rpgresearch
Explorer
I think that's a big wall of text you've got there.
I find it unlikely that D&D players, or any selective group of hobbyists, are completely "normal". I would expect to see at least a slight elevation in measures of schizotypy or dissociation in people who play an imaginary game as a hobby. I would not be surprised to see an increased prevalence of bipolar disorder or other pathologies common to creative people. However, I do think that the gamer stereotype is very exaggerated, and in general the hobby by its nature promotes mental health, as do most creative and/or social activities.
.
Well, prior research kind of agrees, but I think not in the way that you meant.
For example, studies from the 80's and 90's showed that tabletop role-playing gamers had 1/5th to 1/10th the suicide rate of the general population, another study that they had significantly fewer feelings of "meaninglessness" than the general public, and another study that they have fewer feelings of alienation than the general public (college students in that study) though they did experience some external mistreatment from non-gamers. Many studies showed significantly better-than-average social skills and problem solving skills.
There are many, many other examples of studies about tabletop role-playing gamers being average to exceptional, which is generally the opposite of the assumptions a lot of people make about tabletop role-playing gamers.
However, it seems to me the types of gamers I run into now, compared to those in the 80's and early 90's, are of a very different ilk.
The underlying snobbishness has unfortunately been characteristic with ENW from the beginning, but I wonder how that and other more overt forms of trolling interact with this "public" gamer concept.
.
From a linkedin comment from one of my studies, related to your statement about people here, Michael Tresca stated (related to my interview regarding using RPG for PTSD at the VA hospital):
"This is good to see happening. It legitimizes the hobby's standing. Everything conforms to some game theory, and, in that, has some rules to accompany. But it may be a way to oust the Geek gatekeepers who want the hobby to stay in the shadows as a secret society as well and be more inclusicve to different styles of play and new people with examples of applications in real life, like PTSD treatment, language learning, socialization exercises, etc.
Our hobby needs to be opened to more of this."