Playing a violent video game makes people view themselves as a better fighter

[Judi Lynn]

BY ERIC W. DOLAN APRIL 4, 2020

New research provides evidence that violent video games can influence a person’s self-perceived ability and readiness to engage in a physical fight. The study, published in Computers in Human Behavior, suggests that playing violent video games can impair anger detection while enhancing the feeling of fighting ability.

“There’s a huge literature on violent video games increasing aggression and altering social information processing. A separate body of research documents that playing a lot of violent video games can lead to pathological gaming, which is sometimes referred to as an addiction or Internet Gaming Disorder,” said study author Thomas F. Denson, a psychology professor at the University of New South Wales.

“Pathological gaming occurs when people prioritize playing violent games over other facets of life, even when doing so causes impairment in relationships, academic pursuits, work, or mental health.”

“With these two literatures in mind, our broad aim was to investigate why people find these games so captivating. We proposed that violent video games would make people feel tough. Although not perfectly replicated, the general pattern of findings suggested that violent video game play impaired anger recognition, increased players’ self-perceived fighting ability and reduced perceptions of the other men’s toughness,” Denson explained.

More:
https://www.psypost.org/2020/04/playing-a-violent-video-game-makes-people-view-themselves-as-a-better-fighter-56386?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=playing-a-violent-video-game-makes-people-view-themselves-as-a-better-fighter

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt