Violent games don't make children less helpful: study

Shooter video game

Violent videogames have been the subject of a slew of psychological studies in recent years, with scientists trying to identify just how all that animated gore might affect the human psyche – but results have been mixed. Now a new study probes whether or not violent games make people less caring or willing to help others.

While prior research has shown that violent games can lead to more aggressive, less thoughtful behaviour, a new Australian study failed to replicate those results, Time magazine reports.

Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia recruited 64 university students to play one of four different games for 20 minutes. Two of the games, Grand Theft Auto and Call Of Duty: Black Ops, were violent, while the other two, World Of Zoo and Portal 2, were not.

After playing the games, the subjects then filled out questionnaires about their experience with the game. But when the researchers pretended to drop their pens when leaving the room, both groups of gamers were just as likely to help them pick up the pens.

“This suggests that the effect of violent videogames on behaviour might be small and that public concern ought to be minimal,” Morgan Tear, a PhD student at the university, told Time.

Still other contextual factors are at play, such as whether or not the researcher was smiling, so the research doesn't draw conclusive evidence to an issue that is becoming more and more political, Time reported.

What parents need to look out for is excessive gaming that begins to substitute for friendships and family time.