Is it really violent video games?

There has been a long standing idea that media violence has a strong link to more aggressive behavior. In an article titled “The effects of media violence on society” by Anderson and Bushman, they stated that the effect of violence in media is “larger than the effect of calcium intake on bone mass or lead exposure on IQ in children”. What is more miraculous is that they have found recent data that shows similar magnitude of effects from video games on aggression. These data control for outside interference that may also result in violent behavior and show that the aggression most likely stems from the video game. In the talk given by Laura Stockdale, she talked about the research that she, herself, has done to determine the link between physical aggression and violent video games. One of the points that she makes is that the desensitization of violence due to these games is one of the influences that increases the violent behavior in violent video game players. She stated that the relationship between the two were strong as “the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.”

I however to not agree with this stance. As all things in science, correlation does not equate causation. In an article titled “Aggression from video games ‘linked to incompetence’” from the BCC by reporter Dave Lee, a modified version of the popular video game, Half-life 2, was tested where no violent actions were available. This was tested against the Half-life 2 with violence which acted as the control. In both editions, some gamers were given the tutorial and allowed for them to become familiarized with the control. Others were thrown right into the game. Researchers found that the players that did not have the tutorial were less competent and more aggressive. This was seen in both versions of the game showing that aggression did not come from the violence of the game but the design of the game. A doctor in the article stated “if players feel thwarted by the controls or the design of the game, they can wind up feeling aggressive.” This shows that the need to master the game is more significant in creating aggressive behavior than violent material because gamers.

                                                                                                                                                              

In an article on Yahoo! News titled “Blaming Violence on Video Game Does More Harm Than Good, Researcher Says” by Tom’s Guide and Jill Scharr, they talk about inconsistent data that these studies have. “For every study that claims to correlate violence and video games, there’s at least another that found no such connection.” They talk about how this easy blaming of violent video games may hinder growth of our society due to it distracting people from more pressing issues that may be the cause of violent behavior.

I believe that this is the case. Most US children are or have, at some point, played a video game with violent aggression involved. Many, if not most, of these children do not end up with violent tendencies. Data shows that frustration from inferior game play or difficult controls causes more aggression than the violent acts themselves. I believe that trying to remove these violent games will not hinder aggression as people would like to think. There have even been studies that show that children now are less aggressive than children 20-30 years ago. The evidence just does not line up.

 Works Cited
Anderson, C. A. "PSYCHOLOGY: The Effects of Media Violence on Society." Science 295.5564 (2002): 2377-379. Print.
Lee, Dave. "Aggression from Video Games Studied." BBC News. BCC, 07 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Scharr, Tom's Guide / Jill. "Blaming Violence on Video Games Does More Harm Than Good, Researcher Says." Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.