Violent Video Games and How There is No Proven Link between Them and Increased Aggressive Behaviors - Free Paper

There is a long-standing debate on whether the violence portrayed in video games triggers an element of increased aggressiveness among the players. It is important to note that when people become aggressive, many factors can cause such attitudes. In society, genes are inherited, and children with violent guardians can adopt these genes, making them violent. The environment that an individual is living may be unconducive for human survival due to the tough living conditions, and this may lead to people becoming aggrieve to raise their survival chances. In human life, violence is multi-determined, and it is often regarded as a complex developmental process, and it can happen when there is an interaction of biological and environmental influences. Therefore, the analysis completed in this paper will focus on the fact that violent video games are not the reason why people become aggressive.

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The topic is a major issue in society and based on the details highlighted in a court ruling, Brown v EMA (2011), the jury stated that there is no connection between violent video games and existence of human aggression (Ferguson, 2013). Despite the court decision, a good number of people in society claims that the two concepts are connected due to the violent behaviours noted in children and the assertions that the previous studies done on this topic did not use the standardized materials of research.

There is a high probability that the existence of violent video games is leading to reduced aggression in the community. When people are playing these games, they are offered a chance to become occupied. They manage to lead a simple form of life, leading to the release of anger and reduction in depression levels. When players are busy, they are kept away from trouble a move that ensures that they are not harming their friends.

Researchers are finding it challenging to get a better explanation of why people become aggressive towards each other. Therefore, they are resulting in finding an easier way of getting an explanation to this problem by claiming that violent video games are the ones that are causing this problem. It is essential to note that what can make people aggressive is frustration when they are playing a challenging game.

When gamers are provided with a non-violent game that is difficult to play, they will be frustrated that they are not managing to win. Therefore, they will divert their frustration towards others, and this aggression may lead to injuries and damage to items. However, when playing a violent but easy game, they are highly likely to enjoy it for they are winning. The brain will release the feel-good hormone, and this will make the players show happiness rather than become aggressive.

The studies done on this topic have their limitations that make it difficult to determine the association that may exist between violent video games and the level of aggression among gamers. According to “Aggressive Video Games are Not a Risk Factor for Future Aggression in Youth: A Longitudinal Study,” one of the measures used in a study on this topic is the youth self-report. These are programs that are not reliable, and they are highly likely to be affected by single-responder bias (Ferguson & Wang, 2019). Additionally, it is challenging to rely on self-report when measuring aggressive video reports and these elements of weakness show that it is difficult to claim that there is a link between aggressiveness and violent video games.

References

Ferguson, C. J. (2013). Violent video games and the Supreme Court: Lessons for the scientific community in the wake of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. American Psychologist, 68(2), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030597

Ferguson, C. J., & Wang, J. C. (2019). Aggressive video games are not a risk factor for future aggression in youth: A longitudinal study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(8), 1439-1451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01069-0