In the article "People Who Frequently Play Violent Video Games Like Call of Duty Show Neural Desensitization to Painful Images," author Beth Ellwood explores how exposure to violent video games can lead to a desensitization to painful imagery. She argues that this desensitization may correlate with a reduced capacity for empathy toward pain, a claim supported by research published in the journal Psychology of Popular Media.
Ellwood highlights a neuroimaging study led by Ewa Międzobrodzka and her team, which examined two groups of participants: those who frequently played violent video games and those who played them less often. The study aimed to assess how violent gameplay affects the brain's response to pain.
The study involved 56 male college students who first completed a survey on their weekly gaming habits. Based on their responses, they were divided into two groups: high experience with violent video games and low experience. In the first phase, participants undertook a pain judgment test, rating their perception of pain for various images, including one depicting "a hand being slammed between a door" (paragraph 5). After this, they played an 18+ first-person shooter game for 40 minutes and then repeated the pain judgment task. The results indicated that the less experienced group showed a "significantly decreased response to the painful images" during the second round of assessments (paragraph 9).
Ellwood notes that students with high experience in violent video games exhibited no noticeable emotional response to pain, while those with little experience displayed significant emotional reactions. She suggests that seasoned gamers learn to downregulate their emotional arousal to pain, stating, "Empathy is cognitively demanding, and people may learn to suppress it in order to continue to perform efficiently" (paragraph 8). Essentially, more experienced players may become desensitized to graphic violence, enabling them to focus on achieving objectives in the game.
From my own experience, I can relate to this phenomenon. Having played various Call of Duty titles, I’ve encountered many gory and violent scenes. While I initially felt a jolt of shock seeing a player's head explode from an enemy shot, I’ve learned to set aside those emotions to perform better for my team. Sure, I still have moments of surprise, like thinking, “Whoa! That player just exploded from a grenade!” But after years of playing, these reactions don’t hinder my performance. The goal of the game is to eliminate opponents and rack up points, so focusing on that often requires me to tune out the intensity of the visuals.
Overall, Ellwood’s article provides a compelling examination of desensitization to pain, specifically in the context of violent video games. Her use of empirical evidence from the study reinforces her argument that experienced players show less emotional arousal to violent imagery, while those with less exposure experience higher emotional responses. Based on my own gaming experiences with Call of Duty, I can affirm her observations. Ignoring the graphic nature of the content has become second nature for me, allowing for better performance during gameplay.
Warning: If you decide to try violent video games for the first time, be prepared for potentially graphic content.
Ellwood, B. (2022, January 30). People who frequently play violent video games like call of duty show neural desensitization to painful images, according to study. PsyPost. https://www.psypost.org/people-who-frequently-play-call-of-duty-show-neural-desensitization-to-painful-images-according-to-study/
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