Violent, Nonviolent, and Prosocial Gaming Effects on Teens’ Civic Engagement

Abstract

Abstract Data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Lenhart et al., 2008) on teens’ gaming habits, civic engagement attitudes and behaviors, and family characteristics tested two general hypotheses: (1) that gaming effects on civic engagement and behavior would vary as a function of amount of exposure to different game types (violent vs. nonviolent) and (2) that such effects would be moderated by parental involvement. Relevant data were provided by 821 youths (12 to 17 years of age) and their parents. Path analyses showed that violent gaming was negatively associated with attitudes toward civic engagement and civic engagement behavior even after controlling for participant gender, age, social connectedness, internet use, parent education, parent involvement in the gaming decision, and parent civic engagement. Prosocial and nonviolent gaming were positively associated with civic attitudes and behavior. Youth civic engagement was also predicted by social connectedness and parent civic engagement. Parent involvement moderated the violent gaming effects.