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  8. New journal article on gamification in team sports

New journal article on gamification in team sports

A study examining the use of social gamification in soccer.

How can gamification do more than just create fun—namely, foster a genuine sense of team spirit? Sandra Birnstiel, Burkhard Dümler, and Benedikt Morschheuser explore precisely this question in their new paper. In two field studies, they demonstrate how playful elements can be strategically incorporated into team sports to strengthen social bonds in a lasting way.

In collaboration with Adidas, innovative features were developed that deliberately focus on team dynamics and cooperation, including a charming mascot that accompanies the players on their shared journey. The approaches were tested directly in a real-world setting: with soccer teams from the region. Curious to see what the results were? Then it’s worth taking a look at the paper!

 

More information about the published paper:

Social Gamification to Bond Sports Teams: The Effects of Cooperative and Cooperative-Competitive Designs

Authors: Sandra Birnstiel, Burkhard Dümler und Benedikt Morschheuser

Abstract: Gamification is widely used in sports to enhance individual performance. In team sports, however, where social interaction and collective success matter, the use of game mechanics to encourage team interaction–known as social gamification–remains underexplored, despite its potential to foster collaboration and cohesion. This study examines how social gamification supports group dynamics, i.e., cohesion, social identity, and enjoyment in team sports, while addressing challenges like social loafing. Therefore, we developed a gamification app for soccer teams with two designs: First, a cooperative setting with team challenges and a virtual mascot; Second, a cooperative-competitive design adding a leaderboard for intra-team competition. These were tested in two four-week field experiments involving 119 participants. Results reveal that cooperative gamification fosters enjoyment, social identity, and aspects of cohesion, while intra-team competition does not harm group dynamics and actually promotes enjoyment. These findings highlight the effectiveness of social gamification and inform practical design strategies.

Available in the journal ACM Games: Research and Practice (https://doi.org/10.1145/3803415) and on Research Gate