A leading psychologist is saying that pornography and video games are crippling young men in their ability to have relate to women and to the real world outside themselves. Philip Zombardo goes so far as to say that excessive use of porn and gaming is actually rewiring the male brain, as these new means of hyper-stimulation alter the normal pleasure centers, throwing off young men’s social development. From the Amazon blurb on his book Man (Dis) Connected:
Zimbardo argues that readily available hardcore pornography and exciting gaming realities provide digital alternatives that are less demanding and far more appealing for many than sex, sports and social interaction in the real world. Immersion in these alternative realms is playing havoc with these boys’ cognitive development, their ability to concentrate and their social development, allowing girls to excel in the real world where social skills are a source of success.
More on his findings after the jump.
From Porn and video game addiction are leading to ‘masculinity crisis’, says Stanford prison experiment psychologist – Science – News – The Independent:
A leading psychologist has warned that young men are facing a crisis of masculinity due to excessive use of video games and pornography.
Psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University Phillip Zimbardo has made the warnings, which form a major part of his latest book, Man (Dis)Connected.
In an interview on the BBC World Service’s Weekend programme, Zimbardo spoke about the results of his study, an in-depth look into the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with video games and pornography.
He said: “Our focus is on young men who play video games to excess, and do it in social isolation – they are alone in their room.”
“Now, with freely available pornography, which is unique in history, they are combining playing video games, and as a break, watching on average, two hours of pornography a week.”
Zimbardo says there is a “crisis” amongst young men, a high number of whom are experiencing a “new form of addiction” to excessive use of pornography and video games.
Zimbardo gave a TED talk in 2011 outlining the problems facing young men’s social development and academic achievement, which he puts down to excessive use of porn, video games and the internet.
He cited the example of a mother he met while conducting the study whose son does not see the problem in playing video games for up to 15 hours a day.
Zimbardo said: “For me, ‘excess’ is not the number of hours, it’s a psychological change in mindset.”
Giving an example of the mindset of a gaming and pornography-addicted young man, he says: “When I’m in class, I’ll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I’m with a girl, I’ll wish I was watching pornography, because I’ll never get rejected.”
Zimbardo claims that this relatively new phenomenon is affecting the minds of young men.
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