The impact of video games on minors: A review of aggressive and prosocial research

The impact of video games on minors has aroused general concern for decades. The amount of studies addressing violent video games is extensive. Previous research has well documented that playing violent video games is linked to increases in aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, and aggressive behavior, and decreases in prosocial behavior like empathy and helping behavior. In contrast, there has been much less evidence on the effects of prosocial video games. In the last two years, researchers found that exposure to prosocial video games decreased aggressive cognition and increased prosocial behavior. General Learning Model (GLM) can be employed to explain the short-term and long-term effects of video games on the changes of sociality of minors. Further research is needed to uncover the mechanisms.