Playing Rock Band With Others Could Increase Empathy Levels

It seems that the world does not have that much empathy to go around these days, and the question that begs to be asked is this – is there a solution to this dilemma? It seems that the journal Current Biology has published a story on how to solve the lack of empathy issue – it could be as simple as picking up Rock Band and to “jam” with the rest of your mates – or strangers, even.

In this study, which was headed by McGill University psychology professor Jeffrey Mogil, it compared reactions of undergraduate college students to a painful stimulus which were delivered by submerging an arm in ice water. Pain reactions were measured from those who were alone, and with a friend; with a stranger; with a stranger when both had been given a stress-blocking drug; as well as a stranger when both of them had just rocked it out in a session of Rock Band.

Pain reactions remained the same for those who were alone or with a stranger, although should the subject sitting across be a friend, they actually felt more pain. Mogil shared, “It would seem like more pain in the presence of a friend would be bad news, but it’s in fact a sign that there is strong empathy between individuals — they are indeed feeling each other’s pain.”

One group of students did spend some time playing Rock Band with strangers before the ice water challenge, where a quarter of an hour playing together saw strangers exhibit a level of empathy toward each other during the experiment. If you were to rock it out solo on Rock Band, empathy did not increase.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gaming, Medical
Tags: rock band, Science