Violent games make you violent

Always free. Sign In. KQED Inform. Save Article Save Article. Education Youth Media. Above the Noise. Lauren Farrar. Federal crime statistics suggest that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since , even as video game sales have soared. Parents can protect children from potential harm by limiting use of video games and taking other common-sense precautions.

In its most recent policy statement on media violence, which includes discussion of video games as well as television, movies, and music, the AAP cites studies that link exposure to violence in the media with aggression and violent behavior in youths.

The AAP policy describes violent video games as one of many influences on behavior, noting that many children's television shows and movies also contain violent scenes. But the authors believe that video games are particularly harmful because they are interactive and encourage role-playing.

As such, the authors fear that these games may serve as virtual rehearsals for actual violence. These organizations express concern that exposure to aggressive behavior or violence in video games and other media may, over time, desensitize youths by numbing them emotionally, cause nightmares and sleep problems, impair school performance, and lead to aggressive behavior and bullying. A report of the U. Surgeon General on the topic of youth violence made a similar judgment.

Some meta-analyses of the literature — reviewing psychological research studies and large observational studies — have found an association between violent video games and increased aggressive thinking and behavior in youths. And some casual observers go further, assuming that tragic school shootings prove a link between such games and real-world aggression.

In recent years, however, other researchers have challenged the popular view that violent video games are harmful. Several of them contributed papers to a special issue of the Review of General Psychology , published in June by the American Psychological Association. In one paper, Dr. He also cited data from federal criminal justice agencies showing that serious violent crimes among youths have decreased since , even as video game sales have soared.

Other researchers have challenged the association between violent video game use and school shootings, noting that most of the young perpetrators had personality traits, such as anger, psychosis, and aggression, that were apparent before the shootings and predisposed them to violence. These factors make it more difficult to accept the playing of violent games as an independent risk factor.

A comprehensive report of targeted school violence commissioned by the U. Secret Service and Department of Education concluded that more than half of attackers demonstrated interest in violent media, including books, movies, or video games. However, the report cautioned that no particular behavior, including interest in violence, could be used to produce a "profile" of a likely shooter. The U. Department of Justice has funded research at the Center for Mental Health and Media at Massachusetts General Hospital to better determine what impact video games have on young people.

Although it is still in the preliminary stages, this research and several other studies suggest that a subset of youths may become more aggressive after playing violent video games. However, in the vast majority of cases, use of violent video games may be part of normal development, especially in boys — and a legitimate source of fun too. Given the likelihood of individual variability, it may be useful to consider the impact of video games within three broad domains: personality, situation, and motivation.

Two psychologists, Dr. Patrick Markey of Villanova University and Dr. Charlotte Markey of Rutgers University, have presented evidence that some children may become more aggressive as a result of watching and playing violent video games, but that most are not affected.

After reviewing the research, they concluded that the combination of three personality traits might be most likely to make an individual act and think aggressively after playing a violent video game.

The three traits they identified were high neuroticism prone to anger and depression, highly emotional, and easily upset , disagreeableness cold, indifferent to other people , and low levels of conscientiousness prone to acting without thinking, failing to deliver on promises, breaking rules.

Cheryl Olson, cofounder of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Mental Health and Media, led a study of 1, students in public schools most were ages 12 to 14 in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. The researchers found that certain situations increased exposure to violent video games — such as locating game consoles and computers in children's bedrooms, and allowing older siblings to share games with younger ones.

In this study, children who played video games often with older siblings were twice as likely as other children to play mature-rated games considered suitable for ages 17 and older. In a three-year study, a team led by Dr. Aggression from video games studied. Violent video games 'weaken morality'.

Image source, Getty Images. Why is it so controversial? While many people play violent video games, few become violent. Does this new work prove playing violent games can result in violent crime? The Call of Duty franchise has sold over million copies worldwide. But aren't the ratings designed to protect young people? Extra parental control would be no match for savvy young gamers, experts argue.

The problem is that violence is hard to classify. How was the APA research conducted? Published 3 November