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Adam Huras
Telegraph-Journal

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On a lazy afternoon, Ryan MacLeod enjoys a little shoot 'em up action on his Xbox 360.

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Mount Allison University student Ryan MacLeod plays his Xbox 360. MacLeod’s research suggests that for every minute a video game is played, gamers can expect a 0.4 per cent decrease in income.

But he may soon consider taking his own research advice.

The results of a study by the fourth-year economics student from Mount Allison University have found that playing video games can have a negative effect on income.

The effect is so notable that for every minute a video game is played, MacLeod's research suggests gamers can expect a 0.4 per cent decrease in income.

"I was just trying to think of something I could do within the realm of economics that would interest me in some way," MacLeod said. "I found myself looking around my bedroom and saw my video games and thought 'maybe I could make something out of that'."

MacLeod's data cross-referencing found a new, closely knit relationship between income and time spent playing video games.

The research already has won him accolades.

MacLeod recently presented his results at the Atlantic Canada Economics Association Conference at the University of New Brunswick and won top prize for the paper.

"My work confirms that, in general, the more income a person has, the more time they spent playing video games," MacLeod said. "But that playing video games could also have a negative effect on a person's income."

The research began as a class project in econometrics with the question: "Does playing video games have an adverse effect on an individual's income?"

The data set used in MacLeod's investigation was taken from Statistics Canada's general social survey. For more than 20 years, the national statistical agency has gathered raw data on social trends through surveying Canadians.

The statistical model that MacLeod ran revolved around numbers that show the average gamer plays 128.3 minutes per day.

This would correspond to a 51.32 per cent income penalty, according to his findings.

MacLeod found two results that were surprising: There is a significant negative effect on income for those playing video games, and second, the effect is seen in men but not in women.

"I'm not really sure the cause of that but that could be the subject of future research," he said. "Is it the case that playing video games actually causes someone to earn a lower hourly wage, or does it cause a person to work fewer hours?

"That is something I hope I can continue to pursue."

There is no shortage of problems associated with frequent video game playing.

MacLeod's statistical analysis is supplemented with anecdotes from a book entitled Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men.

The book notes that in the past several years there have been a series of studies that "demonstrated clearly and unambiguously that the more time your child spends playing video games, the less likely he is to do well in school."

Studies also have raised concerns about violence in video games inciting violence in real life, a decline in pro-social behaviour and links to obesity.

But at the same time, there have been studies that suggest certain types of games can be excellent training to make kids smarter and better prepared for the high-tech, digital world.

"I'm surprised there hasn't been a whole lot of study on this topic," said Craig Brett, Canada Research Chair in Canadian Public Policy at Mount Allison and MacLeod's professor. "His work is a wonderful example of undergraduate research.

"It speaks volumes for his work ethic and creativity. I'm excited enough that I'm going to put my research money where my mouth is and, if he wants, hire him on to get the work done and eventually get his work published."

The results have inspired MacLeod to do further research, but not to give up gaming just yet.

"It's still kind of up in the air," MacLeod said. "I don't want to say blanket statements just yet like playing all video games are bad for your income.

"The effect is a lot more complicated than this and it's probably not always negative depending on if you're playing Halo or a shooter game versus a puzzle or educational game designed for the classroom."