March 25, 2008 -
A pair of new studies tend to dispel the notion that violent video games spark violent behavior.GameCritics reports that the March issue of Criminal Justice and Behavior cites research from Texas A&M and the University of Wisconsin:
One study found that students who played shooter Medal of Honor: Allied Assault were no more aggressive afterward than another group which played the non-violent Myst III. From the research:
Although males appeared to prefer to play violent video games relative to females, there was no evidence from this study to suggest that people who prefer violent video games are more innately aggressive than those who do not...
The second project surveyed hundreds of students on issues such as domestic violence, past criminal behavior, aggression and gaming. The conclusion, from the study abstract:
Results indicated that trait aggression, family violence, and male gender were predictive of violent crime, but exposure to violent games was not. Structural equation modeling suggested that family violence and innate aggression as predictors of violent crime were a better fit to the data than was exposure to video game violence. These results question the common belief that violent-video-game exposure causes violent acts.
Comments
Re: Study: Games Don't Spark Violence but Dysfunctional
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Fangamer
Video games are art to the developers and entertainment to the consumers. But really when you think about it one of the main purposes of art is entertainment to some degree so it is probably art to many consumers and they just don't realize it. Either way its obviously protected by the first amendment in terms of creation and consumption. Anti-game buffs will never take that fact into account and they are always willing to distort the truth to enforce some kind of moral value they perceive as superior. These people do not wish to live in a free society. They wish to belong to a society based on theology and ideology where everyone is forced to do what they believe is correct.
Parents, teachers, school environment, home environment, peers, and any other authority figures I forgot will all have a huge impact on a child's development. If a kid goes to school and is continuously given a hard time from peers, teachers and authority figures in a school environment then obviously they are going to grow to hate school and the people they are around. Is it there fault? Not until they inflict harm on anyone but the point remains that that kind of experience has to be held accountable before any progress is made.
UHDUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Hey, what's wrong? Afraid to segregate by race, religion (or lack thereof), rich vs poor, political differences, sexuality, etc, etc, etc?
Whatsamatta? Afraid some "Civil Rights" group is going to sue?
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
The title of the study is: "Violent Video Games and Aggression: Causal Relationship or Byproduct of Family Violence and Intrinsic Violence Motivation?"
GP, any chance of you getting a copy and posting some more information on it?
The abstract is free: http://cjb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/35/3/311
You know why? Because you had Myst as the non-violent game! That game @#%$ing pissed me off!!!!!!! :P
Joking aside, though, it's good to see more studies like this coming to light. :D
I think a Captain Obvious logo would have worked better for an article image.
It's much more PC now-a-days to blame vidja-games rather then how someone was raised. After all, people like to think it "doesn't matter where you come from, you can do anything with your life!" However, somehow that free will flies right out the window if you've played GTA. Then you are a souless killing machine with no will of your own, only the voice of Zelnick whispering in your ears.
"Please, people don’t let go of what they “know” just because a study says it’s true. I mean, back cefore video games someone reading this study would just nod, say it goes with out sayin’ or “the apple don’t fall far from the tree.”"
Grudgingly, I have to agree.
Well - since when did facts matter to the Media or Government anyway?
NO FUCKING WAY!!!1!
While the study is ofcourse a good thing and a potentially useful tool for those defending video games, it will not be cited or recognised by those who are opposed to those games.
Facts indeed matter little, they "know" they are in the right and anything to the contrary must be a falsehood or of questionable quality because of that.
But that said, i'm glad a few independent studies atleast provide some evidence in favor of gaming. :D
Sadly, I think there are other factors that also encourage violence. Family background, race, region, education (or lack thereof), drugs, and probably a dozen other such factors that I'm missing. Forgive me, I just woke up.
@ mogbert
First of all. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 comes out today! YAY!!
Sorry, but the "mog" part of your name makes me think FF.
Second, I hate to say it, but you are correct, sir. None of those so called family values groups or video game critics will give two shits about this report. They'll dismiss it as one "faulty" report. They have a "bajillion really, really extra super duper accurate reports that show that this is no more than video game propaganda." Sad, isn't it?
coulda saved them alot of time!
great news.
@ Gameboy, I don't have a PSP. I'll have to console myself watching Advent Children over and over... :-(
(and playing SSBB!)
The Mog in my name is from FF, mixed with Dogbert. Unfortunately, I'm one of about 200 people who made this same connection, so I rarely get my first choice of names. Horay for GP and our ability to get names without competition!
Research that backs up what any sociologist or psychologist will tell you?
Who saw this coming. HAHAHA!
Seriously, this is hilarious and pretty fucking awesome research.
Indeed, its more PC to say it was the game than the family, because many criminals are
1. from Single parent families (a lot of single-parent families inthe USA)
2. Black (1 out of every 4 black males will be imprisoned in their lifetime, and 1 out of every 8 are in prison at the moment [stats from recent AJCS Conference])
3. Poor (if you're poor, you either A. work one job and barely provide or B. work 2 jobs and provide but never interact with your children, so B is only a little bit better than A because of the positive role-model it provides)
However, instead of pointing these things out, and suggesting them as problems that could be fixed by legislation or helping these people get a fucking education (although most African-American Urban Communities tend to make outcasts out of anyone who does well intellectually, so that wouldn't help any more than a fourth of the population of the area), its easier to just attempt to legislate something that isn't even part of the problem.
REAL RESEARCH done within the realms of REAL PEOPLE within their REAL ENVIRONMENT!!!!
People who prefer to play violent videogames are no more aggressive then those who prefer to play non violent games...
COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT GAMES AND THEIR EMOTIONAL LEVEL!!!!
Also they combated other issues like Family Violence and also past criminal behavior. ALL OF THESE ARE STRONGER SOCIETY LINKS TO REAL VIOLENCE more than just the violence in videogames.
Reality is that no one can blame Videogames for the actions of an individual in real life.
Exactly. I can't tell you why I do certain things. The best I can say is that because of the situation I decided to do X, but I can't tell you why I thought that was the proper course of action. Also, video games are little more than fantasy. Beating an orc with my great sword isn't really an option in everyday life and I know that. And I don't usually carry an AK-47 with me.
The most a game influences me, is in my strategy for other games. "Take out the big threat first and try to get a few of his minions in the cross-fire, otherwise I'm gonna get killed." I don't go to the store and think, "Clothesline the old lady, she's a threat to my potato chips, then kill the nerd with a head-shot as he's a threat to my batteries..."
As far as CC:FF7 goes, I bought a PSP mostly for it and The Lion War. Is it bad that my name is Gameboy and I'm excited about a PSP title?
In the 50's and 60's is was music and pot.
Before that - it was TV in general and radio. And prior to that - well, it was a necessary part of just staying alive.
Let's find something else to blame for everything. Isn't it so fun?
Now it's going to be "the family" that causes violence. And they should be outlawed.
That's a major premise in brave new world, that families and parents are immoral and cause social instability. Also monogomy, I wholeheartedly agree
Something interesting to note is that study suggest that, far from a causal relationship, there's not even a real correlation between aggressive behavior and violent video games.
My mind! She is blown! D:
Everyone knows that just standing near a copy of Mario 64 turns you into a raving psychopath.
........
Ok, by everyone, you know who I mean.
I understand that it isn't PC (as in politically correct) to say that most criminals are black. And so I won't. I would just point out that most criminals are poor, and both white people and black people who are poor have a higher statistically change of turning into criminals because of their poor backgrounds. Also, because of their poor backgrounds, many families simply set their children down and let them watch tv or play whatever games they want without adult supervision at all. This does not happen to the same extent in the middle class families or in the upper class families (well, in some upper class families it does...).
And lets not forgot that many a bar brawl has started by somone drinking way too much...
Nobody could have ever guessed such a thing
On a more serious note, if people really have such a problem with violent gaming, why not ask the industry to make more games like portal, where you can never actually shoot at anything, but it's still awesome.
Oh wait. Antigamers dont pay attention to games like that. It would tear their arguments apart. Because to them, the only games in existence are pong, pacman, Mario, Custer's Revenge, GTA, Bully, and Manhunt.
not with bullets
He could never explain any of his generalized biases like, "bipolar people use there condition as a crutch is life.." He was a real bastard and said that my sources that supported us were "radical sources" despite the fact I got it from the APA directory it's self and failed me with a 31. The highest was a 55 but he was a jerk about everyones paper. I recently dropped out of that class because I couldn't stand his bullying of me and the BS he kept sprouting.