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WOW won't make you violent, says study

Plus: scientists suggest sun is hot.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Researchers at the Middlesex University have found there is no correlation between playing World of Warcraft and violent behaviour.

The psychologists surveyed 292 male and female WOW players between the ages of 12 and 83. They asked them to play the game for two hour sessions.

The conclusion they came to was that WOW did not cause violent emotions - in fact, players were more likely to feel calm or tired after the session was over.

"There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type," said Jane Barnett, boss of the other psychologists.

Barnett hopes she can cobble together an emotion and gaming questionnaire based on the results of this test "to help distinguish the type of gamer who is likely to transfer their online aggression into everyday life". She will be talking to fellow behavioural boffins at the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Dublin this week.

We're quite impressed that someone aged 83 was playing World of Warcraft. [Don't wanna cause a fracas, but B.A. Baracas, have I got a match for you - Dep Ed]

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