- Published: October 3, 2022
- Updated: October 3, 2022
- University / College: University of Kansas
- Level: Masters
- Language: English
- Downloads: 23
Article Review: “ Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior” al Affiliation “ Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior”
Explanation on the Rationale for Picking the Article
The article entitled “ Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior” was written by Greitemeyer and Osswald (2010) and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. One selected this particular article since one strongly believes that contemporary generation has evidently shown the preferences of children, adolescents, and even adults in playing video games. As such, one was particularly interested in confirming the traditional and common belief that playing video games actually impact negatively on the users. There were minimal or relatively few studies which established any direct link toward indicating that playing video could have generated positive effects. As such, the findings from this article could be beneficial as points of revelations on any positive impact that playing video games could have generated from the participants.
Description of Article’s Focus that Captured One’s Interest
It was specifically disclosed that the aim of the study was to “ examine the possibility that playing video games with prosocial content (in which the predominant goal is to benefit another game character) may promote prosocial behavior” (Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010, p. 211). One was therefore interested in finding out what types of video games could be classified as containing prosocial elements which could allegedly promote prosocial behavior.
The authors’ presentation of information initially provided an authoritative source that outlines the effects of playing violent video games, to include the following: (1) increased tendencies to exhibit aggressive thoughts and behaviors; (2) increased manifestations to exhibit antisocial behavior; (3) increased preponderance to exhibiting lesser prosocial behavior. At these theoretical backgrounds, the authors specified their research aim, to wit: “ to address whether playing video games not only affects social behaviors negatively (as previous research has shown) but may do so positively as well” (Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010, p. 212).
The authors effectively explained the conceptual frameworks for their current study and established the most viable research methodology deemed to address their research goal. Four appropriately designed experiments were used to test, validate, and confirm the reliability and consistency of their findings. Each experiment identified distinct objectives; where experiment 1 was designed primarily to determine reactions to assist a victim of mishap spontaneously; experiment 2 solicited participants willingness to participate in further studies; experiment 3 was designed to determine the participants’ response in assisting a harassed woman; and finally, experiment 4 was explicitly noted to “ to examine why playing prosocial video games fosters prosocial behavior” (Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010, p. 217).
From the results, it was revealed that playing video games which were identified to have prosocial contents were contributory to exhibiting increases in prosocial behavior (Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010, p. 219). The authors clearly explained the rationale in terms of pinpointing that the visual content of the video being played was instrumental in affecting the participants’ internal state, which apparently has a repercussive effect on responding, either antisocially or prosocially. This was indeed a revelation as opposed to the traditional focus of previous research studies that delved only on the negative impact of playing video games.
Reference
Greitemeyer, T., & Osswald, S. (2010). Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 8, No. 2, 211–221.