Social exchange theory (SET) has been extensively used to recognize students’ perceptual behavior (PB) and social interaction (SI). Research has examined the potential factors of recognition and socialization against the economic factors in individual evaluation, seeking rewards or avoiding costs in relationships. The positive impact of PB and SI is a significant experimental approach to studying social psychology. Therefore, the processes of individuals’ perceptual behavior and their social interactions in Esports might address this research gap. Hence, the purposes of this study were to explain the PBs and SIs toward Esports among college students in China. Method: 341college students were selected as participants in this study from higher education institutions in the eastern region of China. PB and SI were tested with 15 items in relation to the three main factors (economic, recognition, and socialization) among Chinese college students. All items were based on previous research studies and were a 7-point Likert scale. The data were collected through online survey tools (e.g., Tencent Survey, SurveyMonkey). Data Analysis included scale reliability, descriptive statistics, and bivariate correlations. Scale reliability analysis revealed that participants demonstrated good reliability (αs = .728–.802) across all potential items. The mean and standard deviation scores provided by Chinese college students revealed the factors of perceptual behavior (PB) and social interaction (SI), specifically in economics (M = 4.77, SD = 1.10), recognition (M = 4.67, SD = 1.06), and socialization (M = 5.13, SD = 0.99). The factors of economic and recognition were significantly correlated (r = .56, p < .001); the factors of economic and socialization were significantly correlated (r = .598, p < .001); and the factors of recognition and socialization were significantly correlated (r = .629, p < .001). One of the most important results of this study indicates that PB and SI of Chinese college students were significantly influenced by economic, recognition, and socialization factors. Specifically, the positive correlation between recognition and socialization suggests that students who value recognition in Esports are more likely to engage in social interactions within the collegiate Esports community. The significance of this finding is that SET may have a long-term effect on college students’ behavior in perception and social interaction in Collegiate Esports. Therefore, we strongly recommend that leaders navigate the digital arena by leveraging the potential of embedding Esports in higher education.
Xianhua Luo (Thu,) studied this question.