The Vast Research of Video Games and their Correlated Behaviors

Video games and the behaviors that go along with playing them, have become embedded into society in the 21^stcentury. They can range from violent to lifestyle to sports games and attract a number of diverse audiences. For quite some time, it has been questioned if violent video games contribute to violent behavior. This is a heavily studied area of research in psychology today due to video games being accessible, common, and having unknown, possibly adverse impacts. If they are having a negative effect on an individual’s cognitions and producing maladaptive behaviors, there may need to be a shift in the availability of these violent games. Research done by Laura Stockdale et al. is centered around this hot topic of violent video games producing violent behaviors, but her study also takes the research a bit further by attempting to address how these violent video games impact emotional regulation and affect control. This research study is informative and discusses relevant information, however sometimes this information can be stuck in the research format. A news article from Business Insidertakes this research that many like Stockdale are embarking on and making it digestible to the reader, raising awareness of the research being done. 

            The article, “How Playing Video Games Affects Your Body and Brain” touches on many different topics that the research is covering in regard to video games and more specifically, violent video games. Toward the beginning of the article, a look is taken at video gaming as an addiction. This is interesting because there is much research that violent video games have a correlated relationship with maladaptive behaviors, but this is presenting that there is evidence for the gaming to be a maladaptive behavior itself. Furthermore, the gaming may simply be an unhealthy coping mechanism for anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles, titling gaming a reaction, not a risk or causal factor. The article also draws attention to the difference between aggression and violence. Some research addresses the idea that violent video games may increase aggression, which differs from violence. Although this distinction is made in some literature reviews, it could be said that aggression may lead to violent behavior and hence why other research finds violence as a result, rather than aggression. Lastly, the article addresses the maladaptive behaviors of crime, school shootings, and reports of violence in youth. Statistics of crime rates and school shootings are available and seem to be used to support both sides of the argument; violent video games may have an impact on these violent behaviors, or they may not. The article also touches on topics of lesser concern, that video games may bring to society; better attentional skills, improved hand-eye coordination, an increase in overweight or obese individuals, and links to creativity. 

The article presented, demonstrates the multitude of research that is occurring and that is available in this day in age about the impact of video games. The range of topics addressed is vast and covers more than simply violent video games. From a psychological point of view, it seems extremely important to focus on the maladaptive behaviors associated with video games and find out how best to move forward. The research study being done by Stockdale et al. is relevant and is a significant part of the body of research being conducted, exhibited by the article. The attention put on cognition, emotional control, and affective regulation in this study is something that is not well-known and undetermined. The continuing of this research will take the video game research to new heights, allowing society to be informed and educated, to provide a safe learning and growing environment for children and adolescents into their adult years, and to decrease the negative correlates associated with violence and video games. 

            

Works Cited

Loria, Kevin. “How Playing Video Games Affects Your Body and Brain.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 19 June 2018, www.businessinsider.com/video-games-and-violence-2018-3.

Stockdale, Laura, et al. “Cool, Callous and in Control: Superior Inhibitory Control in Frequent Players of Video Games with Violent Content.” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, vol. 12, no. 12, 2017, pp. 1869–1880.