Arriving as the perfect counterpoint to the recent study claiming gamers enjoy more social interaction and a better quality of life , a new study has suggested that virtual videogame violence prompts real aggression in its younger audience.
New study claims violent videogames cause real-life aggression. Image: Marcin Wichary/Flickr.
The study, which appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics, reports that kids from the U.S. and Japan who spent large periods of time playing violent video games displayed aggressive behaviour for several months longer than those who played non-violent games.
Headed by Dr. Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., of Iowa State University in Ames, the study looked into the game-playing habits of young children and teenagers at a single time before then assessing their real-world behaviour three to six months further down the line.
The study was spread across two groups, including more than 1,231 Japanese children aged from 12 to 18, and 364 U.S. children aged from 9 to 12, according to a CNN Health report.
The study tasked the Japanese respondents with rating their own real-world behaviour after playing five different violent games spread across varying categories, while the U.S. participants listed their three favourite games and how often they play them.
In the Japanese group, the kids rated themselves based on hitting, kicking, or getting into fights with other children, while the personal ratings from U.S. respondents were also offset by contributing reports from other children and teaching professionals.
The study returned that all of the children exposed to focused videogame violence did exhibit more aggressive behaviour over a certain period of time, while those children with less exposure to violent videogame content did not.
According to Dr. L. Rowell Huesmann, director of the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor, the study’s findings are “pretty good evidence” that violent videogames cause aggressive behaviour in younger players.
Drawing upon more than 30 years of experience into the effects of violence in media and behaviour, Huesmann said that children internalise media violence, deem the world to be a dangerous place, and consider violence an acceptable way to cope with that danger.
He also claimed that violence can leave children desensitised as daily exposure to such content can cause a decrease in its emotional impact. According to Huesmann: “Once you’re emotionally numb to violence, it’s much easier to engage in violence.”
However, running against the grain of opinion laid down by the study, Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, co-director of the Center for Mental Health and the Media at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, offers that the term “violent videogames” is too vague given the industry’s variable genres and classifications.
“I think there may well be problems with some kinds of violent games for some kinds of kids,” Olson said. “We may find things we should be worried about, but right now we don't know enough.”
In staving off the potential problems associated with unchecked exposure to violent videogames, Olson suggests parents exercise a more proactive approach when it comes to gaming by placing PC systems and gaming consoles in family areas in order to monitor playing habits.
Comment on this Story