Do you love playing video games? Do you have Pokemon Go on your phone? There’s good news for the game lovers. A recent study has found out that people who play Pokemon Go are more positive, friendly and physically active.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US, found that more than 40 percent of their respondents turned out to be 'Pokemon Go' players and those people were more likely to be exercising -- walking briskly, at least -- and more likely to be experiencing positive emotions and nostalgia.
The study was published in the journal Media Psychology.
"There was plenty of negative press about distracted people trespassing and running into trees or walking into the street. But you also saw people really enjoying it, having a good time together outside," said one of the study author James Alex Bonus.
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Pokemon Go creator Niantic now claims about 65 million regular users and more than 650 million app downloads.
Even in the first few weeks following release of the game -- in which players "catch" wild, virtual Pokemon creatures lurking in places like parks and public buildings and train them to do battle against one another -- players were easy to pick out on sidewalks.
"There's this idea that playing games and being on your phone is a negative social experience that detracts from things, but there haven't been many chances to ask large groups of players about their experiences," stated Bonus.
The team surveyed about 400 people three weeks after the game was launched, asking questions about their emotional and social lives and levels of physical activity before segueing into 'Pokemon'.
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"But, for the most part, the 'Pokemon Go' players said more about positive things that were making them feel their life was more worthwhile, more satisfactory and making them more resilient," he said.
They were also more social. Players were more likely than non-players to be making new friends and deepening old friendships.
"The more people were playing, the more they were engaging in behaviours that reflected making new connections -- making Facebook friends, introducing themselves to someone new, exchanging phone numbers with someone, or spending more time with old friends and learning new things about them," Bonus explained.
