Violent Video Games And Aggression

Another set of randomized experiments also examined the effects of violent video games on psychology. In these experiments, after two groups of participants played violent or nonviolent video games, they were required to list their thoughts on paper to assess their aggressive cognition. Unfortunately, the results tell us that violent video games appear to make people generate more aggressive thoughts than those who played nonviolent video games

Video games have become very influential on children and adults (Stafford, 1999). With violent video games humans are more prone to act aggressively, to have aggressive thoughts and become numb towards violence (Harding, 2009). Apart from these they are

The main argument of this article is that video games have a direct link to short term and long term aggression. The author presents this argument by providing studies from peer reviewed articles that all conclude that video games do cause an increase of aggression. The main point of this article is to answer the question, “Do violent video games lead to aggression.” The article is about the effects of violent video games leading to aggression. The author uses recent examples, like the Sandy Hook and Washington Navy Yard shooting. In both of these examples, the author cites that both shooters had a history with playing violent video games. The author uses a study which selected individuals to play violent video games for a certain period of time. The study would then compare the results to a group who played non-violent video games. The study concluded that violent video games cause a direct link in aggression due to humans reenacting the actions the characters within the video games perform.

Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2007). The effect of video game violence on physiological. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 489-496. Retrieved from www.sciencediet.com

Anderson, Craig A. (2003). An update on the effects of playing violent video games. Retrieved October 5, 2010 from http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs10/fa09/dis/02/extra/update_violence.pdf

In a study conducted to measure the effect of violent video games in adolescents, they measured blood pressure and heart rate for three different sessions, and the results were that the measures of heart rate and blood pressure weren’t significant enough to prove there was an affect, however the adolescents reported to be more aggressive and angry when playing a violent video game rather than a sports video game.

The author, Jean M Twenge Ph.D. who wrote “Yes, Violent Video Games Do Cause Aggression”( 2012) says, violent video games are definitely the main cause of the increase in violence. In the article by Twenge, she states, “ studies have shown that violent video games actually cause aggression...it could be that aggressive kids want to play aggressive games, or that an outside factor such as family background causes both” (Twenge 2012) Twenge goes on about how many people play video game so they are reluctant to give them up, including the designers. “It makes sense that the video game industry would not want to believe that their product leads to aggression and violence in real life”. If it was proven that video games were the cause of violence, would people stop purchasing games? Twenge continues on to assert that she wants violent video games off the shelf “taking away violent video games would not end mass shootings. But the best evidence available suggests that it would reduce real-life aggression”(2012). Twenge's evidence proves that less violent video games would improve the youth, and make them less aggressive.

Technology is an important aspect of change in our world. As time goes on, we are introduced to more and more technology every year, which includes media such as video games. The increase of technology has also increased and improved the world including ways of communicating and distribution of information. More often used outlets of media are those used for entertainment purposes, like television, internet and video games. The ones who are most likely to engage in these media outlets are millennials and the most recent generation Z, because they have been introduced to these outlets from a young age. In fact, a study found that children spend around 9 hours a week playing video games (Polman, de Castro, & van Aken, 2008). It is evident that video games are progressively becoming more violent in nature, and with children spending as much time as they do playing video games, there are questions that must be asked, is the violent nature of video games effecting today’s youth? And if so in what ways?

A video game is “an electronic game in which players control images on a television or computer screen” (Merriam-Webster). Video games have been entertaining and challenging gamers since the Game Boy to modern console games. Despite the simplicity of the definition of video games, a video game, especially ones containing violence can have a large effect on the gamer. Because of the realism and advancements in the video game industry, video games can influence the player, and can make the gamer more aggressive, even if the game is not a violent video game. Even though video games have grown in popularity over the past decade, some have not been too popular with parents, for the reason that they are too violent. Violent video games affect

1.According to the behavioral perspective, physiologists see how something such as gaming systems can be the main reason for many people's aggressive behavior,especially young people . Not surprisingly, many video games contain an excess amount of violence and inappropriate references. Scenes of death and violence play a dangerous role in one's mind. Over time, one can believe that life is nothing than a big game and taking one's life is nothing more than a press of a button.

Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others or lack of remorse for consequences. The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many symptoms. Children who partake in video game violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence, and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation. A new study employing state-of-the-art brain-scanning technology says that violent video games can cause an individual to become violent. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that brain scans of kids who played a violent video game showed an increase in emotional arousal and a corresponding decrease of activity in brain areas involved in self-control, inhibition, and attention. In short, when playing a violent game, an individual’s brain processes the game playing as “fictional”, but later can project some of the unknown effects as violence or aggression.

This article provides a brief overview of existing research on the effects of exposure to violent video games. An updated meta-analysis reveals that exposure to violent video games is significantly linked to increases in aggressive behavior, cognition, affect, and cardiovascular arousal, and to decreases in helping behavior. Experimental studies reveal the linkage is causal. Correlational studies reveal a links to serious, real types of violence. Methodologically weaker studies yielded smaller effect sizes than methodologically stronger studies, suggesting that previous meta-analytic studies of violent video games do not compare to the true magnitude of observed deleterious effects on behavior, cognition, and affect.

Violent video games have always been a hot topic since the release of the first Mortal Kombat in October 1992 for home consoles, which, because of its violence, resulted in the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). There have been studies that show a correlation between violent video games and aggression resulting in both an increase and decrease in aggression among players, but all if not most studies have only been short-term experiments. The real question is whether violent video games cause an increase in short-term aggression to the point where the players start to commit violent actions because of it, but, if the aggression does increase, how to prevent the short-term aggression from increasing to the point where it becomes a problem without taking the games away.

As a result of violent games causing the individual to become more aggressive, study has shown that the heart rate is affected in boys aged between 12-15. Researchers from Stockholm University, Uppsala University and Karolinska Institute in Sweden have worked together with this study. In this study several boys aged 12-15 were asked to play two types of digital games in the evening to determine whether violent games has an impact on the heart rate and sleep of children. The outcome of this study was that the heart rate consistency was a concern when children played violent games compared to non-violent games. However the children who played violent games before sleeping felt they had not slept well compared to non-violent games.

Violent video games do negatively affect the behavior of those who play them. One study demonstrated that graphically violent video games produce an immediate increase in aggressive thoughts and behavior. The other study found that violent game play not only increased aggressive behavior, but also produced a long-term, real-life impact on the behavior and relationships of the players (Walters 8).