14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new study published in the latest online issue of the journal Social psychological and Personality Science, people who play violent video games experience a host of negative effects, including a tendency to exert less self-control, a higher tendency to cheat on their partners, and a marked increase in aggression.
Studies covering the influence of violent games on the human mind are still highly debated in the research community. Still, this is the first investigation to focus on self-control and cheating, and how these behaviors tie to video game exposure, Science Daily reports.
The work has found that playing for long hours can lead to binge eating as well. This behavior was tied to a lowered ability of test subjects to exert control over their own actions. The research team, at the Ohio State University, argues that cheating may be promoted through the same mechanism in this group.
“Those who are most morally disengaged are likely to be the ones who show less self-restraint after playing,” says OSU professor of communication and psychology, Brad Bushman. He was also a coauthor of the new paper.