Myths Dispelled: Gamers Have Friends, Girls Like Grand Theft Auto
New research dispels the well-worn stereotypes that computer gamers having no social skills and girls avoid violent games like Grand Theft Auto.
A new study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, surveyed 1,254 children from the US. It asked how often children played computer games, which games, and what they got out of it (Olson et al., 2007).
The results revealed:
- 94% of young teens had played computer games in the last six months.
- Two-thirds of boys aged 12 to 14 and one in four girls had played an M-rated game (meant for those over 17) in the last six months.
- Children playing violent M-rated games were more likely to play in groups. Friendship groups amongst boys, in particular, were often based around violent computer games.
- One in five girls had played the violent game Grand Theft Auto 'a lot' in the last six months. It was their second favourite game, after The Sims - in which players manage a virtual person and their family.
- Children used games to help them manage their emotions. When angry or stressed they liked to use games to get these emotions out.
Gaming no longer unsociable
Things sure have changed in the last couple of decades. When I was a lad computer gaming was a very unsociable activity. This was partly because good multi-player games hadn't yet been developed. Now players can battle each other while sitting side-by-side, or virtually across the internet.
This increase in the sociability of game playing must partly result from no longer having to 'wait your turn' while a friend's go keeps on going. Also, gaming technology is now so advanced and widespread most kids have access to it.
It all beats a rubber-keyed Spectrum 48k any day. Even one with a microdrive.
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I'm not sure if this information leaves me more disturbed or less disturbed. I love gaming, but I do not fancy the violent stuff.
I'm glad that young people are more sociable, but it sounds like their socializing is more or less violent in it's intent.
On the other hand, maybe that's not true at all. If a multi-player puzzle game were available and as attractive as Grand Theft Auto, maybe scads of young people would be socializing over Tetris as well.
I consider myself a gamer, and i play all sorts of games. Granted its mostly violent games, but its not the violence that is so appealing, they are just more fast-paced than lets say adventure games.
violence is just awesome
I agree, multi-player games bring a lot of social behaviour - and in general, by their nature they tend to construct relations in real life as well.
But in my opinion, gamers tend to relate more to their game companions, rather than 'outside' persons. While this might not be so bad or uncommon (maybe it could be seen as a common hobby) - how much does this influence the sociability towards persons that are not players?
A good example are the massive multi-player games that are becoming more popular nowadays, do they promote a more social behaviour in the 'outside' world as well?
Love the reference to the journal article on online gamers. Along these same lines, I would recommend a review of some research done by PARC, Palo Alto Research Center, great article called: “Alone Together?” Exploring the Social Dynamics of Massively Multiplayer Online Games.
It describes the different demands in World of Warcraft using longitudinal data, depicting graphically how the level of players influences their social interaction online.
It's available online as well:
http://www.parc.com/research/publications/files/5599.pdf
Randy, thanks very much for that reference - looks like fascinating research. Some material for a future blog post I would have thought.