Study Correlates Video Games With Better Intellectual Development

National Literacy Trust in the United Kingdom has revealed the results of a recent study that associates video gaming with enhanced mental wellbeing, literacy, and other intellectual properties in adolescents.

More Interest In Reading

The study finds 79% of its subjects read video game-related material. 40% of this reading practice is attributable to in-game interaction. 31% read game reviews, forum posts, and blog entries. The remaining percentiles consist of 22% book readers and 19% fan fiction followers.  

35% of the total population interviewed for the said study believes that gaming has improved their overall reading abilities. The study insists young boys and impatient readers have benefitted from their gaming sessions and have developed more patience and concentration towards reading.

Gaming Is A Great Storytelling Tool

Just like kasyna, the responsible pursuit of gaming could be a beneficial activity. It has also become a popular form of storytelling lately. Besides gameplay mechanics, developers are emphasizing more and more building a strong narrative.

In doing so, video games have been able to engage a significant amount of audiences. 73% of the participants in the study revealed they found it easier to connect to a story by playing video games than reading books.

Encourages Writing

The findings also suggest video games inspire creative writing among young gamers. Researchers say that they found 63% of their respondents writing regularly about video games. The lion’s share of these written contents is tutorials and scripts. Blogs, reviews, and fanfictions are other kinds of writing endeavors undertaken by gamers.

Upon interviewing those who don’t write, the researchers unearthed some more interesting facts. They asked them whether they would be willing to write games in the future? 58% of them answered affirmative to that question. 31% of the kids added that they want to learn more about video games in their school curriculums.

Promotes Compassion

Video games constantly ask gamers to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. This allows the gamer to relate to someone else more easily. This allows him to understand the socio-economic differences among people and identify our societies' privileged and less-privileged communities. In a word, video games can teach us empathy.

Besides theory, specialists now have research data to back up that claim as well. 65% of research participants say video games have made them more compassionate to other people. They can picture themselves as the characters they are playing in video games.

They can also imagine how it feels to bear the emotional and physical burdens of that particular person.

Socializing Tool

Video games can also be a great tool for socialization. In online multiplayer games, players are randomly teamed up with different players from different parts of the world. Therefore, it can be a great platform to meet new people and learn about different cultures.

Of course, you can also play against specific players which gives you mingling opportunities with your existing friends.

It is also a popular topic to talk about. The study has found video games to be a trending topic of discussion. 76% of the study subjects have said that they discuss video games with their friends when they get together.

So, video games are far more than a pastime activity. They are also a medium for socializing in today’s world.
 

A Much Welcome Distraction In The Pandemic Era

We are living in an unprecedented time. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to claim lives and spread like wildfire worldwide, we have been forced to limit our regular activities and spend most of our time indoors.

With the news cycle continuously reporting about the distraction of the virus, we need something to distract our minds for the sake of our mental well-being.

This is even more necessary for the younger demographic. Since the schools are closed and the opportunity to go out is scarce, it is not unusual for depression to kick in.

Gaming can give them a much-needed escape from reality in such dire times. The data shared by the study also draws a similar conclusion.

According to the study, 56% of parents have encouraged their kids to play more video games during the lockdown period. 60% of these parents believe that the decision helped maintain the psychological well-being of their children.