Beyond entertainment: cultural–psychological mechanisms underlying the reduction of state anxiety in heritage-based serious games

Abstract

Anxiety has become an increasingly prominent mental health concern among university students, highlighting the need for effective and engaging intervention approaches. Although serious games have been shown to reduce anxiety, existing research has primarily attributed these effects to general processes such as distraction, relaxation, and immersion, leaving the underlying psychological mechanisms insufficiently specified—particularly in culturally embedded contexts. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework and Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this study examines whether heritage-based serious games reduce State Anxiety through a culturally grounded psychological pathway. It proposes that Heritage Narrative Involvement, Perceived Authenticity, and Perceived Autonomy influence emotional outcomes through Cultural Identity, Virtual Heritage Place Attachment, and Flow. A three-study design was employed. Study 1 used a randomized active-controlled experiment to identify the short-term effect of cultural embedding on State Anxiety. Study 2 tested the proposed mechanism using large-sample data, combining structural modeling and predictive analysis to enhance robustness. Study 3 used qualitative interviews to further explain how these mechanisms are experienced by players. Results indicate that heritage-based serious games produce stronger reductions in State Anxiety than general gameplay. Importantly, these effects are not solely attributable to distraction or engagement, but emerge through a structured psychological process involving cultural internalization, place-based attachment, and immersive experience. These findings contribute to research on emotion regulation and digital interventions by demonstrating that cultural content can function as an active psychological resource, rather than merely contextual information, in shaping emotional outcomes.