Violent Videogames and Youthful Aggression

           Ever since violent video games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty existed concerns surface whether these genre of video games are encouraging children to perform violent acts on others. Important and powerful figures like Hillary Clinton compared the effects of violent videogames on young children to the effects of smoking and lung cancer in adults. Unfortunate events, like mass shootings where the active shooter was considered youthful, is the starting point in relating video game violence to youthful aggression. With technology being an integral part in today’s society, children are more likely to be exposed to certain things they would otherwise be considered too young for. 

            Laura Stockdale and her colleagues performed an experiment focusing on observing infrequent and frequent videogame players by observing their emotional state while engaging with violent video games. Stockdale and colleagues later conducted another experiment that measured gamers and non-gamers empathy through a self-questionnaire and utilized electroencephalography to determine their emotional state while interacting with violent videogames. The results from Stockdale’s experiment suggested that gamers had on average lower levels of empathy compared to non-gamers. Therefore, this data also suggests the more an individual’s interacts with violent videogames, the more likely they are to exhibit anti-social behavior such as high aggression and low empathy. 

            In the article “The Impact of Degree of Exposure to Violent Video Games, Family Background, and Other Factors on Youth Violence”, Whitney DeCamp and Christopher J. Ferguson were interested in other factors that could also lead to anti-social behavior along with violent videogames such as the degree of exposure to violent videogames and family background. DeCamp and Ferguson distributed questionnaires to students in the fifth, eighth, and eleventh grade at public schools and public-charter schools. Also, just to note informed consent was provided to both the student and their family or legal guardian. The questionnaire possessed questions relating to physical altercations with others, violent video game play propensity, parental attachment, yelling and violence in the household, and if children even been physically hit by an adult. The results in this study were that male and female children who reported playing violent videogames more often than those who did not are more likely to report having hit someone. Also, yelling or violence in the child’s household was associated with a greater risk of hitting others. Additionally, parental attachment and youth disclosure was significantly related to lower risk for hitting others. On the other hand, children who reported being hit by an adult was at a greater risk of hitting others compared to children who reported they did not get physically assaulted by an adult. 

            Both results from both experiments suggests that those who play videogames more often than those who do not are more prone to being aggressive and less empathetic. This should not come as a surprise because first person shooter games like Call of Duty ‘hacks’ into the brain’s reward system because when an individual gets a ‘kill’ it can cause a dopamine overload. On the other hand, when the player gets ‘killed’ rage is likely to accompany their death. Many individuals have fallen victim to this trap especially during these undesirable times of COVID-19. However, with further studies similar to Stockdale and colleagues and DeCamp & Ferguson presenting new information, one can be more cognizant about the possible negative effects of videogaming. 

Link to article:

https://link-springer-com.flagship.luc.edu/content/pdf/10.1007/s10964-016-0561-8.pdf