Exploring The Empathetic Side Of Gaming

There are many narratives about online gaming. Some view it only as an outlet for pent up aggression, or to escape from the responsibilities of the real world – both socially and physically. But recent years of gaming research has revealed a side to gaming that debunks these concerns and in fact highlights that those who game from younger ages are actually tapping into a much-needed social skill – empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. With it, young people are able to form healthy relationships, communicate effectively, and access deeper emotional intelligence. When learnt from a young age, it helps set young people up for stronger friendships and the communication skills to support them. In a more traditional scenario, empathy would develop with in-person interactions. But when we look for empathy online, it grows best in online games.

Many online games are social by design. If you look at the vast selection of multiplayer games available, quickly you can see that communication – and often, cooperation – are key to advancing. Because these setups make players depend on each other for support, they start to apply empathy as a means to solve problems. For example, they are looking to work out what other players are struggling with and solutions to help them.

But it’s not only multiplayer experiences where this sort of thinking happens. Narrative-driven games put players in someone else’s shoes. They have to take on the responsibility of getting their character the best outcome through making moral choices and building relationships within a world where the consequences can be unknown. This has a similar effect of watching a beautifully told film or reading a gripping novel. Though, in online gaming, the player is responsible for the experience and so the impact of making the right choices for someone else is amplified.

But, what does the research actually say?

While the research is still emerg...