Just a game? Study shows no evidence that violent video games lead to real-life violence
Just a game? Study shows no evidence that violent video games lead to real-life violence
Just a game? Study shows no evidence that violent video games lead to real-life violence
November 5, 2021
Summary
As the latest Call of Duty video game is released in the UK today, and with Battlefield 2042 and a remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy to follow later this month, new research finds no evidence that violence increases after a new video game is released.
Debate on the topic generally intensifies after mass public shootings, with some commentators linking these violent acts to the perpetrators' interests in violent video games.
Before governments introduce any policies restricting access to violent video games, it is important to establish whether violent video games do indeed make players behave violently in the real world.
Research by Dr Agne Suziedelyte, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics at City, University of London, provides evidence of the effects of violent video game releases on children's violent behaviour using data from the US. Dr Suziedelyte examined the effects of violent video games on two types of violence: aggression against other people, and destruction of things/property.
She found no evidence that violence against other people increases after a new violent video game is released.
"Dr Suziedelyte said:"Taken together, these results suggest that violent video games may agitate children, but this agitation does not translate into violence against other people - which is the type of violence which we care about most.
"A likely explanation for my results is that video game playing usually takes place at home, where opportunities to engage in violence are lower. This 'incapacitation' effect is especially important for violence-prone boys who may be especially attracted to violent video games."
Reference
Just a game? study shows no evidence that violent video games lead to real-life violence. (2021, November 5). ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211105084110.htm