Impact of Prosocial Video Games on Violent and Prosocial Behaviour

Abstract

For long video games have been looked down upon by parents and guardians because of the common stereotype that they lead to aggression, apathy, violent behaviour in children and adolescents. Investigations conducted by social psychologists often agreed that children model the violent behaviour present in the game and behave in line with it, thus resulting in violent and apathetic behaviour. But with the launch of interactional and moral decision-based games, the recent research has yielded surprising results in relation to empathy and prosocial behaviour in the player. Numerous other researches have also suggested that video games can enhance emotional regulation, social interaction with others, it can influence one’s emotional intelligence, promote positive youth development, increase cooperation and reduce in-group bias. Through the means of secondary research this paper aims to understand the impact of prosocial video games on prosocial behaviour. The objective of this paper is to contribute towards breaking down the common myths and stereotypes around video games and bring a new perspective to the audience regarding the benefits of this leisure activity. This paper hypothesises that playing prosocial video games will decrease aggression and increase helpful behaviour. The population in focus is mostly children, adolescents and young adults.