Reuter’s Health reports that Immersyve, a Florida-based virtual environment think tank, and researchers from the University of Rochester in New York found that playing video games can satisfy deep psychological needs and, at least in the short term, improve people’s well-being in a recent study.

The study stated that the more a person’s sense of independence, achievement and connectedness to others were being satisfied through a game, the more likely they were to continue playing.

“We think this is really one of the first validated models of what is going on psychologically when people are playing video games,” Dr. Scott Rigby of Immersyve said.

Though Rigby said the research can’t prove that games are always good for you, he does believe it helps balances out the traditional research on games that focuses on the potential harmful effects such as social isolation, addiction, and violence.

“We’re trying to in some sense normalize how people look at video games, rather than seeing them as having some mystical power to addict,” Rigby said.

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