Proof: computer games CAN make the world a better place

Do computer games encourage violent behaviour? For the sake of argument let’s say that my COD gaming sessions could turn me into a blood thirsty bastard who’s just as likely to punch a stranger in the face as give them a handshake. If that’s the case then could the opposite also hold true? – do computer games also have the power to encourage good and heroic behaviourisms?

Researchers at Stanford University in America certainly think so. In their Virtual Human Interaction Lab they conducted an experiment that set participants the task of looking for a lost child in an abandoned virtual city. Some of them got the chance to don a virtual cape and fly like a superhero, others rode shotgun in a computerised helicopter.

Once completed, researchers ‘accidently’ spilt a pot of pens whilst filling out a one-on-one questionnaire and recorded which participants helped to pick them up. Those who had been a superhero were far more likely and much quicker to help than those who rode in the helicopter. The subsequent hypothesis: flying like a superhero in virtual reality "primes concepts and stereotypes related to superheroes, and thus facilitates subsequent helping behaviour in the real world."

 OK, admittedly this only extended to picking up some pens, but hey we can’t all stop a runaway train and just think how many budding everyday superheroes there could be in our midst. I’ve saved the world twice this week on my games alone!! Twice!!! Tis all in a days work *superhero pose*

Angelic Rogue
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