5th blog for social psy: ratings for video games

In a few more days, a rating system will be implemented to guide parents on deciding which video games are suitable for their children. Two classifications will be used: Age Advisory (for ages 16 and above) for games with implied sexual activity and moderate violence; & Mature 18 (M18) for older gamers for games that comprise nudity and realistic violence. Games that illustrate rape, glamorised drug use, language offensive to religion, and sadistic violence continue to be banned. Stickers will be pasted on rated games to caution buyers and parents while retailers have to check a buyer’s age before the sale of M18 games. Those who break the rules will be fined up to $40k and/or jailed up to 6 mths. Retailers support this system as they are now clearer on the types of games that can be imported, without fear of being banned after bringing it in.

Even though ratings are now in place, parents should not let down their guard and supervision as game producers offer increasingly mature thrills. Parents usually worry that their children will become addicted to the computer while trying to increase their never-ending game levels. Homework and other activities might be neglected while social skills might weaken. Another major concern is that violence in video games heightens the risk of desensitisation. Tolerance for violence may increase and empathy for others may decrease, although this affects attitudes more than overt behaviours.

In social psychology, aggression is defined as behaviour that aims to hurt someone physically or psychologically. Violence is a form of aggression that causes extreme injury. When engaging in interactive video games, players need to make quick decisions to act aggressively. According to the social learning theory, people learn many types of responses, including aggressive behaviours, based on the observation of how the behaviours are performed and the types of rewards or punishments for such reactions. As such, the contentment of seeing an enemy destroyed might reinforce the use of aggression. Playing such games also seems to elicit aggressive thoughts and emotions, influencing later behaviours. When young boys were assigned to play either an aggressive martial arts game or a nonaggressive and yet similarly arousing racing game, boys who played the martial arts game were more likely to display physical aggression towards toys and greater verbal aggression towards other children compared to those who played the racing game. Other researchers argue that the violence in video games is not very realistic as the characters are animated. Furthermore, such games might provide safe and harmless outlets for aggressive impulses.

Violent pornography refers to sexually explicit material that portrays aggressive and hostile sexual activity. Like violence in video games, evidence is insufficient to conclude whether pornography increases aggression or rape. Researchers believe that people who would be negatively affected by watching violent pornography or engaging in such acts in video games are the ones already predisposed to do so and such games that include rape may not have an effect on most people.

It is in good faith that the government is rating video games so that gamers are only exposed to certain games when they are mature enough and that such acts as drug use, religiously offensive coarse language and sadistic violence are banned to prevent gamers from copying or imitating such behaviours. However, reactance theory postulates that banning or censoring a product may backfire as people crave things that are restricted. Nevertheless, I feel that it is better to be safe than sorry by controlling content in video games that are too extreme so that potential effects on certain people could be reduced as less people would have access to such material. Additionally, more could be done in tandem to prevent aggression by teaching children from young the alternative ways of communication like talking about problems and focus on solving them and to gain empathy by thinking from another’s viewpoint.

Read one of the articles on the rating system for video games: "Ratings for new video games by end April"

4th blog for social psy: Pregnancy - is there equity and fairness?

A columnist was discussing with his female friend about another mutual friend who was about to deliver her firstborn and whether they themselves would like to have children too. The columnist’s friend became agitated about how women are the ones who have to carry the baby and endure the pain from childbirth. No matter how hard the columnist tried to defend the men, there was no way he could win the argument as men could not give birth and thus could never match the sacrifices women have to make.

The columnist also lamented that while most dutiful husbands would be willing to do things such as giving massages and tag along for clinic appointments to fulfil their fatherly obligations and also to show gratitude to their wives, it was unclear whether women appreciated what their husbands did for them. Many females would expect men to be at their beck and call when they are pregnant and at the same time think of these tasks as “the least he can do”. It was said that women couldn’t really cherish what the men do if they think of these efforts as only minimal. And so the columnist appealed to women to cut men some slack as they are the fathers of their children and not slaves.

Close relationships between couples comprise some amount of interdependence: a sharing of contributions and outcomes. Two people see themselves as a unit, sharing in the costs and rewards of each other’s end results. Sometimes, people act in ways that are favourable to their companions even if they themselves have to pay a price. In the long term, they will reap the gains put into their partners.

Benefits are supplied in 2 ways. In an exchange relationship, partners partake in an equal exchange of favours. In communal relationships, likely to be between romantic partners or family members, benefits are given or taken when needed with no strings attached.

Satisfaction with a relationship may be judged by how fair it is, regardless of its type. Equity theory explains the idea of perceived fairness or balance in interpersonal relationships. An equitable relationship is one where both partners perceive that they are receiving comparatively similar outcomes. Equity is rather special in communal relationships as the benefits each partner contributes may vary widely, depending on each person’s needs and abilities. Inequity correlates with misery and discontentment.

When a woman gets pregnant, she may perceive herself as contributing greatly by providing her body and nourishment to carry the baby for 9 mths and suffer from physical changes and pain. Thus, she might expect hubby to be at her disposal to make up for her costs. From her viewpoint, there is imbalance and hubby needs to put in great efforts to make her happy. Hubby might gladly do what he can to satisfy her needs. However, whatever he does would never be enough. Hubby might start to feel strained as he contributes more and more and feels an imbalance in a different way.

As a female, I feel that being pregnant is a huge sacrifice and found myself agreeing with the other women mentioned by the columnist as I read his article. Of course every woman wants to be pampered! Come to think of it, men contribute in different ways too. If I have a child, I wouldn’t want to feel underbenefited (end results are less than what is deserved) all the time, thinking that my husband owe me something. Life would be happier with an equitable relationship. Remind me to count my blessings and be thankful for my spouse in future!

3rd blog for social psy: short man syndrome isn't just a tall story

In a study conducted in Netherlands and Spain (read "shorter people more likely to be jealous, says study"), participants rated how jealous they felt and gave the qualities about romantic rivals that make them feel most threatened. Men felt most distressed over attractive, rich and strong competitors while women were concerned about looks and charm. Jealousy was negatively correlated with height in men. For women, jealousy was least extreme when they were of average height, although they could also be more jealous when rivals were taller as taller rivals are seen as more domineering with better fighting capacity. From an evolutionary perspective, taller men have better luck with women while women with average height have optimal health and fertility and are most sought after by men.

In social psychology, research has found that in heterosexual dating, taller males were preferred, although not too tall because males below average or way taller than average were deemed less attractive. Besides romantic dating, taller men also have it better in some other aspects. The trait approach to leadership, known as Great Person theory, postulates that successful leaders are believed to possess exceptional virtues: charismatic; intelligent; and decisive. A myriad of personal qualities that might foretell leadership were measured. Leaders are generally taller than nonleaders. Other than leader emergence, height also predicted leader effectiveness. It could be that tall people appear physically more daunting and thus can influence others more easily. Another possible explanation could be a height stereotype – tall individuals are perceived as more talented or forceful and hence carry more weight in their actions.

Given these advantages that taller individuals might enjoy, it is little wonder why people who are vertically-challenged may feel more jealous. Could this account for the societal pressure that women should be supermodel tall? Girls, might this be why we love those high-heels despite the pain on our feet and the potential health hazards? Shorter men are also more prone to provoke taller men into fights. Is this one of their ways of fighting back? Bullied and laughed at in school, they might learn to be more aggressive in order to save themselves. I wonder if it’s true that when choosing pets, shorter men like to be masters of large, aggressive dogs.

Can mild jealousy act like a motivating feeling? It might not be such a bad thing for the vertically-challenged if they grow to be driven and hardworking in school and at the workplace to prove themselves, and become exceedingly knowledgeable and accomplished. Oh, I ponder…