No sh*t. But at least someone is backing up what we already knew with some science. Here’s the short version: If you’ve got a kid that has mood issues, or sometimes acts unfriendly, then you should probably keep him away from the violent videogames. It’s the kid that’s mostly to blame, and not all the game.
This is the meat of what Psychologist Patrick Markey of Villanova University presented at theAmerican Psychological Associationrecently. Markey had the published in the Review of General Psychology. It was based on responses from 118 participants collected in 2009, where half played violent games and the other half played non-violent ones.
“If you’re worried about a video game turning your son or daughter into a killer, don’t worry about that,” says Markey. “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.”
“Video games are not simply good or bad for everybody,” he toldUSA Today.“But for some individuals who have certain dispositions, if they play video games they’re much more likely to be negatively affected.”
Another study in the journalPsychology of Violencebacks this up:
“It appears that competition in games is what may influence aggression, not the violent content,” says study author Paul Adachi. “We found — irrespective of violent content — the two highly competitive games produced more aggressive behavior than the two less competitive games.”
