Does playing violent video games make us more aggressive? Although experts do not agree to give an unequivocal answer to this question, new research conducted by experts at the Ohio State University suggests that there is a technical characteristic that can enhance that undesired consequence: 3D . "Technological advances intensify the effects on the behavior of players," says Brad Bushman, co-author of the study with Robert Lull.

Bushman and Lull put 194 students (two thirds were women) to play Grand Theft Auto IV for 15 minutes. Half of them were told to try to kill all the characters who in their path, while the rest made, following the instructions of psychologists, virtual peaceful activities. There were also differences in the technical format used: some volunteers played in traditional 2D and others with 3D displays and glasses relevant to that version.

They were then asked to fill out a questionnaire to assess their emotions, from 1 to 5, which they felt after the GTA IV session. peaceful players, either in 3D or 2D, gave a similarly low to box "anger" score but those who perpetrated massacres in the 3D version of the game scored significantly higher grades in that category who pulled the trigger on screens 2D .

In addition, the researchers asked the degree of immersion, ie how they felt as if they acted in a real environment. Also the 3D players gave in this section the highest scores. "The combination of violent content and immersive technology can be problematic," Bushman has summarized.

• technology
• videogames
• gaming
• games