Entrapment in games: Reframing persistence in the I-PACE framework / Pawel Strojny, Michal Klosinski
Bibliogr.: p. 23-25. - Abstr. eng. - DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2025.00459
In: Journal of Behavioral Addictions. - ISSN 2062-5871, eISSN 2063-5303. - 2026. 15. évf. 1. sz., p. 19-25.
This paper introduces entrapment as a socio-cognitive pathway of gaming persistence that complements the gratification-compensation sequence in the I-PACE framework. Drawing on escalation-ofcommitment theory, identity maintenance, sunk-cost reasoning, and social obligations, we argue that contemporary game architectures, especially gacha systems, transform cumulative investments of time, money, and identity into barriers against disengagement. Empirical signals, including sunk-cost effects, gaming-contingent self-worth, loss aversion, and amotivation, indicate that after initial gratification, persistence may become decoupled from enjoyment and remain both measurable and clinically relevant. Entrapment is not a universal endpoint but an optional trajectory, clarifying why some players continue "without joy" and underscoring implications for assessment, intervention, and responsible design. Kulcsszavak: entrapment, I-PACE framework, gaming disorder, gacha games, sunk-cost effect