He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.” “Consider carefully what you hear,” He continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Mark 4:21-25
“A meta-analysis of 98 studies looking at the social outcomes of video game content found that “[w]hereas violent video games increase aggression and aggression-related variables and decrease prosocial outcomes, prosocial video games have the opposite effects.” In particular, studies have found that playing prosocial video games increased prosocial thoughts, increased interpersonal empathy, and decreased feelings of pleasure at another person’s misfortune in lab experiments.
These findings suggest that video game content may have consequences on how players treat other people—both in positive and negative ways. In fact, researchers have suggested that video games could potentially be a useful tool for increasing helping behaviors in children, particularly in teens.
Playing is almost ubiquitous among teens (a 2007 survey found that 97 percent of American teens play video games), and the video game format—which exposes players to modeling, rehearsal, and reinforcement—offers “excellent conditions for learning to occur.” Of course, that all depends on teens being willing to play prosocial games in the first place (at least when not assigned to do so in an experiment).”
Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.
When this posts I will have arrived safely in Istanbul for the WEA Forum which starts tomorrow. Click to see the program and presenters. Appreciate your prayers for a great event.
And honestly, I never thought I’d write a generosity post about video games. But then again, the research is both stunning and unavoidable.
If 97 percent of youth are playing games, and if games can shape them toward either aggression or prosocial behavior, we must consider the implications of this for the youth in our lives.
Today’s Scripture beckons us to “consider carefully what we hear” because if we partake of unhealthy things, we will reap the related impact.
And such choices will cause us to loose whatever gains we had in character or spiritual growth. We are either growing closer to God or away from Him. It’s not static.
So, in light of this research, let us encourage our kids to play prosocial games. And while I am the last person to recommend any, I am confident a good search will bear fruit.