WASHINGTON — Violent video game play is linked to increased aggression in players but insufficient evidence exists about whether the link extends to criminal violence or delinquency, according to a new American Psychological Association task force report.
“The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression,” says the report of the APA Task Force on Violent Media. The task force’s review is the first in this field to examine the breadth of studies included and to undertake multiple approaches to reviewing the literature.
“Scientists have investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence,” said Mark Appelbaum, PhD, task force chair. “However, the link between violence in video games and increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best established in the field.”
“No single risk factor consistently leads a person to act aggressively or violently,” the report states. “Rather, it is the accumulation of risk factors that tends to lead to aggressive or violent behavior. The research reviewed here demonstrates that violent video game use is one such risk factor.”
In light of the task force’s conclusions, APA has called on the industry to design video games that include increased parental control over the amount of violence the games contain. APA’s Council of Representatives adopted a resolution at its meeting Aug. 7 in Toronto encouraging the Entertainment Software Rating Board to refine its video game rating system “to reflect the levels and characteristics of violence in games, in addition to the current global ratings.” In addition, the resolution urges developers to design games that are appropriate to users’ age and psychological development, and voices APA’s support for more research to address gaps in the knowledge about the effects of violent video game use.
The resolution replaces a 2005 resolution on the same topic.
The task force identified a number of limitations in the research that require further study. These include a general failure to look for any differences in outcomes between boys and girls who play violent video games; a dearth of studies that have examined the effects of violent video game play on children younger than 10; and a lack of research that has examined the games’ effects over the course of children’s development.
“We know that there are numerous risk factors for aggressive behavior,” Appelbaum said. “What researchers need to do now is conduct studies that look at the effects of video game play in people at risk for aggression or violence due to a combination of risk factors. For example, how do depression or delinquency interact with violent video game use?”
The task force conducted a comprehensive review of the research literature published between 2005 and 2013 focused on violent video game use. This included four meta-analyses that reviewed more than 150 research reports published before 2009. Task force members then conducted both a systematic evidence review and a quantitative review of the literature published between 2009 and 2013. (A systematic evidence review synthesizes all empirical evidence that meets pre-specified criteria to answer specific research questions — a standard approach to summarizing large bodies of research to explore a field of research.) This resulted in 170 articles, 31 of which met all of the most stringent screening criteria.
“While there is some variation among the individual studies, a strong and consistent general pattern has emerged from many years of research that provides confidence in our general conclusions,” Appelbaum said. “As with most areas of science, the picture presented by this research is more complex than is usually included in news coverage and other information prepared for the general public.”
In addition to Appelbaum, members of the APA Task Force on Violent Media were: Sandra Calvert, PhD; Kenneth Dodge, PhD; Sandra Graham, PhD; Gordon N. Hall, PhD; Sherry Hamby, PhD; and Larry Hedges, PhD.
So they only find that violent people tend to play violent games. Nothing else. Now let's wait and see what American sensationalist news and politics have to spin about it.
I'm an aggressive/angry person, but not violent or "physically" aggressive, I'm just... bad tempered and aggression is both an outlet for, and result of, frustration and depression I do, however, completely disagree that "violent" games increase my aggression or contribute to less empathy or sensitivity to violence. I can't stand real life gore, I hate fighting, I can't watch snuff videos/GIFs, I feel genuine sorrow and misery at other people's suffering or ill feeling. I'm just as likely to get aggressive over a Bigfish casual game (those fucking timers! ) as I am over some "violent" action game (those fucking constantly respawning enemies! ) and I've always been like that, as long as I can remember, it certainly isn't linked - in my case at least - to violent games.
Nor is it with most anyone else I know either :\
deadpoetic wrote:
I grew up with wolfeinstein 3d, doom, duke nukem, blood etc
Funny how every 6 months or so such a research springs up and yet none of them has managed to provide ample or significant evidence so far as to violent games making people violent.
There have been, are and always will be sick fucks in this world, regardless of whether they play (violent) video games or not. For a normal (read: non-aberrated) person, violent games are a (fun and mostly safe) way to vent off their anger.
There.
Now hand me over the fuckin' Nobel Peace Prize for such an insightful revelation.
Now hand me over the fuckin' Nobel Peace Prize for such an insightful revelation.
No man, way to short thinking, these PhD people want to waste at least 10 years of public funding on subjects like this and then come to the same vague conclusion that everyone else can come up with in a few seconds.
It was always known that violent games can cause short term aggressiveness. Emphasis on "short term". On the other hand, they are great ways to vent some built up anger instead of letting it loose on others.
If I was in the position to assign my personal badge of trustworthiness and dependability between a person who enjoys some Sof, Doom and Carma and one who despises violent videogames advocating moral standards, I'd have no doubts. The latter is considerably scarier than the former because real life anger bursts would be potentially more threatening
Psychology is not science. Period. The conclusion of the study contradicts itself.
The study found a correlation between agressive behaviour and video game use, but no prove that playing video games is a cause of agressive behaviour.
Alternative explenations cannot be rulled out, like violent people being more likely to play video games.
Still, the authors think that video game violence is a problem and promote censorship.
Also in her interview, Kagan shed more light on the events surrounding the decision, reiterating that that she, along with Justice Stephen Breyer, played a violent video game before making their judgement. The morning of the hearing, she asked her clerk if there was "a violent video game that everybody will know." The clerk suggested a game (it was not named outright, but Kagan says it was an "iconic, but dated" violent video game) and then she and Breyer played it in his office.
"There we were, killing everybody left and right," Kagan recalled. The Washington Post reports that this game could have been Postal 2 or Mortal Kombat.
She went on to say that she was really into the game and wanted to play round after round, but Breyer--who voted to uphold the law--found the game appalling and disgusting and wanted to stop.
"I was like, 'Next round, next round!'" she said. "I don't know if I should say this: It's probably reflective of the fact that we did come out on different sides of this case. I like to think there are better reasons than that."
(skip to 25m if this doesn't automatically do it)
The face of a non-gamer shouting "next round! next round!" having a blast murdering people in-game and someone that hates videogames and thinks they're disgusting.
Not this shit again... it's not video games (violent or otherwise) that make me angry / violent / whatever. If anything it's dumb fucking humans coming up with even dumber things than themselves, like this topic that they refuse to drop, on a daily basis, that make me feel like that. Just go away. Videogames just let me get away from this stupid world that more often than not I despise. So yeah, be greatful these "violent videogames oh nooooooo!" exist. If they didn't, I'd have turned out a different kind of mess maybe...
I have a friend who works in this kind of field - on the boundaries between sociology and psychology - and he is also involved in some such studies (mostly only national-level or small-scale EU-level). From what information I gathered about how such studies are done, they're so unreliable and the data is so easy to manipulate that it's almost hard to believe anyone who works in the field actually believes the results (and yet they do).
I'd say that it's pretty safe to assume that almost all such studies are garbage, and the only way to determine that a study is not garbage is to actually read how it has been done However, for instance medical studies have a significantly better level of reliability.
So much hypocrisy from a nation that built itself on the genocide of it's native people, has the highest gun related murder death rates in the world, tortures victims in facilities such as Guantanomo Bay, sends out drones to kill suspected terrorist without trial or jury, killing their wives and children in the process. etc etc... and they're worried about violence in video games...
Funny how the only normal people in the place i work are those who play video games and the ones who dont just seem like soulless zombies to me. Or whatever they call grown ups these days. Gaming keeps you young at heart imo
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I do, however, completely disagree that "violent" games increase my aggression or contribute to less empathy or sensitivity to violence. I can't stand real life gore, I hate fighting, I can't watch snuff videos/GIFs, I feel genuine sorrow and misery at other people's suffering or ill feeling. I'm just as likely to get aggressive over a Bigfish casual game (those fucking timers! 
) as I am over some "violent" action game (those fucking constantly respawning enemies! 
