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As some of you already know, I am in my 4th year studying for a Psychology major.
My main areas of focus are Social Psychology & Behaviorism.
I am less and less active with Mugen now due to study focus, but I would like to leave a few Gems with this community before I totally get up and vanish.
What I would like to share, is my personal observation of some common behavior patterns and archetypes that are quite prevalent among the userbase of people that make up this Mugen community.
Mugen is a double edged sword when it comes to mental health;
On one hand it is a good distraction for overactive minds or people that suffer from anxiety, OCD or ADHD.
But on the other hand it is also a bottomless pit of fixation and escapism with no real tangible benefits physically/mentally, that can drive already socially withdrawn individuals, further into isolation.
Similar to archetypal completion-driven mechanics seen commonly in videogames or collectable hobbies,
The creation/collecting aspect of Mugen tends to be attractive to individuals that live in isolation, or those with limited social interaction.
I think that much like video games and other related pop culture fandom (anime etc) it caters to introverts, the hikikomori lifestyle, and people with antisocial tendencies or limited social skills.
Interestingly also worth mentioning, there is definitely a correlation between individuals that have a fixation on Japanese Pop culture such as the "Japanophile" or "Otaku/Weeaboo" phenomenon, and individuals with a similar fixation with Mugen.
This is for a number of reasons: the main one being that Mugen as a hobby is mainly centered predominantly around Japanese 2D fighting game fandom (street fighter, King Of Fighters, Dragon Ball Z to name a few).
On a much deeper level, there is another driving factor that attracts a certain spectrum of Individuals to Mugen: the control factor.
Unlike social teamwork activities or competitive endeavors, Mugen allows an individual to operate autonomously with no rules or assigned role/parameters of engagement/ The individual has unprecedented control without compromise within the escapism to a level that even surpasses that of a videogame where obvious rules, parameters and sandbox environments restrict the experience.
Individuals that are oppressed, have been exposed to bullying, or have not been exposed to the competitive realities of the real world Social environment either during school or in adulthood, may feel a sense of empowerment or control via Mugen due to its customization possibilities, and lack of any particular set of rules, or usage regulations.
This is not to say that the entire Mugen community can be generalized being one of the archetypes above, but that there is a large portion that definitely fit these profiles.
My main areas of focus are Social Psychology & Behaviorism.
I am less and less active with Mugen now due to study focus, but I would like to leave a few Gems with this community before I totally get up and vanish.
What I would like to share, is my personal observation of some common behavior patterns and archetypes that are quite prevalent among the userbase of people that make up this Mugen community.
Mugen is a double edged sword when it comes to mental health;
On one hand it is a good distraction for overactive minds or people that suffer from anxiety, OCD or ADHD.
But on the other hand it is also a bottomless pit of fixation and escapism with no real tangible benefits physically/mentally, that can drive already socially withdrawn individuals, further into isolation.
Similar to archetypal completion-driven mechanics seen commonly in videogames or collectable hobbies,
The creation/collecting aspect of Mugen tends to be attractive to individuals that live in isolation, or those with limited social interaction.
I think that much like video games and other related pop culture fandom (anime etc) it caters to introverts, the hikikomori lifestyle, and people with antisocial tendencies or limited social skills.
Interestingly also worth mentioning, there is definitely a correlation between individuals that have a fixation on Japanese Pop culture such as the "Japanophile" or "Otaku/Weeaboo" phenomenon, and individuals with a similar fixation with Mugen.
This is for a number of reasons: the main one being that Mugen as a hobby is mainly centered predominantly around Japanese 2D fighting game fandom (street fighter, King Of Fighters, Dragon Ball Z to name a few).
On a much deeper level, there is another driving factor that attracts a certain spectrum of Individuals to Mugen: the control factor.
Unlike social teamwork activities or competitive endeavors, Mugen allows an individual to operate autonomously with no rules or assigned role/parameters of engagement/ The individual has unprecedented control without compromise within the escapism to a level that even surpasses that of a videogame where obvious rules, parameters and sandbox environments restrict the experience.
Individuals that are oppressed, have been exposed to bullying, or have not been exposed to the competitive realities of the real world Social environment either during school or in adulthood, may feel a sense of empowerment or control via Mugen due to its customization possibilities, and lack of any particular set of rules, or usage regulations.
This is not to say that the entire Mugen community can be generalized being one of the archetypes above, but that there is a large portion that definitely fit these profiles.