When I first started this journey,
I completely expected to be able to sum it all up into one neat and tidy
summary, with one clear answer. I must be honest, I thought it would be an easy
answer, and that everything would make complete sense. As it turns out, this
topic is way more in-depth than I first thought. To be quite honest, it needs
more research and study. I say this mainly because of all the independent
variables that exist within the question of; “Do violent video games lead to
aggression?”
Photo Credit:psu.edu
My conclusion
right now would be yes it can lead to aggression. I also need to mention that
it does require an asterisk by it though, so let me explain. When I started off
I thought I had a clear definition of violence and aggression. I explored
sources that backed up what I believed; Violent video content fired up sensory transmitters
in our brains, just as real-life violence would. I found that the more “presence”
(relation) a player had with the game, the more that aggression, or aggressive
thoughts would become prevalent in a person. In contrast, I learned that
aggression could also come from frustration. Frustration could come from not
understanding how the game controls interact with the game, or lack of experience
playing a game.
Photo Credit: oaktable.net
So that
asterisk would read something like this; *game play might lead to aggressive
thoughts or behaviors due to frustration or cognitive thoughts, individual
results may vary. You see, the questions I have now are that of an individual
level. I have some interest on knowing how frustration of a game or violent
content might affect the individual. For instance, how does the same criteria
and content affect people with; cognitive disabilities, anxiety disorders, high
blood pressure, psychiatric disorders? You see, the list is endless, yet I
believe that we cannot paint with a broad brush on this issue. I think it is
possible that many factors lead to some individual acting out with aggressive
behavior, or even violence. Although I believe violent video games can be a
factor; I certainly don’t think it is the single component to someone’s aggression.
As I left you in the last Blog; hopefully
pondering the possibility of a different point of view, or as I stated, “A new
hypothesis?” I decided to continue working on the counter measure of my original
idea that violent video games lead to aggression in children. I have to admit I
am conflicted, and feel myself being somewhere in the middle of this argument
now. So, to be open minded and fair to my research; I have delved a little
deeper into the oppositions camp.
credit: Steven Andrew, flickr
In the
first article, the review by the University of Rochester from the March 2014 edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, co-authors Andrew Przybylski and Richard Ryan explain “Video gamers’ aggression linked to frustration, not violent content”which further explores the idea that frustration is the result of the “psychological
experience” rather than the “content”. Once again, the study manipulates the controls
and the condition of the game in order to determine if it’s the content, or the
game itself that is causing the frustration. One of the interesting aspects of
this study determined that “aggression is a negative side effect of the frustration
players felt.” I’m starting to see a pattern here to the two different
viewpoints on this argument. Aren’t you?
photo credit: Healthday.com
In the next
article by Randy Potinga “Violent Video Games Don’t Influence Kids’ Behavior: Study” explores a
little different angle. In this study, time playing the game was the control.
What the author of the study Andrew Przybyiski concluded was as follows: The
group that had the most time playing video games were “likeliest to have
behavioral problems, exhibit hyperactivity and have trouble academically.” In
contrast those that played “less than an hour” were “less aggressive” than those
that played no video games at all. So maybe there is some therapeutic value in
playing video games in limited time constraints. There’s a little morale
booster for those of us who regulate our kids time in front of the game console.
I guess where
I want to go from here is to give these, as well as my previous sources some
hard critiquing. I need to keep an open mind while I go back through my sources
and come to my conclusion of aggression, and how does that really tie into
violent video games?
I have been researching this question
of video games and a possible link to aggression for close to a couple weeks
now. I have read way more opinions, and studied way more data than I have
shared so far, but that is because time and space is limited within the blog.
Today I
wanted to share a possible shift in thinking for myself. Is it possible that
video games don’t actually lead to aggression? To lead you down this road with
me I will present two opposite viewpoints. The first is from the American PsychologicalAssociation (APA). The article by the APA published in August of 2015 details a
comprehensive study of a task force over the past couple decades. It concludes
that although there is evidence between video game play that ties to “aggressive
behavior, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive affect”; Game play leads to
increased aggressive thoughts, but it does not necessarily lead to people to aggressive
acts, specifically violence.
The second viewpoint
is a video from Healthcare Triage which presents a different viewpoint. It
claims that studies are biased and only report news and data in favor of their
viewpoint. The video Cites actual data from Dr. Christopher Ferguson (Ph.D. in
Clinical psychology) in which he conducted a controlled study and had the test
subjects fill out a “frustration task” at the end of the data collection. This
data revealed that the kids who regularly played video games had “fewer hostile
feelings” than the others that completed the same task.
I must
admit after considering these opposing views, analyzing what I have collected
from both sources, that I have now come to some “middle ground”. I cannot deny
that I am struggling within myself to analyze this a little closer now."The Causes and Consequences" Blog April 7, 2017 where author Kristine Nowak examines cognitive effects and presence; can I rely on only that data, can I trust that to be accurate? Do I need to reevaluate other sources
to back up the claims that it leads to aggressive behavior? I now must consider
that Dr. Ferguson has value to this topic as well. With all of these factors I
am working towards a possible new hypothesis. Although violent video games can
have cognitive effects on players, it rarely leads to acts of physical aggression.
