This suggests that playing the violent video game did *not* lead to reduced empathy or emotional reactivity. (9/12)
Bayesian hierarchical regression models revealed *evidence for the absence* of an effect of the VVG on our measures of empathy and emotional reactivity. Very strong evidence on the behavioral level, somewhat more limited yet still informative evidence on the neural level. (8/12)
Before & after this period, participants completed an fMRI experiment measuring empathic responses to the pain of another person. After the gaming intervention, we also measured their emotional responses to images of extreme real and virtual violence. (7/12)
In 7 sessions of 1h spread over 2 weeks, the VVG intervention participants of the violence group played a highly violent version of GTA V, tasked to kill as many characters as possible. Control group played a version without any violence, only taking pictures of people. (6/12)
We only invited participants with little to no prior experience with violent video games. This was to ensure that experimental VVG effects would not be masked by prior exposure (already desensitized people might not desensitize further). (5/12)
We conducted a prospective experimental fMRI study to tease out the longer-term VVG effects on empathy and emotional responses to violence. We invited 89 male participants (N control group = 44; N VVG intervention group = 45). (4/12)
There have been experimental studies on VVG effects, but they were either (a) quasi-experimental (compared gamers to non-gamers: no statements about direction of causality possible) or (b) only tested immediate short-term “carry over” effects (< 1h after playing the VVG). (3/12)
Whether violent video games (VVGs) affect players‘ social behavior negatively is a hotly debated question. Scientific evidence (mainly behavioral so far) on the question is still inconclusive. There are contradictory results across studies, even meta-analyses don’t agree. (2/12)
New paper from the SCAN-Unit out in @eLife. Do violent video games decrease our empathy and numb us towards real violence? Let’s find out! elifesciences.org/articles/84951 Lengersdorff et al. (2023) (1/12)
After playing violent video games for 7 hr over the course of 2 weeks, human male participants show neither signs of decreased empathy for the pain of another person nor of decreased responsivity to v...
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