New Study Reveals Violent Video Game Players See Themselves As Better Fighters

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Playing video games can shape the brain and your behavior — for better or for worse.

 

According to a new research, people who play violent video games are more likely to perceive that they are much better in a physical fight than they really are.

 

Can Video Games Impair Our Real-Life Fighting Abilities?

 

Traditionally, people have always looked down upon video games since they are seen as nothing but a waste of time. Furthermore, the rise of blood and violence in the video games has also been seen by parents as detrimental because they believe it can influence their children to do similar things or become more violent. However, various research have already disproven this claim, stating that there’s no correlation between video game violence and real-life violence. If anything, it’s even positive because video games provide an escape and help people relieve stress.

 

However, a new research has stated that while video games does not influence a person to become violent in real life, it does impair their brain in some way since it makes them think that they’re much better in real-life fights than they actually are. To sum it up, video games supposedly impair our anger detection and enhance our perceived ability in handling physical fights.

 

“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. 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,” study author Thomas F. Denson, a psychology professor at the University of New South Wales, said.

 

The study was carried out in three experiments with 868 participants, which showed that players who played violent games are worse at recognizing angry facial expressions and are less willing to back down out of a hypothetical confrontation.

 

To that end, however, the study has some limitations of its own.

 

“One unanswered question is whether the extent to which people feel tougher eventuates into pathological gaming. We think it may, but require more data to confirm that hypothesis,” Denson added.

 

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