Difference between revisions of "Violence and video games"

Revision as of 14:03, 24 April 2019

History of Violent Video Games

The first arcade video game was created in 1971. Since then, video games have become increasingly more violent. The first lifelike violent video game was Mortal Kombat, created in 1993. Video games have attempted to accommodate society more and more by making significant changes to game play. From different characters to new and interesting settings, the dynamics of these games have reached unforeseeable heights. Video games are becoming more realistic and life-like, posing an ethical dilemma for creators and players that may adapt behavior in the real world to match their play.

Deducting a Correlation Between Violent Behavior and Violent Video Games

There have been many instances in which someone who has spent a significant amount of time playing video games that are considerably violent exhibits violent behavior in the real world, sometimes even committing crimes. Their behavior is thought to be linked to their participation in the playing of those games. Some studies have shown that video gamers who play games that showcase unethical behavior tend to portray that in real life through attributes of their character, one major attribute being aggression. Studies are still being carried out in order to examine any correlations, or lack thereof, between violent video games and violent video game players. Research is being conducted in search of evidence of correlations to confirm that violent games lead to corrupt behavior. There has been both data supporting the connection and data denouncing it. Neither hypothesis boasts enough correlative data to be supported as a viable conclusion.

An individual player's age, sex, and the length of playing time exposure are all considered when claiming that unethical behavior in video games drives violence in the real world. According to US demographics of video game players, as of 2016 more than half of the video gamer population is under 18, 59% of those who play on a regular basis are men, and the average player has been playing for 13 years. Violence and aggression is most often portrayed by male adolescents. This isn’t to say that patterns supporting the correlation aren’t present in women’s and adult behavior, but many studies are done using video game players under the age of 18 for sampling and result in a stronger correlation for boys.

As games become more and more realistic, it can be hard to separate oneself from a game world especially if the player is young and impressionable. However, there are cases of when adults also fall victim to following the path of violent video games. For example, an Oregon man on LSD believed that he was playing the game "Grand Theft Auto", when in reality, he had stolen a car and been arrested in the real world. ^[1]

Studies Regarding Video Games and Violence

Oxford Internet Institute Study

A study done by researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute and published in the Royal Society Open Science had a sampling comprised of British 14 and 15 year olds.^[2] This study used a wide array of tests to gather objective and subjective data on whether there is a link between video games and violence. This test included 2,008 participants and the tests showed that there is no evident link between video games and violence showed among the impressionable teenagers. On top of this, it was also tested that the teenagers were given some violent video games well above their age on the ESRP rating to further justify that absence of a link between violent games and actual violence.

Entertainment Software Association

1,102 children between ages 12 and 17 were given a survey which indicated that 50% of the boys who were surveyed prefer games with Mature (M) and Adult-Only (AO) ratings which are more likely to showcase violence. This study did not necessarily show a link between video game violence and real violence but instead showcased that younger audiences are more drawn to violent video games.

Iowa State University Study

In an Iowa State University study, children ranging from 5 years old to 12 years old were said to have not shown more aggression or less empathy after a short period of time playing violent video games. However, those with long term exposure did show associations with lower pre-existing empathy.

Effects of Video Games Study

A study done in 2015 on the impact that violent video games have on the behavior of young adult gamers with autism showed no record of increased aggression, despite the fact that an earlier article from 2012 suggested that video game players with autism and other mental illnesses were more inclined to experience negative video game effects. The discrepancies among the two studies could be caused by a person's nature in that everybody is unique or in that one group was more impressionable than the other. Also, autism and other mental illnesses are not as well controlled and understood as what is considered to be a normal human brain, which means that other factors could have caused the negative game effects such as an image that triggered or upset the mentally ill players.

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Study

A 2016 study examined whether or not playing video games with violent content temporarily increased aggressive inclinations and results showed that the aggression of players was not influenced by the games they played. This study has a similar result to the Oxford study which found that there is no direct relationship between violent video games and actual violence. This test, however, tested more for the short term mental effects of video games, but still found no link to increased aggression or violence.

Behavioral Study

Another study conducted in 2016 was done to identify any connections between video games that are said to be violent and sexist—with Grand Theft Auto as an example—and lack of empathy and unethical actions or attitudes of men toward women. No direct effects were found, but apparently there was evidence supporting that there were some casual effects. The Grand Theft Auto series is often blamed for many violent actions or other types of crime due to the very realistic representation of the content within the game and the fact that the players play the role of a criminal in the games. This study, however, directly tested this game and found once again that there was no link between video game violence and actual violent thoughts or behavior among players.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics is one of the most talked about topics when video games and violence are in the same conversation. Many people believe that putting violence in video games shows its players that it’s okay to be violent in real life. Based on Shannon Vallor’s “Social networking technology and the virtues” it is the most logical response to believe that being exposed to violence in video games every day can affect one's virtual ethics. In her article, Vallor explains that technology does not only affect how people think, but also their actions. Although there are studies that demonstrate that there is no correlation between signs of aggression and violent video games, Vallor shares the belief of many that violent video games can encourage and facilitate violent behavior in real life.

Children & Violence in Video Games

Violence in video games can have a more profound impact on children as they are impressionable and still learning right from wrong. They imitate things that they experience on TV, in movies, and in video games. There are many research studies that show a link between playing violent video games and exhibiting physical aggressive behavior.^[3] Games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty promote killing, drug use, and stealing. Children play these video games and assume that that behavior is acceptable in real life because they aren't aware of the real life consequences. ^[4] Long-term exposure to violent video games may result in desensitization in terms of a lack of empathy. ^[3]

Conclusion

The endless number of influences that could contribute to aggressive thoughts and behavior make violent video games just one risk factor in a pool of many. Things such as learned behavior in poor environments, access to weapons, cognitive deficits, etc. are all driving factors in criminal behavior. Yet, this still doesn’t dismiss nor identify video game violence as an influence for bad behavior. There isn’t enough evidence for one claim to invalidate the other so whether or not there is a correlation between the games and the behavior of the players still remains a controversy and the answer is still up in the air.

References

1. ↑ Man on LSD Caught After Stolen Car Chase Said He Thought He Was Playing 'GTA', https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/gyk8pw/man-on-lsd-stole-a-car-thought-he-was-in-gta
2. ↑ "New Study Shows That There Is No Link Between Violent Video Games And Aggression In Teenagers", Ollie Barber, 20 Mar. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2019/03/20/learn-it-do-it-brag-about-it-how-user-groups-move-big-tech-forward/#51e9d5a55dbf
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Funk, J., Buchman, D., Jenks, J., & Bechtoldt, H. 2003. Playing violent video games, desensitization, and moral evaluation in children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019339730300073X
4. ↑ Wheeler, R. 2017. Video Game Violence Linked to Children. Hastac. https://www.hastac.org/blogs/ryan4wheeler/2017/12/17/video-game-violence-linked-children