Online gaming doesn't encourage violence

...says UK study

3 April 2008 9:32 GMT / By Katie Scott

A study by Middlesex University has found that not only is there no link between online gaming and violence but that playing can actually calm gamers.

The psychologists recruited 292 male and female online gamers, and set them playing World of Warcraft.

The players, who were aged between 12 and 83 years, were asked to complete a questionnaire on anger, aggression and personality and then played the game for 2 hours.

After this, they were they were asked to complete the test again.

The team found overall the gamers were more likely to feel calm or tired after playing – but there were differences depending on sex, age and personality.

Jane Barnett, who led the team explained: "There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type".

"This will help us to develop a emotion and gaming questionnaire to help distinguish the type of gamer who is likely to transfer their online aggression into everyday life."

The results of the tests were presented to the British Psychological Society at its Annual Conference in Dublin.