Violence & Video Games: A Weak, Meaningless Correlation. Do violent video games lead to greater violence amongst those who play them?
While the actual answer is complex, the simple answer is easy — of course not. Just take a look at the graph at the overall decline of youth violence rates to the left (and the larger version below). Even as video game sales across the board have increased, rates of violence amongst youths has declined. But a 2010 meta-analysis (Anderson et al.) on violent video games (VVGs) can’t be ignored. So let’s take a look at what they found. Long-time readers of World of Psychology know that in research, it’s not always the results that paint the picture. So whenever a set of researchers go outside the normative practice of standard meta-analytic procedures, well, a few red flags are going to be set off. The first decision you have to make in a meta-analysis — that is, a study of previous research on a given topic — is what studies will you actually look at in your analysis and what studies will you ignore?
References Dr. Vidso Game Sales VS. Violence. In New Study, Video Games Not Tied to Violence in High-Risk Youth. By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor Reviewed by John M.
Grohol, Psy.D. on August 27, 2013 In a debate that has been raging for nearly two decades, the latest research suggests the impact of violent video games has been overstated. In the new study, Drs. Christopher Ferguson and Cheryl Olson discovered violent video games such as ‘Mortal Kombat,’ ‘Halo’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ did not cause high-risk teens (those with symptoms of depression or attention deficit disorder) to become aggressive bullies or delinquents.
In fact, in the study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, researchers found that the playing the video games actually had a very slight calming effect on youths with attention deficit symptoms — and helped to reduce aggressive and bullying behavior. Societal violence includes behavior such as bullying, physical fighting, criminal assaults and even homicide. Source: Springer APA Reference Nauert, R. (2013). The Video Game Revolution: "Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" by Henry Jenkins. Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked Henry Jenkins MIT Professor A large gap exists between the public's perception of video games and what the research actually shows.
The following is an attempt to separate fact from fiction. 1. The availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence. According to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. 2. Claims like this are based on the work of researchers who represent one relatively narrow school of research, "media effects. " 3. While most American kids do play video games, the center of the video game market has shifted older as the first generation of gamers continues to play into adulthood. 4. Historically, the video game market has been predominantly male. 5. Grossman's model only works if: we remove training and education from a meaningful cultural context. 6. Video games do not make vulnerable teens more violent. Do violent video games such as 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Halo' and 'Grand Theft Auto' trigger teenagers with symptoms of depression or attention deficit disorder to become aggressive bullies or delinquents?
No, according to Christopher Ferguson of Stetson University and independent researcher Cheryl Olson from the US in a study published in Springer's Journal of Youth and Adolescence. On the contrary, the researchers found that the playing of such games actually had a very slight calming effect on youths with attention deficit symptoms and helped to reduce their aggressive and bullying behavior. Ferguson and Olson studied 377 American children, on average 13 years of age, from various ethnic groups who had clinically elevated attention deficit or depressive symptoms. The children were part of an existing large federally funded project that examines the effect of video game violence on youths. Studying the Effects of Playing Violent Video Games.