Violent video games may have “desensitising effect”

New research has suggested that constant exposure to violent video games may have a desensitising effect towards violence.

The study was conducted by the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, which split 30 teenage boys (ages 13-15) into two different groups.

Both groups played violent video games, but the one group (high exposure) played for three or more hours, while the other group (low exposure) was limited to one hour.

When monitoring heart rates and sleep habits, the low exposure group showed to have faster heart rates and trouble sleeping. The group was also said to have felt sad after playing Manhunt, Rockstar’s survival horror game.

Both groups also had higher stress and anxiety levels after playing the violent game, according to researchers.

“The violent game seems to have elicited more stress at bedtime in both groups, and it also seems as if the violent game in general caused some kind of exhaustion,” wrote Malena Ivarsson, of the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University in Sweden. “However, the exhaustion didn’t seem to be of the kind that normally promotes good sleep, but rather as a stressful factor that can impair sleep quality.”

Researchers concluded that “the differences between the two groups’ physical and mental responses suggest that frequent exposure to violent video games may have a desensitizing effect.” Researchers did caution that this study did not prove “a cause-and-effect relationship,” noting that “boys with certain traits” may simply be “attracted to violent games.”