The video games industry has exploded in the last years, with blockbuster franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, or Call of Duty being highly expected months before they are initially announced. This industry evolved so much that today we even have gaming competitions. In fact, these games are actually considered sports or eSports, to be more precise, and the number of DOTA or League of Legends accounts have witnessed a huge increase in the past few years.

However, since the video games industry is growing faster than ever, let’s take a moment and think a little bit about the impact that these games have on our behavior.

So, here are the most common types of behavior we can notice when playing video games: 

Emotive

Most of the gamers play a video game in order to improve their mood and feel enjoyment, but along with these things, video games are also correlated with emotion. A lot of gamers resort to gaming and disconnect from the problems they may have in the real world. Reports say that when playing video games, many gamers feel intense emotions of pride and achievement, these leading to positive feelings of becoming more relaxed and less anxious.

More sociable

Video games represent an intensive social activity. So, for those of you who think that a gamer is “antisocial” and freaky, you might want to think twice. When engaging in a video game, the gamer usually feels very social, especially when he plays online, with people from all around the world. The interaction between players helps the gamer feel accepted, and this may also help him develop social skills that can be used in the real world too.

Motivated

When playing a video game, the gamer usually feels motivated, because he has the purpose to win. In a video game, there are specific tasks and in order to be completed, the player has to get through a number of various obstacles. So, even though this might sound frustrating, a gamer usually feels motivated when completing a task. This action can also result in a boost for the self-esteem of the player.

Aggressive

Since we mainly talked about the positive impacts of a video game on a person’s behavior, it’s fair to mention a negative one as well. This is the aggressive behavior and it’s linked to the violent content that we can usually see in video games. This type of behavior is typical for teenagers.

In a video game, you play the role of a character, and in games such as Grand Theft Auto, for example, the character usually kills other people. Surely, this is not something you would want your child to see in real life, would you? Then why allow him to see it in a video game?

In order to avoid this kind of influence, it is important to respect the rating that the video game has. In this case, if a video game is rated R for mature, then a teenager has no permission to play it.

As it is expected, video games influence our lives and behaviors in many ways. Basically, they change the way youngsters see the real world. Luckily, most of the effects of video games are still positive and the companies producing them should make sure they remain so.