Is online gaming still seen as a time-wasting activity?
Is Online gaming still seen as a time-wasting activity?
Concerned parents have waged war on video games for years, especially games with a violent nature. However, years of research have failed to consistently demonstrate a link between violence in video games and violent behaviour in young players.
A recent study published in Computers in Human Behavior hopes to place a new perspective on the relationship between video games with violence and real-world behaviour among children and adolescents. The study involved 845 students who played either Fortnite or pinball, in either solo mode or with a partner and were measured on game enjoyment, sense of relatedness/closeness to co-players and perceived competence.
The researchers measured prosocial behaviour by asking participants how much of the potential prize money they would share with a charity and how much time they would be willing to spend helping researchers with another study. The results showed that kids who played Fortnite were more likely to give a higher value of money to charity, despite Fortnite being a more violent game and were significantly more likely to donate more time compared to participants who played pinball.
Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, children in the single-player Fortnite game were also more prosocial in behaviour than children in the co-play pinball condition.
The children who felt more competent and more connected to other players were more prosocial. Interestingly, co-player mode in Fortnite led children to feel more competent, while co-player mode in pinball led them to feel less competent. This kind of interaction may explain why violent, but highly engaging video games lead to greater prosocial behaviour.
Ultimately, the authors were successful in demonstrating that the relationship between violence in video games and antisocial behaviour is far from linear. Hands may continue to be wrung by concerned parents and educators, but there is no doubt that modern games, by virtue of the Internet and multiplayer features, can elicit multiple emotional and psychological responses, many of which are positive.
Given the mainstream popularity, we’d like to think that the lazy-gamer perception has now changed. Nowadays, with the rise of competitive gaming, players are making serious money with games like Counter-Strike, FIFA and Call of Duty. Check out E-Sport Earnings for an idea of just how much gamers are winning.
And many scientists are seeing the positive effects of how video games can improve behavioural and social skills.
The study, “The Fortnite social paradox: The effects of violent-cooperative multi-player video games on children’s basic psychological needs and prosocial behavior“, was authored by Anat Shoshani and Maya Krauskopf.