Cooperative Video Games May Have a Positive Effect on Helpfulness

It turns out that videogames can have a positive effect on being social. Scientists have found the those who play videogames cooperatively may improve in terms of generalized helpfulness.

In this latest study, one researcher wondered about the implications of teaming up with others in videogames and how this differs from playing alone, competitively, or not at all. That's why he and others decided to examine how cooperating with other players affected the players.

The researchers examined playing violent videogames in different social contexts. In both studies, participants were given a chance after playing the game to behave aggressive toward their partner or foe by blasting them with a loud, undesirable noise.

So what did they find? In both cases, those who played cooperatively with a partner were less aggressive.

"Generally, people playing cooperatively seemed to really focus on and value those relationships that are going on when they are playing," said John Velez, one of the researchers, in a news release. "They focus more on the social aspects and focus less on the violence and aggression. It's more important to them to think about how they're interacting with other people. Since most videogames are played this way nowadays, it's an important factor to think about when talking about violent video games and their negative effects."

The researchers also wanted to see how specific behaviors of teammates in a non-violent video game affected later pro-social behaviors. Participants played a sports videogame with either a helpful teammate or unhelpful teammate. Then, the volunteers played a game called Prisoner's Dilemma which gave the players the opportunity to throw their teammate under the bus, so to speak.

The researchers found that helpful teammates were more likely to help each other in a social situation afterward than unhelpful teammates.

"I did this study to figure out in general why cooperative play was so powerful in creating that positive effect," said Velez. "That expectation (of reciprocation) is very powerful in determining pro-social behavior but it also seems that playing with a helpful teammate can inspire players to behave pro-socially without the expectation of receiving anything in return."

The findings are published in the journal Communication Research.

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).