Video game helps enhance empathy in children

Posted on August 16, 2018

Children who played “Crystals of Kaydor” found to have higher brain activity that generates empathy and perspective-taking. That specific brain activity also allows effective regulation of emotions which is an essential skill to pick up at a young age. It is proven that such skills and the feeling of empathy can be trained with video games. It is important for these skills and feelings to develop as Empathy and emotional regulation are indicators of emotional stability and good health. Also, empathy facilitates pro-social behavior like helping those in need as being empathetic drives motivation to help.

However, this video game does not have the same impact on every child. One possible challenge for future research is identifying the types of children that benefit most from such games and the reason behind it. Training to enhance empathy is advantageous for autistic children and children who lack empathy.

The gaming industry should aim to create more of such games that help enhance positive and virtuous qualities. Since teenagers are at the age where they are highly involved in video games, playing video games regularly leads to increase in brain activity and vulnerability of becoming victims of bullying, depression and anxiety. Hence it is highly useful to develop video games which trigger and advocate positive emotional growth during adolescence.


Category(s):Child Development, Emotional Intelligence, Empathy

Source material from Science Daily