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Posted September 18, 2012 by Amy in News
 
 

Cooperation Eases Effects of Violence In Games

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Ah, yes. Another study on violence in video games.

Researchers at several American colleges have released results from two separate studies that seem to show that the manner in which we are playing violent video games has more effect than the actual violence itself. Says study co-authur David Ewoldsen, “Clearly, research has established there are links between playing violent video games and aggression, but that’s an incomplete picture….Most of the studies finding links between violent games and aggression were done with people playing alone. The social aspect of today’s video games can change things quite a bit.”

Using test subjects who played the violent video games Halo 2 and Unreal Tournament III, the the researchers were able to show that playing cooperatively in the game reduces the aggression shown after play. In both studies, the subjects were given surveys to fill out detailing their normal video game habits and levels of aggression. They were then asked to play the violent games, either alone, against another player, or cooperatively with another player. After the gaming time, they were then asked to play a physical game that involved sharing and cooperation.

In both studies, the gamers who had played cooperatively showed higher levels of cooperation. This was true even in the study that deliberately paired up subjects with noted rivals. Notes co-auther John Velez,
“The cooperative play just wiped out any effect of who you were playing with….You’re still being very aggressive, you’re still killing people in the game — but when you cooperate, that overrides any of the negative effects of the extreme aggression.”

 

Source: Science Daily


Amy

 
U.S. Senior Editor & Deputy EIC, @averyzoe on Twitter, mother of 5, gamer, reader, wife to @macanthony, and all-around bad-ass (no, not really)