Whether playing video games with prosocial content has an influence on empathy among players remains contentious in the research literature. Some evidence suggests playing cooperatively with other gamers enhances empathy, but data have not conclusively linked prosocial content with empathy. Further, mechanisms of this potential relationship are unclear, and little work has been conducted on how cognitive skills, such as fluid reasoning, may mediate this relationship. The current study examines these relationships with a large sample of 3034 youth (27.2% female, Mage = 11.2; range 8–17 at time 1) in Singapore. Data were considered longitudinally across two years in three waves. Ultimately, no evidence emerged that prosocial content in video games had any impact on empathy related outcomes, nor was fluid reasoning a mediator variable for any relationship. However, variables such as social competence and depression and anxiety symptoms were highly related to empathy measures. This evidence adds to the growing debate in the field that video games may not dramatically alter, whether positively or negatively, the development of emotional and behavioral outcomes for youth.

在研究文献中，玩带有亲社会内容的视频游戏是否会对玩家的同理心产生影响仍然存在争议。一些证据表明，与其他游戏玩家合作可以增强同理心，但数据并未最终将亲社会内容与同理心联系起来。此外，这种潜在关系的机制尚不清楚，关于认知技能（如流畅推理）如何调节这种关系的研究也很少。目前的研究对新加坡的 3034 名青年（27.2% 的女性，法师 = 11.2；在时间 1 时范围为 8-17）的大样本检验了这些关系。数据在三年内被纵向考虑，分三波进行。最终，没有证据表明电子游戏中的亲社会内容对移情相关的结果有任何影响，流畅的推理也不是任何关系的中介变量。然而，社交能力、抑郁和焦虑症状等变量与移情措施高度相关。这一证据增加了该领域日益激烈的争论，即电子游戏可能不会显着改变，无论是积极的还是消极的，青少年情绪和行为结果的发展。