The Psychology Behind Choosing Your Pokémon Go Team

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What makes you, a human being on planet Earth, attached to your cell phone playing Pokémon Go, tick? When you’re roaming your town, running into trees and tripping over young children, do you do so with others or by yourself? Are you playing for the thrill of the chase, or because you want to spend time with your friends, even if that time involves minimum conversation? Where does this obsession for the game come from?

Pokémon Go fans play the incredibly popular, not-so-surprisingly addictive mobile game with the hope to “catch them all” in a virtual world seemingly right alongside our very own reality. The choices fans make, like which team–Mystic, Instinct, or Valor–to join, are all about the goals they have for themselves in-game, and are fueled by out-of-game preferences.

One of the most popular and trusted personality examinations is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which The Game Theorists Youtube channel has taken a close look at to determine how Pokémon Go players decide what team to join on their quest for Pokémon triumph.

After some research, and a clear understanding of their audience, The Game Theorists came to the conclusion that most gamers are introverted and intuitive, but that a larger amount of extroverted players chose to join Valor over the other two options, meaning that you’re more likely to run into an extra competitive member of Valor than Instinct or Mystic.

However, Mystic has quickly become the most popular team because, as stated before, most gamers are introverted, thoughtful, and strategic, highly respected traits of any valued Mystic member. Also home to many introverts is Instinct, a team where players who focus on outsmarting the system with intuition feel the most comfortable.

Or there’s always the possibility that you chose your Pokémon Go team based on your favorite color, and Game Theory covers that too.

That’s all fine and dandy, but what if we just want to join Team Rocket and be done with it? Is that okay?

Do you identify with the team-choosing theories shared in the video above? What team do you belong to and why did you decide on that team over the other two? Let’s discuss in the comments below, or find me over on Twitter @bekahbabble!

Featured Image Credit: Pokémon Go!/GameTheory/ Youtube

Image Credit: OLM Inc. via Giphy

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