Psychologist: 'Violent games help you relax'

A psychologist from Middlesex University has claimed that playing violent video games can actually be good for you.

Miss Jane Barnett, who conducted a study on the effects of playing violent video games, recruited 292 online gamers aged between 12 and 83 years old, playing the game World of Warcraft for two hours.

Before the test they were asked to complete a questionnaire on anger, aggression and personality and, following the playing session, they were then asked to complete the questionnaire again.

According to Barnett and her team of psychologists, playing a violent game made the participants feel calm or tired, though there were differences depending on sex, age and personality.

Miss Barnett said: “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.”

Miss Barnett's results will be presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Dublin today.