Washington: You may want to be warm as well as restrictive if you want to limit the amount of violent video games that your kids play as a recent study has suggested so.
Parents who are more anxious and emotional can impact the amount of violent video games their children play, according to new consumer research from Iowa State University.
Researcher Russell Laczniak says given the harmful effects of violent video games, he and his colleagues wanted to better understand how parents influence children’s behavior. They found that parents who were more warm and restrictive were successful in limiting children’s play of violent video games. However, highly emotional and anxious parents had the opposite effect – their children played more.
It’s not surprising that warmer and more restrictive parents, or what we call authoritative, are most effective at reducing the amount of violent video games played by their children, Laczniak said, adding that if parents are more anxious, their message is not as well received by their children and it inhibits what they’re trying to do.
In the paper, researchers explained that warm parents tend to refrain from physical discipline and show approval through affection. Restrictive parents set and enforce firm rules for the household. Anxious-emotional parents are often overprotective and show elevated emotions when interacting with their children.
Laczniak says the biggest takeaway for parents is to set limits and be more calmly detached in the relations with their children, adding that for parents, who are more anxious, the rules become less effective and those kids are going to play more.
The study is published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs. (ANI)