Effects of Prosocial, Neutral, and Violent Video Games on Children's Helpful and Hurtful Behaviors

Abstract

Recent research reveals that playing prosocial video games increases prosocial cognitions, positive affect, and helpful behaviors [Gentile et al., 2009; Greitemeyer and Osswald, 2009, 2010, 2011]. These results are consistent with the social-cognitive models of social behavior such as the general learning model [Buckley and Anderson, 2006]. However, no experimental studies have examined such effects on children. Previous research on violent video games suggests that short-term effects of video games are largely based on priming of existing behavioral scripts. Thus, it is unclear whether younger children will show similar effects. This research had 9-14 years olds play a prosocial, neutral, or violent video game, and assessed helpful and hurtful behaviors simultaneously through a new tangram measure. Prosocial games increased helpful and decreased hurtful behavior, whereas violent games had the opposite effects.

A Conceptual Review of Lab-Based Aggression Paradigms

“…Many are part of the social psychologist's toolbox, and as such often found in studies of the interaction between persons and social or situational cues, such as the effects of violent video games (Anderson & Dill, 2000;Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012) or responses to ostracism (DeWall, Twenge, Gitter, and Baumeister, 2009;Warburton, Williams, & Cairns, 2006) and provocation (Finkel, DeWall, Slotter, Oakten, & Foshee, 2009). But they are also used in clinical research, for example to study the effects of the consumption of alcohol (Pederson, Vasquez, Bartholow, Grosvenor, & Truong, 2014) or pharmaceuticals (Weisman, Berman, & Taylor, 1998), or the social and cerebral responses in criminal psychopaths (Veit, Lotze, Sewing, Missenhardt, Gaber, & Birbaumer, 2010).…”

Links to Prosocial Factors and Alpha Asymmetry in Adolescents during Violent and Non-Violent Video Game Play

“…Evidence for decreased prosocial behavior after violent video game play has been reported through meta-analytic reviews of studies using samples of children and adults (Anderson & Bushman, 2001;Anderson, et al, 2010), across different cultures (Gentile, et al, 2009;Prot, et al, 2013). Children engaging in violent video game play show decreased prosocial behaviors such as helpful behavior (Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012) as well as decreased prosocial affect such as empathy (Funk, Buchman, Jenks & Bechtoldt, 2003).…”

Turning Our Gaze to Prosocial Media Effects: What is and isn’t Known

“…Laboratory experiments support the idea that prosocial media use causes increased prosocial behavior in the immediate situation (Gentile et al, 2009;Greitemeyer, Osswald, & Brauer, 2010;Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012a). For example, Gentile and colleagues (2009) randomly assigned participants to play a prosocial, violent or neutral video game.…”

“…Whereas observing violent actions increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior (Anderson et al, 2003), observing prosocial content that shows characters helping each other in nonviolent ways increases the likelihood of prosocial behavior. In the short-term, prosocial media are expected to exert effects by priming prosocial cognitions (Greitemeyer, 2011), generating positive affect (Saleem, Anderson, & Gentile, 2012a, 2012b, and prompting empathetic responses in the current social interaction (Greitemeyer, 2009b). Over time, habitual prosocial media use can lead to stable changes in beliefs, attitudes, behavioral scripts, and affective traits (such as increased trait empathy; Prot et al, 2014).…”