Child Training and Game Involvement

Games are systemic culture patterns which are distinctive, ancient, and widespread among the cultures of the world. While and gamesters have long claimed the scholarly interest of anthropologists and psychologists, no general consideration of the phenomenon of involvement in has yet been given from both cross-cultural and intra-cultural points of view. The evidence presented herein shows that variations in the distributions of among cultures throughout the world, and in the game playing of American children and adults, are related to variations in child training. It is held that these relationships can be viewed in terms of psychological conflicts which lead people to become involved in and other models. In the main, this discussion is limited to game involvement, but it must be recognized that there are other important aspects to game playing. Additional features will be treated in subsequent reports. In an earlier publication (Roberts, Arth, and Bush 1959: 597), were defined as recreational activities characterized by organized play, competition, two or more sides, criteria for determining the winner, and agreed-upon rules. Many of the activities described as games in the ethnographic literature, however, do not satisfy the above requirements. Instead they are amusements: group pastimes such as the ritual game of dialogue, Mother, the Pot Boils Over; stunts such as diving and juggling; model play as with dolls, pets, and toy trains; and various other noncompetitive recreational activities. Although this article is focused on games, there is evidence that child-training variables are systematically related to classes of amusements as well.