Violent Video Games Influence a Player's Aggression Essay Example

Introduction

Video games are common among children and even adults all over the world. They are a good way to bond, pass time and relieve stress. Similarly, they help the player to sharpen their cognitive skills. According to Kneer, Jacobs, & Ferguson (2018), video games are recommended for children's mental development. Modern video games have attempted to imitate real life by increasing the capacity of graphics as well as the adventures. Unfortunately, video games are becoming more violent by the day (LaCroix, Burrows, & Blanton, 2018). As more children are getting hooked to the games, they are exposed to constant acts of violence that increase in graphic nature as well. Violence in video games is common in a majority of the games as it offers the thrill the players need to be motivated to play. The psychological effect of a violent video game on players is however intense and dangerous (Ferguson, Barr, Figueroa, Foley, Gallimore, LaQuea & Stevens, 2015). This essay examines how violent video games influence a player's aggression levels.

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Games Have Encouraged Antisocial Behavior

When a player is exposed to too much violence from the scenes in the video games, they become used to the idea of violence, death and antisocial norms such as revenge. Games such as Splatterhouse, Postal 2 and Hitman dampen sympathy towards violence victims. Children thus grow up being insensitive to societal evils instead of finding ways to prevent or discourage such acts. It gets to the level where violent scenes such as people fighting or minor accidents come off as funny (Devilly, Callahan, & Armitage, 2012). A child's mind grows as they are exposed to the society they live in. Exposure to violence as is the case in video games not only makes them desensitized, many of them get violent as well. Video games expose children to an alternative mode of conflict resolution, against the norms of law and reconciliation they are taught at home and in school (Ferguson et al., 2015). The many hours they spend playing video games waters down the values they are taught at home.

Some games have been known to encourage suicidal behavior. For instance, Pokemon Go, Super Mario, Battleship and Streetchaser have been known to influence the minds of the players to not appreciate defeat. In their depressive state, many have taken their lives (Anderson, Bushman, Bartholow, Cantor, Christakis, Coyne & Huesmann, 2017). Children playing these video games often get many discouraging notes and feedback from the game console that a good number have actually taken their lives (Bushman, & Anderson, 2015). Highly addictive video games have the effect of not only being difficult to complete levels; they similarly progress the idea that the player is a constant failure. After hours of playing the game, suicidal thoughts often creep up in these individuals. If they are not offered the right amount of counseling, they become highly aggressive, antisocial and even suicidal (Anderson et al., 2017). It is thus critical to monitor the social status of video game players and ensure they are of normal states of mind.

Dehumanization of Women

One common theme in violent video games is the dehumanization of women. Games such as Grand Theft Auto and Postal Babes encourage violence on women in acts such as rape and batterings. All these games are unfortunately available for play by children, who grow up in virtually violent societies (Kneer, Jacobs, & Ferguson, 2018). Violence against women is an unfortunate act that is mostly archaic in modern society. Many games, however, simulate the need to treat women as objects and in thus, encourage acts of rape and physical aggression on women. Since a good number of players are male children who develop antisocial skills, they learn that beating women is okay, at a young age (LaCroix, Burrows, & Blanton, 2018). It is very unfortunate that these games continue to propagate such a negative mentality yet are still popular among players.

The dehumanization of women is not a notion that began with the intensely graphic nature it is nowadays. The initial approach was to make most characters male. Superheroes have also commonly been male. Women thus play peripheral roles in a majority of the video games (Bushman, & Anderson, 2015). As the role of women continues to be diminished, video games ended up including female characters for aesthetic value and even to promote aggression on them. Similarly, feminist games depict women as being the most aggressive of the lot. It is thus an increasingly negative ideology that promotes violence in the players, whether male or female (Bushman & Anderson, 2015). Games need to be more sensitive to gender, race and other differences in society and discourage any acts of violence and discrimination on these groups.

Conclusion

Video games can be a good pass time for children. They have been known to minimize stress and even increase reasoning abilities in players. Due to the popularity of the games, the manufacturers constantly increase the number of levels, the intensity of the challenges and even the extent of violence in the games. Unfortunately, the violence in the games constantly gets to infectious levels children playing these games are getting anti-social and violent. Aspects such as shooting, killing, and maiming are becoming common among children video games. The effect of video games on players cannot be overlooked. A good number of children spend hundreds of hours every week playing games. It is thus critical that the content they are exposed to be managed to ensure that it does not influence them to become societal outcasts (Kneer, Jacobs, & Ferguson, 2018). Unless video game violence is minimized, more children will become insensitive to violence and even pick up violent traits given the opportunity.

References

Anderson, C. A., Bushman, B. J., Bartholow, B. D., Cantor, J., Christakis, D., Coyne, S. M., ... & Huesmann, R. (2017). Screen violence and youth behavior. Pediatrics, 140(Supplement 2), S142-S147.

Bushman, B. J., & Anderson, C. A. (2015). Understanding causality in the effects of media violence. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(14), 1807-1821.

Devilly, G. J., Callahan, P., & Armitage, G. (2012). The effect of violent videogame playtime on anger. Australian Psychologist, 47(2), 98-107.

Ferguson, C. J., Barr, H., Figueroa, G., Foley, K., Gallimore, A., LaQuea, R., ... & Stevens, J. (2015). Digital poison? Three studies examining the influence of violent video games on youth. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, 399-410.

Kneer, J., Jacobs, R., & Ferguson, C. J. (2018). You could have just asked: The perception of motivations to play violent video games. Studies in Media and Communication, 6(2), 1-11.

LaCroix, J. M., Burrows, C. N., & Blanton, H. (2018). Effects of Immersive, Sexually Objectifying, and Violent Video Games on Hostile Sexism in Males. Communication Research Reports, 35(5), 413-423.