Individual Negative Effects of Computer Games

Have you ever thought if computer games have any negative effects on individuals? If not, think again. Computer games are affecting individuals in terms of lack of socialization, crime, and increased aggression levels. The reason why computer games are negative for individuals is because of most of the violence it contains. Excessive use of computer games may cause crime, aggression, and lack of socialization. However, based on this research, there is a positive learning tool gained from computer games that involves enjoyment and exercise, which is great for an individual’s well-being.

Lack of Socialization

People have different experiences with ‘computer game addiction’. This article will be based on young people’s perspectives on computer game addiction and will show that young people who are identified as computer game addicts are more than ‘introvert, neurotic, and impulsive’, a result of problematic behavior or a biochemical aberration (Kuss & Griffiths, 2012). This article is based on qualitative interviews with three 14-15-year-old boys who would typically be described as computer game addicts. This study is not intended to discuss if computer game addiction is a new disorder, but rather to the consequences of using computer game addiction as a commonsense word. It is based on analyzing how young people interact in relation to others in terms of computer game addiction. The importance of this research is how to prevent young people from being stigmatized because of their computer gaming.

It has been emphasized that due to their identification with the phenomenon, young individuals encounter social uncertainties in their daily life. Social organizations and parents are becoming worried about young people’s consumption of computer game addiction. It has been shown that some of the social unpredictabilities that young people face in their everyday lives arise from this phenomenon (Kuss & Griffiths, 2012). Computer game addiction is not negative for young people, as they can be positive in terms of their identity work, which relies on acceptance from their environment. The risk of stigmatization raises questions for many people about young people’s social lives, showing how painful it is to be labeled as an ‘outsider’. According to Rose (as cited in Kuss & Griffiths, 2012), the diagnostic manuals no longer apply to a small pathological minority; they seem to interact with almost all of us. This makes it possible to examine young people’s everyday lives with computer games. According to Brus (as cited in Kuss & Griffiths, 2012), “This increasing diagnostic practice implies that ordinary everyday problems related with work, family, and education are being described as disorders requiring psychological, psychiatric, or medical treatment”. It has been indicated that others need to be cautious about classifying playing computer games as a psychiatric disorder or a negative behavior.

Aggression Levels

It has been investigated how aggression resulting from playing violent computer games varies by gender and trait aggressiveness level. Animosity may be upgraded in children through playing computer games, which may be a prevalent form of excitement for this group. Playing computer games has been found to make people feel relaxed (Wu, Wang, & Tsai, 2010) and children spend an extraordinary amount of time on this activity. Analysts have evaluated that around 89% of children’s electronic play incorporates bloody and violent content (Wu, Wang, & Tsai, 2010). In contrast, counter-strike games require clients to shoot others with programmed rifles in real-life settings through observational learning. According to, the effect of playing violent computer games on aggression levels among children works by utilizing a semantic classification errand. The discoveries appeared that Virtual Cop2 was a rough computer diversion, based on the essentially high scores members gave for violent substance and images (Zheng & Zhang, 2016). In addition, Battle Proprietor was a relatively peaceful computer diversion, since the scores for all diversion viciousness rating measurements were high but nonsignificant. Study discovered that playing rough computer games essentially prepared children for animosity. “Particularly, as anticipated, an increment was seen within the number of children whose animosity was dynamic after introduction to the violent, versus nonviolent game” (Zheng & Zhang, 2016). According to Boutwell, Franklin, Barnes, and Beaver (as cited in Zheng & Zhang, 2016) these results concur with those of past analyses and support the first hypothesis.

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Video Games and Crime

The relationship between videogames and crime have been examined by psychologists. They have focused only on violent video games and suffer from two major shortcomings. Psychologists have adopted research that does not look into the relationship between video game-playing behavior and crime, but rather at the relationship between video game-playing and aggression, and then offer social suggestions to reduce crime (McCaffree, 2017). In this study, contradictory results can be explained using routine activities theory. The study has a hypothesis using UCR, CPS, and census data. As predicted by routine activities theory, they find that rates of video game-playing behavior in the home are negatively related with violent crime (McCaffree, 2017).

Video game competitiveness and hostility has been increasing for at least a decade within the area of testing social brain research. It was contended that violent video games specifically support forceful or criminal behavior. They argued that violent games empower players to identify with forceful characters and thus enhance their capacity to imitate or replicate savage acts until they become desensitized (McCaffree, 2017). Desensitization to viciousness, they suggest may lead individuals who play these video games to commit acts of criminal violence throughout their lives. “Critically, across studies, it is not always violent videogames that are hypothesized to increase aggression but, indeed, any videogame that encourages zero-sum competition between players” (McCaffree, 2017).

Learning Tool

The following information will be based on the psychological effects of playing exergames from the viewpoint of player engagement. Journal articles were collected from 2011 to 2015, in which 45 experimental studies were selected out of 911 studies (Lee, Kim, Park, & Peng, 2017). The results show that the psychological effects measured by the exergame studies were enjoyment, immersion, and flow. Exergames are videogames that require physical exertion such as balance, strength, and flexibility to play. Only a dearth of supporting evidence exists on the psychological effects of playing exergames, which are engagement, motivation, and pleasure. The main question is, what are the psychological effects of playing exergames, as studied by researchers in the field?

Social interaction amid exergame play is considered an important feature leading to positive mental impacts. Playing exergames with a group or competitive play has appeared more often than playing alone. In a normal workout setting, it has been established that group workouts are more prevalent than individual workouts (Lee, Kim, Park, & Peng, 2017). For instance, people in a group workout appeared to have a more positive sense of well-being and less mental stretching than people in a singular workout. Moreover, high interactivity and social competition lead to upgraded submersion of players. As social interaction amid exergame play is an additional variable as in a typical workout or sports, it was considered to be a major design component of exergames. According to Seungmin, Wonkyung, Taiwoo, and Peng (as cited in Lee, Kim, Park, & Peng, 2017), “There have been studies suggesting humans can build social relationships with SG partners”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, addiction to computer games will cause depression, social withdrawal, and so much more. If parents begin to monitor their children playing computer games, there wouldn’t be as many negative effects. If children were carefully monitored, then lack of socialization, aggression levels, and crime will be reduced tremendously. There isn’t anything wrong with playing a computer game. However, it should be permitted only if there is a balance and doesn’t lead to addiction in the future.

References

1. Brus, A. (2012). A young people’s perspective on computer game addiction. Addiction Research & Theory, 21(5), 365-375. doi:10.3109/16066359.2012.733466.
2. Lee, S., Kim, W., Park, T., & Peng, W. (2017). The psychological effects of playing exergames: A systematic review. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20(9), 513-532. doi:10.1089/cyber.2017.0183.
3. McCaffree, K., & Proctor, K. R. (2017). Cocooned from crime: The relationship between video games and crime. Society, 55(1), 41-52. doi:10.1007/s12115-017-0211-0.
4. Zheng, J., & Zhang, Q. (2016). Priming effect of computer game violence on children’s aggression levels. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 44(10), 1747-1759. doi:10.2224/sbp.2016.44.10.1747.