Getting Stoned Over Violent Games
First it was Jack Thompson, now this. According to a study conducted by Dr. Sonya Brady of the University of California, violent games draw young men into getting hooked on smoking pot. She, together with Professor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh, carried out a study that involved 100 male undegrads aging 18-21. These men were then asked to play GTA 3 or The Simpsons: Hit and Run. The study now claims that men who have just played a violent game such as GTA are more likely to see others’ attitudes towards them as hostile, smoke marijuana, and drink alcohol.
The researchers also added that no matter what background each male subject has- be it a happy suburb or a hostile community, playing a violent game made the young men in the study less cooperative and more competitive in completing tasks with another person. To strengthen the findings of their study, the guys were then shown a scenario of a teacher suspecting some students of cheating and being proud of those who did well at the same time, in the said scenario a boy named Billy was then asked to stay, the male subjects were then asked to be in Billy’s predicament. According to the study, the guys who just played a violent game (which is GTA no surprise there) were more likely to think that they were the accused. This study, along with many others of the same theme, provides more firepower to those who crusade against violent video games.
First it was Jack Thompson, now this. According to a study conducted by Dr. Sonya Brady of the University of California, violent games draw young men into getting hooked on smoking pot. She, together with Professor Karen Matthews of the University of Pittsburgh, carried out a study that involved 100 male undegrads aging 18-21. These men were then asked to play GTA 3 or The Simpsons: Hit and Run. The study now claims that men who have just played a violent game such as GTA are more likely to see others’ attitudes towards them as hostile, smoke marijuana, and drink alcohol.
The researchers also added that no matter what background each male subject has- be it a happy suburb or a hostile community, playing a violent game made the young men in the study less cooperative and more competitive in completing tasks with another person. To strengthen the findings of their study, the guys were then shown a scenario of a teacher suspecting some students of cheating and being proud of those who did well at the same time, in the said scenario a boy named Billy was then asked to stay, the male subjects were then asked to be in Billy’s predicament. According to the study, the guys who just played a violent game (which is GTA no surprise there) were more likely to think that they were the accused. This study, along with many others of the same theme, provides more firepower to those who crusade against violent video games.