’s broader research focuses on video game psychology, emotion, mental health, and the effects of individual game mechanics on players. She is also the founder of the Video Game Therapy Research Initiative, or VGTx, which studies commercial video games and interactive systems in relation to emotion, cognition, behavior, and mental health.
Adults interested in participating can visit PlayingWithEmotion.com for eligibility information and access to the study.
Study: Playing with Emotion
Who: Adults age 18 and older who can participate in English
Time required: Approximately 10–15 minutes
Where: Online at PlayingWithEmotion.com
Researcher: Victoria Alexeev, Graduate Researcher, Bradley University
Program: Neurocounseling
IRB: Bradley University CUHSR I-2026-031-BU
Contact: vzajac@mail.bradley.edu
