The effects of demographics and relations in children’s video and computer game selection

Abstract: For the last three decades, many things have changed around us. New businesses have grown up and new fields have emerged. One such field is video games which are liked by children. There is already research, which proves that children often like to play violent games which affect their personality and make their behavior violent (Rathus, 2004; Anderson & Dill, 2000; Crawford, 2003; Walsh, 2001) rather than playing educational and IQ games which increase their learning abilities. Our work is about what are the factors which affect the game selection in children. Main parameters for the research were demographic factors and relations. These two parameters are part of their whole environment and have different impact on the game preference; we have explored affect of these parameters in our paper. Under these two parameters we have focused relations with sibling and friends. Children demographics of age, gender and ethnicity were studied. To collect data, detailed interviews were conducted with children from three different ethnicities (Danish, Pakistani and Arabic) to see the relations between demographic factors and relations to game preferences. The collected interview data is then analyzed to draw conclusions. Gender influences the game preferences. Tendency to play fight games was more in boys then girls. Being not the dominant in sibling rivalry was a factor in behavior towards violence games in Pakistani and Arabic children. Danish children were influenced by friends rather than siblings. Ethnicity also affects the game selection. As the child age increases he tends to play more strategy oriented games.