Psychology student Chris Whitehead said the controversial game could help change awkward teenagers into confident, well adjusted leaders-of-men.

The game, in which players rob and murder their way through the criminal underworld, has attracted criticism for its violent, amoral content.

Leadership skills

Chris, who is in the final year of his degree at Sunderland University, said adventure games such as GTA IV helped socialise young people, teaching them communication and leadership skills and how to work as part of a team.

His research won him the university's 2008 psychology prize.
The 22-year-old blamed the controversy surrounding GTA IV on parents who allowed their children to play games aimed at adults.

"A lot of research has shown a link between aggression and video games," he said.

"However, these studies always took children and exposed them to violent video games intended for adults.

"I would argue that the main cause of this link is due to parents ignoring ratings and allowing their children to play games not suitable for them.

Learning tool

"Games such as Halo, Call of Duty and even Grand Theft Auto have the potential to become a powerful learning tool.

"My research found that these games help develop skills such as teamwork, spatial and co-ordination skills.

"Team objective based games require a lot of communication between players to allow them to complete objectives, and playing such games can definitely improve these skills and potentially help develop leadership styles."

Mule cocaine

In the forerunner to GTA IV, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, players could pay a prostitute for sex, then kick her to death.

You could kill policemen, distribute porn, mule cocaine for the mob and throw Molotov cocktails into the street. You could murder characters with Gatling guns, chain saws, meat cleavers and screwdrivers.

GTA IV sold close to 3.6 million units on its first day of release in April, and grossed more than £250 million in sales in its first week, breaking the first-week sales record of £150 million set by Halo 3.

Psychologist ambition

The game is set in Liberty City, a fictional city based on modern day New York city, and follows Balkan war veteran Niko Bellic, who travels to the United States in search of the American Dream, only to find his cousin has lied about the wealth that was promised to be awaiting him.

Chris, of South Shields, South Tyneside, hopes to find a job as an occupational psychologist in industry.

His main interest is in how teams can be improved in companies using communication, which led to his research into the effects on communities of MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games).

His research was chosen as the winning entry from all the final year psychology projects at the University of Sunderland.