THE ATTITUDE OF THE YOUTH OF THE CITY OF BELGOROD TO ESPORTS

ABSTRACT

Esports is becoming more and more firmly established in our lives and is developing more and more every day. A researchwas conducted among young people, during which we tried to determine the attitude of the youth of the city of Belgorod to eSports.

Keywords: eSports, youth, computer game.

It is undeniable that in recent years, computer games and e-sports are increasingly being introduced into the life of young people. Along with the main spheres of human life, an entertainment sphere is developing, which includes computer games. Computer games are perhaps the main component of e-sports. It is important to understand that eSports can be mentioned in several ways. The first carries an element is entertainment. Young people play computer games in order to relax and rest. The second carries a sense of professional rivalry, organization of teams, players receiving wages and worldwide fame.

A similar transformation from ordinary entertainment to a very serious sport should ever have happened, since the nature of competition is rooted in human nature. Each player, especially one who is happy to compete with other players while masterfully understanding the game at one point, understands that this can develop from ordinary entertainment into professional activity, a source of income and promoting oneself as the “best” e-sportsman in the world.

Today, e-sports tournaments are already gathering huge stadiums, no less large prize pools and this is only the beginning of his journey. Nowadays eSports is gradually becoming an official sport.

Research Problem: a contradiction between eSports as a source of income and the insufficient degree of eSports development.

The object of sociological research is the youth of the city of Belgorod.

The subject of a sociological study is the attitude of young people to eSports.

The purpose of the research is to study the attitude of young people to eSports.

To achieve this goal it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Determine how much youth is informed about eSports.

2 . Determine how much time young people spend on computer games.

3. To determine the opinion of youth on the promotion of eSports as an official sport.

Hypotheses of a sociological research:

1. People with a technical focus are attracted to eSports more than people with a humanitarian or natural science focus.

2. More than 50% of youth between the ages of 15 and 34 play computer games.

3. The male gender is more interested in eSports than the female.

The survey was conducted among the youth of the city of Belgorod in the amount of 100 people.

To the question: “Do you know what eSports is?” The overwhelming majority of respondents answered that they know (81%). 10% answered, that they do not know and 9% found it difficult to answer.

Respondents were asked: “How many hours a day do you play computer games?” Most of the respondents said that they play 1-3 hours a day (43.6%). 36.6% answered “4-7 hours”. And a smaller part of respondents answered “less than an hour” (16.4%) and “8 or more hours (3.6%). This confirms the hypothesis that more than 50% of young people between the ages of 14 and 34 play games.

To the question: “Is it fair, in your opinion, to single out eSports as a separate sport?” Respondents' answers were distributed as follows:

Yes (46%); Yes rather than no (24%); Rather no than yes (5%); No (14%); I find it difficult to answer (11%).

Thus, we can say that most respondents more admit eSports as a separate sport.

When determining the gender of respondents, there were more male respondents (59%) than female ones (41%). This confirms the hypothesis that the male gender is more interested in eSportthan the female.

When it was asked about the direction of education, the answers were distributed as follows:

Humanitarian (31%);  technical (56%); natural science (13%).

This confirms the hypothesis that eSports are more attracted to people with a technical education than people with a humanitarian or natural-science focus.

Thus, we can conclude that the attitude of young people to eSports as a separate sport is more positive than negative, while people with a positive attitude are available in all age categories, both at 14 and 34 years old.

More than half of the respondents have a technical orientation in education, which confirms the hypothesis: “eSports attract more people with a technical education than people with a humanitarian or natural-science focus.”

Most of the respondents play games quite often, while the time spent playing computer games almost does not exceed 8 hours.

References:

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2. Пащыев, Ш.Б. Киберспорт как средство развития личности. / Ш. Б. Пащыев // SCIENCE TIME, 2016. – №5(29). – С. 512-515.