It was only a matter of time until a study proving that what people think about gamers is completely wrong was released. Hopefully,
this study we're talking about, and which proves that gamers are not at all "shy nerds", can be used to impress girls and, most important, change the public opinion on the matter. If it can't... we will just continue living our social lives as we do now and never listen to the ones who hate us.
The study was conducted by Dan Loton, a Psychology graduate from Victoria University - he tried to find out whether the
game addiction we all have (which, by definition, is a "mental illness with very serious consequences") is related to self esteem and social skills. To put it short, the answer was a big, loud NO!
"There have been some concerns in psychological literature, including the AMA report, that excessive game playing is related to a difficulty in establishing social relationships and maintaining them," Loton told website NEWS.com.au. "It was theorized that people who have social difficulties are turning to games, particularly games that offer social communication, to alleviate those difficulties and (are) therefore getting stuck in the game."
It should be noted that AMA (the American Medical Association) plans to recognize video game addiction as a mental disorder in 2012! Hopefully, for the sake of sanity, normality and humanity, Mr. Loton's study will have an impact and convince the dudes to change their minds.
Because out of 621 respondents, 15% being identified as "
problem gamers" (over 50 hours per week playing games), only one percent suffered from shyness and there was absolutely no connection found between passion (and addiction) for games and poor social skills or low self esteem. Glad to hear that. It means that somebody finally has the guts to say the right thing.
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