(Image credit: Nintendo)

Many people play games after work to relax, but a study has just proven that these could help reduce the risk of burnout among young adults. According to the study published in JMIR Publications, popular titles like Super Mario Bros. foster “childlike wonder” and increase the overall happiness in life of the participants. The study was conducted through in-depth interviews among 41 university students to gather qualitative data, with the respondents having an average of 22 to 23 years. 46.3% involved in the study were female, and 51.2% were male, while the remaining 2.4% preferred to not disclose their sex. The research team also conducted cross-sectional survey among 336 participants for quantitative data.

All the respondents played the mentioned titles, and analysis showed that the games brought back good childhood memories among the players, giving them happiness. This in turn reduced their feeling of burnout and helped improve the status of their mental health. The study also found that “childlike wonder” did not have direct impact on addressing burnout — instead, it’s the increased happiness from the memory that has a significant effect on reducing mental stress.

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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

With contributions from

• Jake RoachSenior Analyst, CPUs