Quick Review:

Happ, C., & Melzer, A. (2014). Empathy and Violent Video Games: Aggression and Prosocial Behavior. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Though I have a strong preference towards textual and qualitative modes of analysis for reasons I won’t go into here, I still found plenty of interest in this research and commend the authors for taking this direction. In this research, comprising three studies that build off each other, Happ and Melzer expand the body of effects research done on violent video games by focusing more on the role of empathy–how empathy induction moderates/mediates the effects of gameplay, the effect of the perceived moral valence of player characters, and the effects of empathizing with heroes vs. villains. The standard limitations of these lab experiments should be noted, of course. Some interesting findings include a rise in anti-social behavior if empathy is triggered towards an evil or villainous character, as the authors review of the literature might suggest empathy to have a pro-social effect or at least mitigate anti-social effects.

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Of course, in addition to the quick one-of lab setting and the fact that hardly any of the participants were experienced game players, I have to take issue with the sorts of games used for the studies. Study 1 involved Trauma Center: Second Opinion as its pro-social game and Manhunt 2 as its violent game. These are quite extreme options, and neither game is incredibly popular. Study 2 involved Street Fighter IV, and primed empathy in some participants by showing clips from the Street Fighter–The Legend of Chun-Li film then having the players play as either Chun-Li or M. Bison. I found this to be an interesting study set-up, though I am uncertain how the effects of this fast-paced fighting game translate to other varieties of games. Finally, the last study continued with the fighting game theme, involving Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, where participants played as either Superman or the Joker and some read an article about the difficult childhood of one or the other to induce empathy beforehand. It is almost impossible, in this case, to account for the multitude of texts through which each participant might have formed opinions, empathy, antipathy, and attachments to these ubiquitous characters outside of the gameplay experience.

None of these studies take into account the kinds of games one must spend 50 to 100 hours to complete, adapting to and growing with (or sometimes growing apart from) these characters in a manner interspersed with other aspects of one’s daily life. How could they? Regardless, a quick fighting game is a very different beast than even a single hour of an adventure game or an in-depth RPG. Also, while these studies address impulse reactions (such as attribution of hostility, or various pro-social tests such as whether one will take an extra piece of candy from a jar) they fail to get at what I am most interested in: not only our reactions and thoughts before and after gameplay, but our thoughts about those reactions and impulse thoughts. Some of my most important moral learning experiences involve something provoking a reaction from me and then giving me the space to become conscious and reflect on what I thought or did.