Posted on April 18, 2013
While violent video games have been targeted for creating hostility and outward violence, the reverse might also be true. This article explains a study that was recently done having people enter a simulator, put on goggles, and fly like superman while searching for a diabetic boy to give an insulin shot to. Afterwards, each participant was interviewed and the interviewer purposefully knocked over a cup of pens. Those who had simulated flying like Superman helped pick up the pens faster than the group that had “flown by helicopter” and also picked up more pens than their counterparts. This study is exciting and brings with it the hope that if video game creators decide to make more helpful heroic video games with less gore and more empathetic glory, this world can become a more kind and helpful place. If helping out with acts of kindness is seen as cool or in fashion because of video games, tons of potentially violent kids can become tons of potentially altruistic ones. And I’m sure that’s something not only Superman but the whole world will be grateful for.
