Yep.

Yep.

Originally shared by rpgresearch

Thank you very much CAROL PINCHEFSKY for writing this article on G&S, and thank you Richard Wentworth for drawing my attention to it.
There have been a number of indications along these lines from previous research, it is nice to see some more up to date information. 
It is these indicators that prompted development, and seeing positive results in using RPGs for At-risk youth and the Autism Spectrum (ASD / PDD / Aspergers, etc.) populations, using tabletop RPG and LARP to work on developing social skills, including empathy: 
* http://www.vice.com/read/at-this-danish-school-larping-is-the-future-of-education-482 
* http://rpgr.org/asd-list 
Below is a list of some related essays from others, on studies of gamers on Empathy, Meaninglessness, and related topics: 
* http://rpgr.org/blog/alienation-1 
* http://rpgr.org/documents/other-projects/symbolic-order-1 
* http://rpgr.org/documents/full-text/looking-glass-1  
Note that the study using Play By Email (PBEM), indicated players in that format had lower empathy scores, maybe this could be extrapolated as an indicator as to the effects (or draw of personality type to)  of some formats of computer-based RPGs:
* http://rpgr.org/documents/-list/full-text-documents/personality.html 

While the research mentioned in the article still repeats the ongoing problem that almost all of the research on the effects of role-playing games has been correlative rather than causal (I have written extensively on this issue), so it does not determine if gaming causes increased empathy, or that those with higher empathy are drawn to RPGs, it does help as additional evidence refuting the negative stereotypes about gamers...
Fortunately, the research does help to further defy the inculcated, media-enhanced, stereotypes making gamers out to be insensitive and lacking empathy or compassion. In that case, causality is not necessary to disprove the stereotypes.
Of course, this particular essay is only limited context, but the inclusion of the other research (some of which I linked to earlier in these comments) over the years, seem to continually re-affirm similar observations about gamers having far more "positive" traits than the media & cultural stereotypes would indicate. :)

Again, thank you for drawing attention to this valuable topic. 
Happy Gaming!
http://geekandsundry.com/role-playing-gamers-have-more-empathy-than-non-gamers/