According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, gamers who play violent games are more likely to see a spike in what scientists call “hostile expectations.” What does that mean? Essentially, those who play violent games see the real world as a more violent place. For the study, scientists had their subjects play games such as “Call of Duty” for three days. After each day of game play, the scientists had the subjects read the beginning of a story, then tell the researchers what the stories’ characters might do later. According to ScienceDaily, “The results showed that, after each day, those who played the violent games had an increase in their hostile expectations. In other words, after the beginning of the stories, they were more likely to think the characters would react with aggression or violence.” (Salon.com)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.