Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Have you ever thought that playing a video game can help in the reduction of emotional responses? Infact, the feeling of guilt that is within you can come down to a significant level by playing violent video games repeatedly.
As per the new study conducted by principal investigator Matthew Grizzard from the University of Buffalo, the reason why this happens remains a mystery.
Gamers often claim that their actions in a video game are as meaningless to the real world as players capturing pawns on a chess board. Yet, previous research by Grizzard and others shows that immoral virtual actions can elicit higher levels of guilt than moral virtual actions.
The study findings, published recently in the journal Media Psychology, seems to contradict claims that virtual actions are completely divorced from the real world.
Grizzard's team wanted to replicate their earlier research and determine whether gamers' claims that their virtual actions are meaningless actually reflects desensitisation processes.
Although the findings of his study suggest that desensitisation occurs, mechanisms underlying these findings are not entirely clear.
Grizzard said his future research is working toward answering these questions.
"This study is part of an overarching framework that I've been looking at in terms of the extent to which media can elicit moral emotions, like guilt, disgust and anger," he said.
(With IANS inputs)
