Informed Consent Form
Dear participant, if you are over 18 years old and play online games that include loot boxes or other RNG-based mechanics (e.g., wishing on banners, rolling for characters/skins), we invite you to take part in this scientific study that aims to contribute to a better understanding of the individual, social, and contextual factors associated with young adults' behaviors in online gaming. This study is being conducted as part of a master's thesis in Psychology at the University of Évora, Portugal, and is being carried out by the student Isabel Rosa, under the supervision of Professor Samuel Domingos and co-supervision of Professor Ana Rita Farias.
Your participation is entirely voluntary and free of charge, with no remuneration or profit. You may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time, without this implying any kind of consequence or detriment to you or to the people involved in the study. Participating in this study should not cause any physical or psychological discomfort, however, if you experience any kind of discomfort during your participation, you may contact the study authors. Even after your participation, if you wish to withdraw, you may request the removal of your data from the authors, and this request will be fully respected.
The data acquired will be analyzed collectively, using statistical tests, exclusively for scientific research purposes. All information collected during this work is anonymous and confidential, and it will not be possible to identify you as a participant in this work. All data will be stored on secure servers and used only for the period necessary for the research. Only the student and the supervisors will have access to the data and will be responsible for it. The general results of this study may be presented at scientific meetings, and/or published in master's thesis or scientific articles.
If you are over 18 years old and agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online questionnaire, which will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. If you have any questions or need further clarification, you can contact the researcher Isabel Rosa (m61330@alunos.uevora.pt) and/or her supervisor Samuel Domingos (samuel.domingos@uevora.pt).
Your participation is very important as it will help promote healthy habits in the context of online gaming. So, before continuing, we ask you to give your informed consent to voluntarily participate in this study.
We thank you in advance for your collaboration!
