Video games have a different effect on people’s behaviour due to the individual having an active role in carrying out the behaviour which they see rather than just watch it. This can be good and have positive effects such as exploration of social skills and problems and increased self-esteem.
People who play more prosocial games get a chance to explore situations which may later on occur in their life and find a way to deal with them therefore making them more equipped for such situations in the future. Kahne et al (2008) conducted a study into this and found that the majority of those who listed ‘The Sims’ (a life simulation, prosocial, game) as their favourite game had learned more about problems in society and explored more social issues than those who listed another less prosocial game. This suggests that video and computer games can have a prosocial effect on behaviour as things learnt in this game affected the prosocial behaviour that was shown in the future.
Kahne’s study however can be criticised and said to be unreliable as it used a self-report method meaning that participants could have given answers they thought were socially desirable rather than truthful ones and shown demand characteristics. It also makes the data subjective.
Another Positive effect of Video and Computer games on prosocial behaviour is increased self-esteem. This is said to be because we regularly review positive feedback of ourselves through chatrooms, facebook etc. which reinforces our positive views we hold about ourselves and helps to combat any negative thoughts.
A study to support this was carried out by Gonzales et al (2011) who gave students 3 minuetes to either look at theirfacebook page, look in a mirror at themselves or to doansolutly nothing. They then had to ffeback about themselves and It was found that those who had looked at their facebookpages gave the most positive feedback about themselves compared to the two other groups.
Studies into the positive effect of video and computer games on behaviour can be criticised as they are all carried out into the short term effects and therefore we do not have any insight into the long term effects of video and computerwhich could be completely different to those in the short term. Also research can only show a correlation and not a cause and effect and there is a chance that it is other variables effecting behaviour within the studies rather than the video and computer games such as how the participant have been brought up.
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