Study: World of Warcraft Eases Stress

Alas, this research isn’t published yet, but it was presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in April. Jane Barnett over at Middlesex University spearheaded the effort. Here is a paragraph from a write up in Edge:

The psychologists studied 292 male and female online gamers playing World of Warcraft. They found that overall the gamers, aged between 12 and 83, were more likely to feel calm or tired after playing, although there were differences depending on sex, age and personality.

So far, the findings seem to be interpreted by the press as making a generalizing statement that feelings of relaxation tend to be experienced by violent videogame players. However, it appears this is foundational research in an effort to come up with a predictive instrument to measure proclivities toward real world violence among players. Barnett indicated the findings will help her team develop a more nuanced questionnaire for future efforts in an attempt to ferret out which players may exhibit a tendency to transfer virtual aggression to the real world.

References:
Study: Violent games relax players. (2008, April 2). [Online]. Available: http://www.edge-online.com/news/study-violent-games-relax-players