The Comparison of Violent Video Games to a Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Model

Abstract

As video games become increasingly realistic and aggressive there is growing concern over the possible generalization to real-life situations of learned aggressive behavior. To add to this concern, today’s video game technology is very similar to that of virtual reality, which has been found to effectively change behaviors in clinical settings. Since many similarities exist between video games and virtual reality, it is possible that video games may elicit a similar change in behavior. Three tenets necessary for effective virtual reality exposure therapy, including complete immersion in the virtual environment, emotional arousal, and the generalization of the learned behavior to real-life situations, will be discussed and applied to video games (Krijn, Emmelkamp, Olafsson, & Biemond, 2004). Current literature and future research directions will be discussed.