The hypotheses will be 1) testosterone will increase the most before and after the League of Legends match; 2) DHEA/cortisol will increase during the League of Legends match; 3) the winners and losers effect will influence each subsequent match; 4) team matches will influence higher cortisol responses than single player matches.
According to studies, competition stimulates an individual’s hormonal responses (Carre 2009, 2013, 2015; Oliveira and Oliveira 2014; Flinn et al. 2012; Schultheiss et al. 2002; Welker 2014; Wagner 2002). The androgen testosterone is often linked to specific behaviors such as competitiveness, dominance, and aggression. The theoretical winners and losers …show more content…
In 2014, League acquired the most revenue for online gaming (worldwide) making $946 million from in-game purchases. In 2015 League of Legends held it’s 5th annual Championship World Cup tournament with teams from North America, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Europe competing for the championship title and $1 million prized reward. It was held for 4 weeks with a total of 334 million unique viewers (online and television) and 360 million live eSports viewed. League popularity continues to rise with over 300 student-run League of Legends clubs across U.S. and Canada college and university campus. League has taken the eSports scene and sponsoring specialized competition specifically for varsity …show more content…
There will be ? players all males and their age will be anywhere between 18-22 years old. Consent forms will be provided to the participants to guarantee their safety. The participants will be notified to avoid consuming food & sugary drink one hour before actively engaging in their League match. The ? players will be separated into 2 separate teams (A and B) the teams will be fixed throughout the research. However, the teams will separate into single player matches during each alternating subsequent meeting (i.e. Mon - team, Tue - single, Wed - team, etc…). Single player matches will still be 5 vs.5 matches, but the single player match will be randomly grouped with 9 different players (Participant + 4 (randomized teammates) vs. 5 (randomized opponents)). The research will be based on between-group competition with UNLV teams/single player against randomly generated opponents. The in-game mechanism will choose opponents base on the average ranking for both teams. The control group will be same 5 vs. 5 matches, participants will be playing against randomly generated AI opponents. The dependent variable is the testosterone and cortisol level measurements for each player’s. Individuals saliva samples will be collected 15 minutes before and after each match. It should take about 30 secs - 2 minutes to find a randomized match plus another 4 - 6 minutes to fully set up the match for single player matches. Team