Prosocial Video Games Reduce Aggressive Cognitions

Greitemeyer, Tobias, Silvia Osswald. "Prosocial Video Games Reduce Aggressive Cognitions." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45.4 (2009): 896-900. Brigham Young University-Scholar Search. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.


Tobias Greitemeyer, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Sussex, and Silvia Osswald, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Ludwig-Maximilians University wrote this article about a study that they did looking into whether or not a person's aggressive tendencies can be reduced by playing prosocial video games. They base this study on research done that shows that playing violent video games increases aggressive tendencies. They hypothesize that the effects of video games depend on the type of video games played. They compare results gathered about the mental states of individuals after playing a prosocial video games and neutral video games (ex: tetris). They discovered that playing prosocial games reduced aggression and increased prosocial tendencies, thoughts, and actions (helping someone who had dropped something, holding a door open, etc).