Researchers at Brigham Young University studied video games recently, and we’re sure you’ll be shocked to discover that if you spend too much time engaged in any solo activity, instead of spending time with your significant other, they get a little ticked off at you.
At least that’s what a normal person who has ever been in a relationship would conclude. The Mormons just skipped right over that obvious conclusion and flat-out said if you’re an online gamer, you’re a twisted emotional freak unworthy of love. Oh, and the more you enjoy games, the more your lover hates you.
In the study, 349 married couples who had one gaming member or two gaming members who logged unequal amounts of time filled out surveys about their relationships, with questions ranging from hours of gaming time logged to how often they fought. The study concluded that “for independent-gamer couples, the effects were clearly negative, resulting in frequent quarrelling over gaming.” In couples where both people gamed, though in unequal amounts of time, 52 percent of the less-involved participants and 57 percent of the more-involved ones reported “often” or “always” speaking positively about gaming. Seventy-four percent of gaming couples even reported that gaming had a positive effect on their relationship.
We’re not really sure what BYU is trying to achieve here, other than announcing that a fair chunk of their staff are virgins.