Past research indicates that prosocial video game play has a role in subsequent prosocial behaviors, affect, and accessibility of prosocial thoughts via the General Learning Model. The exposure time in this past research has varied widely, so an experiment that both replicates existing research and looks at exposure time was developed. In this study participants played either a prosocial game, or a neutral game for 10 or 20 minutes (participants in the control condition did not play a game at all). Differences between these groups were assessed, while correcting for trait measures of altruism and aggression. In general, there were no significant differences between participants that played the neutral or no game and those that played the prosocial game, though some variables trended in expected directions. A MACOVA did reveal differences in change of positive affect, though this was not in the anticipated direction. This study found little support for the General Learning Model overall, though we did not necessarily find data that contradicted it either.
","abstract_html":"<p>Past research indicates that prosocial video game play has a role in subsequent prosocial behaviors, affect, and accessibility of prosocial thoughts via the General Learning Model. The exposure time in this past research has varied widely, so an experiment that both replicates existing research and looks at exposure time was developed. In this study participants played either a prosocial game, or a neutral game for 10 or 20 minutes (participants in the control condition did not play a game at all). Differences between these groups were assessed, while correcting for trait measures of altruism and aggression. In general, there were no significant differences between participants that played the neutral or no game and those that played the prosocial game, though some variables trended in expected directions. A MACOVA did reveal differences in change of positive affect, though this was not in the anticipated direction. This study found little support for the General Learning Model overall, though we did not necessarily find data that contradicted it either. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Langlois, Danielle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts - Psychology","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Scott Drury","Megan Condis","Nathan Sparkman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:03Z","subjects":["video games","prosocial behaviors","helping","prosocial thoughts","affect","Social Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/81","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Scott Drury","Megan Condis","Nathan Sparkman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Langlois, Danielle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-10T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["video games","prosocial behaviors","helping","prosocial thoughts","affect","Social Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/81"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Past research indicates that prosocial video game play has a role in subsequent prosocial behaviors, affect, and accessibility of prosocial thoughts via the General Learning Model. The exposure time in this past research has varied widely, so an experiment that both replicates existing research and looks at exposure time was developed. In this study participants played either a prosocial game, or a neutral game for 10 or 20 minutes (participants in the control condition did not play a game at all). Differences between these groups were assessed, while correcting for trait measures of altruism and aggression. In general, there were no significant differences between participants that played the neutral or no game and those that played the prosocial game, though some variables trended in expected directions. A MACOVA did reveal differences in change of positive affect, though this was not in the anticipated direction. This study found little support for the General Learning Model overall, though we did not necessarily find data that contradicted it either.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Resulting Prosocial Behaviors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Scott Drury","Megan Condis","Nathan Sparkman"],"dc:creator":["Langlois, Danielle"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-10T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Past research indicates that prosocial video game play has a role in subsequent prosocial behaviors, affect, and accessibility of prosocial thoughts via the General Learning Model. The exposure time in this past research has varied widely, so an experiment that both replicates existing research and looks at exposure time was developed. In this study participants played either a prosocial game, or a neutral game for 10 or 20 minutes (participants in the control condition did not play a game at all). Differences between these groups were assessed, while correcting for trait measures of altruism and aggression. In general, there were no significant differences between participants that played the neutral or no game and those that played the prosocial game, though some variables trended in expected directions. A MACOVA did reveal differences in change of positive affect, though this was not in the anticipated direction. This study found little support for the General Learning Model overall, though we did not necessarily find data that contradicted it either.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/81"],"dc:subject":["video games","prosocial behaviors","helping","prosocial thoughts","affect","Social Psychology"],"dc:title":["Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Resulting Prosocial Behaviors"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts - Psychology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:03Z"}