Patrick Markey, PhD

Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Villanova University

  • Villanova PA

Patrick Markey, PhD, is an expert on how violent video games affect behavior and relationship issues.

Contact

Villanova University

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Social

Areas of Expertise

Video Games
Violent Video Games
Online Interactions
Body Image
Romantic Relationships
Sexual Behaviors
The Interpersonal Circumplex
Psychology

Biography

Often cited in popular media for insights into his two areas of research: how violent video games affect behavior; and relationship issues, Dr. Markey is a great source for stories that delve into interpersonal behaviors. He directs Villanova's Interpersonal Research Laboratory which seeks to understand how behavioral tendencies develop and are expressed within social relationships. Research in the lab examines how interpersonal behaviors affect unhealthy dieting, civic behavior, personality judgment, and aggression after playing violent video games.

Education

University of California, Riverside

PhD

University of California, Riverside

MA

California State University, Fullerton

BA

Affiliations

  • Interpersonal Research Laboratory
  • Society of Interpersonal Theory and Research
  • News Media, Public Education and Public Policy Committee
  • Journal of Research in Personality (Editorial Board Member)
  • Assessment (Editorial Board Member)
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Select Media Appearances

Walmart pulls violent game displays but will still sell guns

The Associated Press  

2019-08-11

Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University who focuses on video games, found in his research that men who commit severe acts of violence actually play violent video games less than the average male.

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World Health Organization says video game addiction is a disease. Why American psychiatrists don’t

The Washington Post  

2018-07-02

“Video game addiction might be a real thing,” psychologists Patrick M. Markey of Villanova University and Christopher J. Ferguson of Stetson University wrote in a commentary accompanying that study. “But it is not the epidemic that some have made it out to be.”

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The ‘Active Shooter’ video game horrified Parkland parents. It was pulled before release.

The Washington Post  

2018-05-29

That is much lower than the 70 percent of male high school students who show interest in those types of games, said Patrick Markey, a Villanova University psychology professor and co-author of “Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong.” “Kids who are psychologically healthy tend to do things their peers do,” Markey told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “It’s a sign of health and normal for kids to play violent video games whether parents like it or not.”

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Select Academic Articles

Internet Gaming Addiction: Disorder or Moral Panic?

The American Journal of Psychiatry

Markey, P. M., & Ferguson, C. J.

2017

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Evaluating circumplex structure in the Interpersonal Scales for the NEO-PI-3

Assessment

Louie, J. F., Kurtz, J. E., & Markey, P. M.

2016

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Does Sexy Media Promote Teen Sex? A Meta-Analytic and Methodological Review

Psychiatric Quarterly.

Ferguson, C.J., Nielsen, R.K.L., & Markey, P.M.

2016

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