The Implications of Video Games on Social Behaviors of Adolescents in China

Abstract

This paper uses an online survey method based on 54 Chinese adolescents aged 10 to 19, semi-structured interviews with 4 girls from middle school and high school, and a secondary literature study to examine the potential impacts of playing electronic games on Chinese adolescents’ social behaviors. The paper mainly focuses on three representative components of social behaviors from the perspective of a teenager: relationship with their peers and family members, as well as aggression. The research reveals that playing video games can lead to the formation of friendship, and will not necessarily result in aggressive behaviors, because it could be influenced and controlled by other factors, with proper family education being the most important one. Most Chinese parents regard playing electronic games as a bad habit for young people, and the result found that video games could trigger family quarrels and put certain psychological burdens on adolescents, though the reasons behind are vary under different circumstances.