Violent Video Games and Aggression

Violent Video Games and Aggressive Behaviour

Given the increased use and availability, the media tends to blame computer games for instances of violence and aggression, but are these claims based on evidence? Let us examine the impact of computer games on aggression. Many computer games contain some element of violence exposure, whether fighting bad guys or good guys. Aggressive acts are often encouraged, if not necessary, for computer games to be played.

All of the above games are among the most played games globally, and each of them contains some form of violent or aggressive gameplay. We need to ask how these games affect the development and behaviour of children who grow up playing them (despite age restrictions). In particular, we want to know how these games affect aggression.

Fig. 1 - Video gaming has long been implicated in violent behaviours, according to the media.

Media Influences on Aggression

Several explanations that specifically address this issue exist.

We have been primed to respond to the stimulus, and that response was previously seen as aggressive.

Computer games can induce aggression through desensitisation, disinhibition, and cognitive priming.

The General Aggression Model (GAM) by Anderson and Bushman (2002) explores the nature of aggression by providing a framework of different factors that may influence aggression (e.g., social, cognitive).

• According to GAM, attitudes are pieces of learned knowledge that become innate and automatic after learning aggressive schemas that become part of your aggressive personality and predict aggression.

Some also claim that learning theory has to do with aggressive behaviour. Aggressive behaviour is learned through observation and imitation and is reinforced positively or negatively. Playing your favourite characters and observing how they behave and react aggressively can make the person more aggressive.

The hero is rewarded when he punishes the bad guys. Computer games reward players by advancing to the next level, usually through aggressive actions. Bandura’s Bobo doll study shows that aggression can stem from imitation.

Positive and Negative Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression

Numerous studies have looked at the psychological effects of video games, particularly their influence on aggressive behaviours. As mentioned earlier, repeated exposure to violent media can lead to desensitisation, disinhibition, and cognitive priming, affecting many aspects of life, especially when considering the impact of video games on child development.

Psychological Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression

In general, the influence of computer games on aggression has been strongly criticised because computer games encourage violent problem-solving. Whether this is true is up for debate. Others argue computer games increase dexterity and various aspects of cognitive functioning.

Notably, most evidence or research on this topic can only establish a correlational link between aggressive behaviours and video games. Consider the following two studies that examine the psychological effects of video games and highlight the positive and negative effects of video games.

Fig. 2 - Violent video games may have a psychological effect on players.

Anderson and Bushman (2001)

Anderson and Bushman’s (2001) meta-analysis examined 35 research reports that included 54 independent samples of participants. Of 4,262 participants, approximately 46% were under the age of 18. The studies reviewed were included when examining the effects of violent computer games on aggressive behaviour, cognition, affect, prosocial behaviour, and physiological arousal. If someone observed a person playing a game and was examined, they were excluded from the review.

They found a positive and significant effect in 33 independent tests of the association between computer game violence and aggressive behaviour:

• Violence in video/computer games was associated with higher levels of aggression.

• This finding was true for men, women, children, and adults in both experimental and nonexperimental settings.

• Exposure to violent computer games is negatively correlated with prosocial behaviour.

This review exemplifies how repeated exposure has demonstrated desensitisation, disinhibition, and, more importantly, cognitive priming in computer game use. This finding relies on the general aggression model, which states that adaptation to repeated exposure to violent media leads us to approach such situations differently in real life, as shown by several studies used in the analysis.

Gentille et al. (2004)

In this study, Gentille et al. (2004) examined adolescents' video game habits and parental control over acceptable use levels. They also wanted to determine if there was a relationship between these habits and hostility in real-life situations (while also considering the effects on school grades). The participants were 607 8th and 9th-grade students from four schools. 52% were male, and 87% were caucasian.

Teachers volunteered their classrooms after obtaining parental consent. Students completed an anonymous questionnaire collecting information about their habits. Data on academic performance and hostile characteristics were also collected.

• Participants were asked to name their three favourite video games and to rate the frequency with which they played them on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from rarely to frequently (1 to 7, respectively).

• They also rated the violence in each game on the same 7-point scale from little or not at all to extremely violent.

• Participants also indicated how much violence they would like to have in their games. To do this, they used a 10-point scale ranging from no violence to extreme violence and compared it to that of 2–3 years ago (much less to much more).

Participants indicated how much time they spent playing games during the week, and hostility was measured using the Cook & Medley Hostility Scale (modified for appropriateness).

• Parental limits were reported on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from always to never.

• Disputes with teachers were recorded on a 4-point Likert scale from almost every day to less than once a month.

• Grades were reported using average school grades.

• Physical altercations were determined based on a yes or no response in the last year.

Parents were not mainly involved in their children's video game habits, and few set limits on usage and rating systems. 23% of children argued with teachers almost weekly/daily, and 34% reported fighting in the past year. Boys were more likely than girls to be aggressive in this regard, showing an interesting sex difference in aggression.

Evaluation of Media Influences on Aggression: The Effects of Computer Games

There are some strengths and weaknesses of this theory.

Strengths

Positive and negative effects of video games: computer games have been shown to increase aggression levels, but we can adjust the current standard of computer games to potentially provide non-aggressive solutions to situations, preventing aggressive behaviour. These games may also serve as an outlet for aggressive behaviour, and more research is needed to determine the positive effects of these games.

Several studies support this link: as discussed above, both Anderson and Bushman (2001) and Gentille et al. (2004) support the idea that violent computer games trigger aggressive behaviour.

• Silvern and Williamson (1987) found that exposure to violent computer games increased aggressive behaviour in children. Interestingly, watching violent TV and playing violent games produced similar results in terms of increasing aggression.

• Anderson and Dill (2000) conducted two studies and found that real-life violent video games were positively associated with aggressive behaviour and crime. In their research, particularly in the second study, exposure to violent video games in a laboratory setting increased aggressive thoughts and behaviours, and males had more hostile views than females. This research supports GAM, both short and long term, for aggressive behaviours.

Weaknesses

Experimental studies lack ecological validity. Although experimental studies provide more evidence of causal relationships, they lack ecological validity because the studies we discussed above cannot explicitly state their participants would respond in the same way outside of a laboratory setting. Another point worth noting is that controlled exposures in laboratories provide a systematic approach to identifying associations between the two variables.

Other variables could be influencing aggression in these studies. Some of the meta-analyses discussed above include non-experimental data. Confounding variables make it difficult to say conclusively that the effect is due to a particular variable. We cannot say that the hero in a video game being aggressive with situations is the only cause of increased aggression when there are other forms of aggression in the media.