New Study Says Focus Should Be On Gamer, Not the Game

A new study says that when it comes to the effect video games have on people, we should study the person playing the game and not the game itself.

“If you’re worried about a video game turning your son or daughter into a killer, don’t worry about that,” says psychologist Patrick Markey of Villanova (Pa.) University. “But is your kid moody, impulsive, or are they unfriendly? It’s probably not the best idea to have that child play violent video games.”

Markey’s research, presented at a meeting of the American Psychological Association, is among several studies in recent months that aim to unravel the confusion that envelops video games.

“Video games are not simply good or bad for everybody,” he says. “But for some individuals who have certain dispositions, if they play video games they’re much more likely to be negatively affected.”

Marina Krcmar, an associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, N.C., who studies the impact of video games on children and teens, offers these tips for parents:

Research the games: Game ratings are not consistent, and many games marketed to kids are often inappropriate. Watch YouTube videos for game content and check out websites that review games.

Focus on strategy versus shooting games: “First-person shooter” games where the shooter plays against “humans” versus monsters have a greater sense of realism; strategy games help develop problem-solving skills.

Monitoring helps: Set up game systems in family living spaces. Talk about games: Parents’ thoughts may cause kids to think differently about games, especially if it’s violent and kids didn’t think about the violence.

Markey found slight increases in hostility for those with certain personality traits: extremely high on neuroticism and extremely low on agreeableness and conscientiousness.

The study he co-wrote in the journal Review of General Psychology was based on responses from 118 participants collected in 2009; half played violent video games and half played non-violent games.

A new study online in the journal Psychology of Violence also supports the notion that violence isn’t the issue.

“It appears that competition in games is what may influence aggression, not the violent content,” says lead author Paul Adachi, whose study was conducted at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

“We found — irrespective of violent content — the two highly competitive games produced more aggressive behavior than the two less competitive games.”

Gaming has grown in popularity. But because some research suggests a link to aggression and other research disputes a connection, studies about video games continue to evoke mixed opinions.