Men and women who play virtual driving games such as Grand Theft Auto are more likely to report engaging in hazardous driving and getting into accidents when the hit the road in real life, show German studies of 198 people.
In one study researchers had some subjects play driving games in which they had to "massively violate traffic rules (e.g., drive on the sidewalk, crash into other cars, drive at high speed)" while the rest of the subjects played neutral games. Those who had played the driving game reported greater risk-taking thoughts and feelings. A second study showed that men who played just one virtual racing game were faster to take risks on a computer simulation of real-life driving.
On top of giving you one more reason to fear your fellow driver, the results make a convincing argument for "media priming," the idea that people depend on mental models in which learned feelings are activated by an associated stimulus.
Press Release: VIRTUAL RACING GAMES LINKED TO RISK TAKING THOUGHTS, SELF-REPORTED AGGRESSIVE DRIVING AND RISKIER SIMULATED DRIVING
FULL TEXT: Virtual Driving and Risk Taking: Do Racing Games Increase Risk-Taking Cognitions, Affect, and Behaviors?
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