Violent video games make you aggressive |
Ó
GTA anyone? According to a study conducted in the United States and Japan, violent games make you aggressive. If you've been itching to pound your roomies for squeezing the toothpaste the wrong way, the you should probably lay off Gears of War.The study used three samples of students with varying age ranges: 9-12 years; 12- 15; and 13-18. All groups have mixed genders. It was found that those who played violent video games showed signs of increased aggression while the others remained in control. It was even found that the results of the study were consistent between different cultures.
So if you're sitting there disagreeing with everything that the study says and swearing you'll square off to prove who's right, then you might want to read up it again. Who knows? Maybe skipping those excess hours of blood and gore may actually help your social life.
The full report of the study is published on the November 5, 2008 issue of Pediatrics Journal. You can check it out via the source link below.
Related articles:
- California to revive violent video game law in federal appeals court
- The California video game law is back and may even go to the Supreme Court
51 Jumps PlayStation celebrates 15th birthday
39 Jumps PSP homebrew - MHUSPEED v3
22 Jumps PSP homebrew - MacroFire v3.0.12
Contact Us:
The QJ.net Network |
 |
| Site | Feed |
| QJ.NET | RSS |
| Nintendo DS | RSS |
| PlayStation 3 | RSS |
| PSP Updates | RSS |
| Wii | RSS |
| Xbox 360 | RSS |
| MMORPG | RSS |
| Personal Computer Games | RSS |
| iPhone - iPod Touch | RSS |
| QJ.NET Forums | RSS |
Add QJ.NET
User Favorites - December
User Favorites - December
Categories
Archives
Accessories
Add-ons
Applications
Artwork
Batteries
Cheats
Deals
Emulators
Events
Featured Articles
Firmware
Flash Applications
Flash games
Game Demos
Games
Hacks & Exploits
Homebrew Applications
Homebrew Demos
Homebrew Development
Homebrew Emulators
Homebrew Games
Homebrew Themes
How-To
Humor
Imports
Interviews
Magazines
Mods
MY QJ
News
Off Topic
On Shelves This Week
Opinions & Analysis
Podcasts
Previews
PSP Go
PSP Minis
PSP Slim & Lite
QJ How-To Series
QuickJump QuickGuide
QuickJump QuickPeek
Reviews
Rumors
Scans
Screenshots
Site News
Titles
UMD Movies
Videos
Weekend Warrior
Wi-Fi
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
Comments [refresh]
I am always playing violent games (rated M) and I am never aggressive. My parents even perfer me to play Rate M games. I am also 14 years old. I bet those kids weren't even taught well.
do you know what anecdotal evidence is?
95% of the games I play are extremely violent, and I don't get that pissed. Sure, I get pissed off about some things, and I can get violent, but it's not because of video games. What about violent movies? What about music? No, it's always the video games' fault.
i thought violent video games(or action games like i like to call them) were supposed to released your anger. well after playing GTA4 i when and pick i fight with like ten guys, all them agaist me, soon those good for nothing punks were running and screaming......................................................yeah they were running..........after me and screaming....."When we catch you we're ganno beat the living crap out you!!!":( just joking, but i can imagen myself like that.(though i usally control my temper quite well.)
Of course Video games make you aggressive; the same can be said for sports and other activities! But just because it makes you aggressive doesn't mean that you are going to go out and kill someone.
those who shows 'signs of increased aggression' are attracted to violent games. Those who 'remain in control' may not want to play them. i.e. aggression is the cause of playing violent games, rather than a symptom.
Also the gender thing is a bit stupid. Females are generally less aggressive, and generally play less aggressive games an more games like the Sims. That would skew results.
I bet Jack Thompson did the "I'm right" dance when he saw this...
Your comment just had me imagining JT - made me laugh :))
Years of playing Pokemon as a child gave me the urge of using Thunderbolt on my 2nd grade teacher =(
i'm guessing it's a potion that makes you tell stories very well
im not fkin violent ill beat down anyone who disagrees
There was this one scientific test I saw where they gathered 6 kids. They had each of these kids write a short essay on an irrelevant topic. They then took the kids' essays and said that they were giving them to one of the others to review it. They didn't do so, though, and the conductors took the essays and just nitpicked everything and anything they could. Then they returned the essays to the kids. Then, after the writing were read, 3 kids were asked to wait quietly while 3 were asked to vent by punching a pillow. The conductors then came back and asked each child to pour hot sauce into a jar and they reviewer would have to drink it all. Those who vented put nearly twice as much hotsauce as the others.
So, yeah...
It's all cause they're venting, not because of the games...
"The study used three samples of students with varying age ranges: 9-12 years; 12- 15; and 13-18."
Which makes the whole study completely senseless.
I take a Game, Rated AO and give it to a 9 year old. Ohhh... it has negative effects on him. How surprising.
Thats acactly why they have this rating!
1. Correlation is not causation.
2. There is no control for initial level of aggression.
3. There was no check on how LONG the aggression lasted after playing the games.
Fail.
Good point! Why are games always the ones that "make us violent" Then why not blame the music and movies aswell?
Those studies were done in the 80's and 90's.
Good assessment. The playing of violent games can be a symptom of mental condition as well as a cause in the change of mental condition.
I personally know two young men who play WoW and online shooters regularly. Both swear, yell at and cut down their, who I suppose to be online friends, while playing. I've heard both talk back to their parents on several occasions in ways I wouldn't dare.
I get more pissed off and angry when I play mario. I hate those damn mushroom guys!!!
No, Violent games dont make you violent. I for one am living proof.
I use to be a very angry, violent person then I get a PC and started playing violent games and now I'm a completely changed person. I'm nice and polite and now I'd rather help someone than hit them.
I get more annoyed at these so called studies than I do when I get killed in GOW2.
My favorite game is Manhunt 2. I laugh at that as its so funny. Also I can do more in that game than I will ever do in real life. I'd also rather do it in the game as I dont have to worry about going to jail or getting shot myself.
Next study should be with real people not these BS artists like they have now.
I am more affected by violent movies than I am at any game as "ITS A GAME" and NOT real life where a movie does look like real life and is a hell of a lot more violent than any game.
Why do you think there isnt a Saw or Hostel game? The movie is too violent. You cannot compare Hostel to GTA as GTA is a disney movie compared to Hostel. Even Manhunt isnt in the league as Saw and Hostel. There are a lot more violent movies out there but I chose those 2 as an example...
I'll end my rant here. Games need a R18+ rating as here in Aus 70% of gamers are over 30...
Well if your an American then maybe as thats all we hear about them. They love guns and love to shoot people with them.
My question is how did they reach this conclusion... They tested people who play violent videogames and compared it to their level of aggression. Scientifically, that does not prove that violent videogames make you aggressive, only that people who play violent video games are more aggressive. This could possibly mean that people that are more aggressive are more likely to play violent videogames.
The only way to prove if violent videogames make you aggressive would be to take a person who doesn't play violent videogames and measure their level of aggressiveness, then introduce them to violent videogames and after a period of time, measure their level of aggressiveness again.
Don't go making wild claims when your conclussion is irrelevent to your testing process.
and I don't even own a gun... don't you love stereotypes?
I'm assuming you're probably from the U.K. (that's about all that reads QJ... U.K. and U.S.A.) we hear you guys have bad teeth, are incredibly snobby and sit around drinking tea all day... If you're from somewhere else, let me know and I'll throw some more stereotypes at you and you can see how ridiculous they sound as well.
My point is, take what you hear with a grain of salt.
"Females are generally less aggressive, and generally play less aggressive games an more games like the Sims"
except for once a month ;)
that's exactly the point I was making as well. Haven't these people ever heard of scientific process?
"Posted Nov 03, 2008 at 06:37PM by...." Glenn M??? Hmm... maybe he's changed his name
*If you don't know who I'm talking about, it's the first person who comes into your head when you think "retarded, disbarred, lawyer"
i think most aggression comes from frustration with the game, regardless of whether it's violent or not. it just needs to be insanely difficult at certain moments.
i remember i sometimes felt like smashing a chair against a wall, after one of those:
- numerous failed attempts at more arcade parts of god of war2 (ok, so it's a violent game),
- repeated failed attempts of trying to get ultimate weapons in ff12 (this game is awfully luck-based, and chance to obtain some items can get as low as 0.01%) (ok, this game is a bit violent)
- card game in final fantasy 8 (ff8 is violent, the card game is not).
- amplitude/frequency - game doesn't seem violent at all.
- patapon (mission where you have to rescue the priestess. i never finished it. well, at least not yet) - ok, it might be a bit violent.
- attempts to get gold medals in gran turismo 3/4 licence tests.
ok, some of those are not things casual gamer would do, i admit.
i never took out my frustration on anybody. when i get frustrated i just turn the game off and got on the bike/listen to the music to let out some steam.
then again, 80s games were way more difficult. how come people didn't get pissed repeatedly losing at them?
After a long day of idiot after idiot at work (I work in tech support, pray for me.) I come home and my aggression levels are already high. I use violent video games as a means to vent that aggression with out spending the next 10 to life in jail.
Now one thing not explains was the rating of these games. When they say violent are they talking about M rated games? Games that kids in this age range generally should not be playing? (Yes I know it said all the way up to age 18, but it also included 9 to 16 and a majority of those kids shouldn't be playing an M rated game.) Perform these tests on gamers 17 to 30 years of age and then tell me about them. The games were made for that audience, how do they react? I think you'll find that in most cases their level of enjoyment is what increased, not their level of aggression.
Then flip it, find out how kids 9 to 16 react to "kiddie" games and measure their aggressions levels. Then do the same thing thing for 17 to 30 year olds and see if Pokemon makes the older gamers more violent. lol
I play violent games for fun and relief of tension. Bad day at work, or generaly just feeling a little uptight. Blasting away in a game as crackdown, quake or Gears is wonderful. However I must say i have broken a controller playing Tomb Raider. Not due to violence but due to sheer maddening frustration.
Could not make the jumps on the mountain side and after 30 attempts of waiting to reload I finally smashed the controller. Literally smashed. I threw it on the floor and stamped on it........ Childish I know but my point is that sometimes a game can be infuriating due to frustration and I have this more often with the non violent games than I do with a straightforward blast and shoot with blood and gore.
Test are often distorted.
Frustration does not = Anger
to be irritated does not = to be violent
A violent character will almost always lean toward a violent game but a violent game doe not mean we become violent people.
nuff said.
I started typing my comment as yours was posted so in some areas there is an overlap. I am 50 so not a kid. Mario, Jazz, Spyro, etc tend to frustrate me when playing these games with my son a few years ago.
In a test situation I am sure my stress levels due to Frustration at not making a correct move or jump could be construed as Anger levels. However Stress does not + Anger
not going to read all the comments, and just skimmed through the article
anyway YES I TOTALLY AGREE VIOLENT GAMES MAKE YOU AGGRESSIVE,
but i also believe that ALL VIDEO GAMES MAKE YOU AGGRESSIVE, or should i say can
video games, are competitive especially online ones, you keep trying to beat something and you get asgitated
however personally, it goes away after putting the game down, for some people it doest,
however can crime be blamed on video games, its like blaming drink for crimes, it doesnt matter you still make that choice to do a crime, some spontaneous crime i guess can be caused by aggression, but can all that aggression be blamed on one thing, certainly not
also repeat offenders, cant be blamed on videogames, if you have a problem you get it sorted, its like going to AA
if videogames make you violent its up to you to ensure you dont play them, otherwise your liable.
ENDOF
next we will blame sex for our violence
Word! I beat my wife because she deserves it, not because I play violent video games all the time...
What the hell is wrong with violent sex???
hell ya! beat them naysayers! i get so violent... i even beat myself.... off. wait. that didn't sound... right. XD
I was going to post a comment, when I saw this beloved comment.
ISOHaven you just made my day.
yeap that same line made me pull back
"The study used three samples of students with varying age ranges: 9-12 years; 12- 15; and 13-18."
well duh, of course! those age groups are either a) so young that they're impressionable (9-12years), and b) are undergoing adolescence (12-18years) which has always been proven by many other studies in the past where kids undergo that "angsty" phase.
this new study is bunk. shoving violent videogames to impressionable or angsty sample sets and to call that conclusive evidence is FAIL.
I HATE YOU ALL!
I'M GOING TO PUSH YOU ALL INTO WOODCHIPPERS!
I HOPE THE PEOPLE THAT PUBLISHED THIS STUDY DIE!
Now, where's my Man-Hunt game?
It's not a popular opinion around here but IMO, most media outlets can make you aggressive.
But that's just it. It isn't just games. Movies, music, books... They all have their own uplifting, depressing, aggravating genres and messages. Media helps birth, spur and control our emotions as much as a song can make you cry, or a documentary can make you feel angry or enlightened.
Gah. The list goes on. I'm saying that a violent game can make someone violent, I'm also saying that a game can also calm the player too.
The study has no basis of prolonged proof. Hopping Boo Foo Bunnies the Candy Land Express would make me livid if I couldn't get the ****ing rabbit to jump the broken bridge too.
The study also has no merit in that NO study has religiously followed it's test subjects for their 20+ year life. Nor does the study quantify the "TRUE" home life of the children.
Folks, again, I have personally been a student and representative of this theory about violence begetting violence horse****. IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. Period. There is no argument.
New parents as a whole are scared completely ****less to n'th degree as to whether or not they are going to **** their kids up for life. All this study does is promote another bull**** excuse for parents to blame something other than themselves for their child's demonic behavior.
Get the **** over it!!! ALL parents will **** their kids heads up WAY more than any movie or game. Children ALONE cause more violence and mental anguish than any of the entertainment mediums COMBINED.
Unless we are willing to completely forfeit several children to 24/7 observation, with each child in a separate control situation, till the age of 18 - the quantitative information will NEVER be fully proven.
The ONLY quantitative (that means proven beyond a doubt and backed with legitimate, indisputable, scientific findings) proof that violence has an effect on someone is those individuals that come back from combat. PERIOD. This is not open for debate!!! It is so documented that you can find this out in a hotel bible.
The effect? A complete isolation of the victim and TOTAL AVERSION to violence in all its forms.
THAT is the TRUE result of exposure to violence.
Ass sucking egg heads who are praying off the fears of parents... Prove me wrong.
The Lord has spoken... (my name morons, not the bible thumping alliteration...)