Do Video Games reveal adverse psychological impacts upon a player and encourage real-world violence?

Thesis by Bridget Welsh

Video games have become an influential part of society, emerging as an open topic for controversy when discussing their violent video content. The issue particularly draws attention when in regards to the overall mental wellbeing of children and young adolescents. A paper by Dr. Jeanne Funk of the Department of Paediatrics Medical College of Ohio evaluates the impact of video games, with research into the amount of children in high school playing video games and the effects thereof. The study researched 357 students in the seventh and eighth grade, finding 2/3rds of girls played video games for at least 1-2 hours at home and were less likely to play games at an arcade, with only 1/5 doing so. 90% of males played video games, with half going to an arcade to do so. Half of the preferred games to play were violent video games.(Funk,1993) In more recent times, studies have concluded that nearly 60 per cent of children between years 7 to 9 are playing violent video games at least once a week, with males playing violent video games alone and with others more frequently than females.(Drummond & Dubow, 2012) Studies also assert that younger children play violent video games more frequently than older children.(Roberts, Foehr & Rideout, 2005) The increase in interest of violent video games in young adolescents draws the attention of concerned adults, being familiar with the notion that violent video games possibly lead to aggravated behaviour.(Anderson & Bushman, 2002) Most notable was the assertion that the violent video game "Doom" was a catalyst in the lead up towards the columbine shootings. (Anderson & Bushman, 2001) Numerous studies conducted by distinguished academics have hypothesized that violence in video games do have some effect upon the impressionable minds of children and young adolescents to some degree(Gentile, Lynch, Linder and Walsh, 2004), however there is much debate over whether or not the effects of violent video games are adverse, or the studies which have been conducted proving such claims are inconclusive.(Ferguson, 2010) Through the exploitation of pre established ideas, this thesis will evaluate and re-establish new viewpoints in regards to the links between video game violence and anti social behaviours being a cause thereof. The purpose of this thesis is to update and contrast new research conducted supporting and arguing against the notion that video games inherently lead to an increase in aggressive and antisocial behaviours, and provide the reader with new evidence regarding the topic. This thesis will cover both the viewpoints in favour of the notion that video games cause aggression and those that favour the idea that they do not. We will also explore the links between ultra violent events and the associations made to them, as well as counter arguments that explore the impact of competitive sports games as the real cause of aggression in players.

It has been widely argued that violence in video games is an inherent cause to an apparent increase in the levels of desensitization to violence and antisocial behaviours within children.(Funk, Baldacci, Pasold, & Baumgardner, 2004) Violence in itself is defined as being an intent to harm another person whilst being without the consent or want from that person to be harmed.(Ferguson, 2010) It is the simulation of such an activity within video games that has drawn the attention of psychologists, who suggest this simulation may in fact inhibit the cognitive growth of children.(Anderson & Bushman,2001) In a study conducted in 2004, 98 per cent of paediatricians stated their concerns with young children and exposure to media and video game violence, concluding that the media has an influential part in childhood aggression.(Gentile et al. 2004) Many scholars and distinguished professors of Psychology have explored this notion and procured various results, most of which supporting their claims that there is a correlation between violence and video games. Craig Anderson, distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University has studied the impact of violent video games on children for years. His research hypothesizes that exposure increases the chances of aggressive behaviour in both short-term and long-term contexts amongst young adolescents and children. Anderson's research also suggested that violent video games lead to an increase in aggressive thinking. (Anderson, 2001) This antisocial behaviour is said to be linked to the desensitization caused by excessive violence and gore in video games which results with repeated exposure, "blunting [the] emotional reactions to events which would typically elicit a strong response."(Funk et al.,2004) More recently, these studies have been followed up with new evidence and research, updating past studies which showed inconclusive and unsubstantiated results. Anderson and associates recently reviewed and followed up on an earlier paper by Anderson, which had been under scrutiny by Ferguson for "publication bias"(Ferguson, 2007). In the follow up article, they re examined the theory that violence in video games causes antisocial behaviour and aggression in children. Using Meta-analytic procedures, Anderson et. al. re examined and tested the levels of empathy, desensitization and physiological arousal in conjunction with playing violent video games by constructing complex algorithms, exploiting previous researches and employing research conducted by Anderson and associates.(Anderson, Bushman, Ihori, Rothstein, Sakamoto, Saleem, & Shibuya, 2010) Results produced six meta analyses, with findings revealing from the updated research that there was a correlation between video game violence and an increase in aggression. Evidence suggested that the younger the test subject was, the more likely they were to be effected by violence in video games. This

also revealed to researchers that there was a significant lack of research into the effects of violent video games by age, which was suspected to be a result of an assumption amongst researchers that children are going to be more susceptible and influenced by their surroundings due to their age and mental development. Most notable in regards to solid research and data collected in relevance to violent video games, is a recent study conducted by the Indiana University school of Medicine was able to established conclusive data that violent video games have some level of mental impact upon a player as revealed by MRI scanning technologies. Using a sample of 28 healthy male participants between that ages of 18 to 29, The functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were conducted whilst the participants played what is classified as a violent video game. Results revealed that they had " found that a sample of randomly assigned young adults showed less activation in certain frontal brain regions following a week of playing violent video games at home" (Wang, 2011), revealing that certain changes in brain regions for controlling emotion and aggressive behaviours may reveal a link between video game violence and aggressive behaviours.

Figure 1 MRI scans performed on test subjects by Dr Yang Wang at Indiana University School of Medicine the MRI scans show that after a week of playing a violent video game, young men showed less

activation in a brain area called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. A control group did not show such changes.

Dr. Wang claims that his findings show "a long-term effect on brain functioning." Though there is evidence to suggest there is a chemical reaction within the brain in accordance to violent video games, this does not necessarily suggest that the reaction being detected in the brain is that of violent and aggressive behaviours. It does however, substantiate the claim that violent video games produce a mental reaction that may possibly have adverse effects when looked into further. Changes in chemicals within the brain may not necessarily mean that the outcome is that the player becomes aggravated and violent, but that the player becomes desensitized or otherwise negatively affected. A study at the department of Psychology at Iowa State University by Nicholas L. Carnagey and associates hypothesized that playing violent video games may desensitize people to real world violence. Using two control groups, 20 test patients were monitored by heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) machines. The other 20 participants were subject to playing a violent video game and then subject to the HR and GSR machines. The findings were conclusive and displayed that the participants who played the violent video games were more desensitized to the real world violence than the participants who had not previously engaged in violent video games.(Carnagey, Anderson & Bushman,2007)

Figure 2 Image depicting desensitization process as conducted by Carnagey et al.(Carnagey et al., 2007)

In another study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University, research was conducted on the adverse effects of video games and procured interesting results which show that those affected by violent video games who react violently have "trait hostility" pre existing the study, however any one subject in the study suffered from lower grades in school.(Gentile et al.,2004)

Figure 3 Diagram depicting the correlation between exposure to violent video games and grades in school (Gentile et al., 2004) The diagram above, as constructed by Gentile and associates, constructs a visual algorithm that explains the prediction of fights between teacher and students based on the amount of violent video game exposure and the amount of play. It also displays a sector which correlates the amount of play and amount of violent video game exposure with the scoring in school grades, displaying that exposure to violent games leads to a decrease in quality of score. The concern for children's wellbeing is a constant issue in regards to violence and the media. Barlett and Anderson's paper titled "Violent Video Games and Public Policy" provides insight to the misconceptions of violence in video games. The paper underlines that scientific literature is repeatedly showing relationships between violent media and an increased probability in the aggression of its consumers. the paper itself expresses concern over a lack of public policy being enforced in relation to children and young adolescents exposed to violence.(Bartlett & Anderson, 2009) The paper raises its concerns with a lack for public policy, outlining the requirements needed to enforce laws that would protect people from the exposure to video game violence, however the citations and requirements provided lack substance or conclusive proof. The one underlying issue with most conducted studies is the lack of conclusive proof and the interpretation of new evidence as unarguable. This is a notable issue in regards to Barlett & Anderson's

2009 paper, because they write from a perspective where they are trying to prove a point rather than supply evidence and allow the reader to reach a well informed conclusion of their own.(Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010) Recent studies have analysed the effects of violence in video games in the media, in conjunction with their effects upon crime rate and violence. Unlike most theories that associate video game violence with antisocial behaviours, these studies concluded that the exposure to in game violence and media violence has worked to deter real-world violence, with studies showing that violent crime decreases on days with large audiences exposed to violent movie content.(Dahl & Dellavegna, 2009). Crime rates within society have also reached an all time low, with youths and adults from countries such as Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and the United states recording crime rate lows not observed since the 1960's.(Ferguson, 2007) In a follow up journal article titled "Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can violent video games be a force for good?" Ferguson proclaims that certain authors " exaggerate their [video games] significance promoting unnecessary concern." and that their significance in regards to the statistics they can examine does not necessarily coincide with determining their validity. The paper examines the possibilities of violent video games being used to combat depression and anger within players.(Ferguson, 2010) The study within the journal article also hypothesizes that violent crimes are less likely to occur when a violent video game is released. With the increase in video game purchases, Ferguson noted that there is a likely possibility that crime rates will drop in relation to the sales. Provided is a chart displaying the results of the test.

Figure 4 Diagram depicting rate of violent video sales in comparison to rate of youth violence. (Ferguson, 2010) Overall, the evidence revealed that there was an apparent decrease in violent crimes amongst young adolescents, and that there may be a possible relation between the increase in video game unit sales and a decrease in aggressive behaviour. This information contradicts popular theory that an increase in violent content leads to more crime. The issue observed in papers written in favour of new policies to restrict the acquisition of violent video games by young children and adolescents, is that most accusations of the effects of violent video games being the source of violence in young adolescents lacks any "external validity". In a paper titled "Understanding the effects of violent video games on Violent Crime", Cunningham and associates state that laboratory studies conducted are subject to extraneous variables which effect the results drastically in comparison to real-life conducted studies.(Cunningham Engelsttter &Ward, 2011) Another flaw often seen in the studies by scholars researching the adverse effects of violent video games is publication bias. As stated in " Evidence for publication violence in video game violence effects literature: A meta-analytic

review" by Ferguson, review of publications concerning violent video games face heavy scrutiny as they lack in consistent and cohesive data. often is the case that the analytic reviews are sourcing either outdated evidence or inconclusive data.(Ferguson, 2007) Bias and failure to disprove other theories are the two constant key points when evaluating data in relation to Violence and possible links with adverse affects. A failure to disproving other works which bring forth claims that video games do not encourage violence can be seen in a publication by the Australian Government. As part of an ongoing investigation by the Attorney-Generals Department in regards to the needs for an r18+ rating on video games, the Australian government researched into violent video game content and the effects of. Though the investigation article gives credit to Anderson for his extensive research into the effects of violent video games, it also goes on to explain that his opinions and theories on the subject matter lacks in disproving any other theories put forward by his peers.(ag.gov.au,2010) Previously, Australia had heavy restrictions on gore and violent content within its video games; Some cases where gore and violence were exceedingly prominent would result in the game needing to be physically changed in order to clear for release, the game being released at a lower classification giving children the opportunity to purchase it or the game being banned in Australia. The Classifications Bill 2012 passed the Senate on June 18th, 2012 and will come into effect nationally on January 1st, 2013.(SBS, 2012) Another positive and unexpected outcome of video game violence was the discovery that video game violence heightens the pain threshold. People have a recorded higher tolerance to pain after playing violent video games. Dr. Richard Stephens and his Researchers at the Keele University in the UK found that those who played violent video games had a 65% higher tolerance to pain than those who did not.(Stephens & Allsop,2012) This study not only combats the claims that violent video games cause negative effects, but also proves that there are positive outcomes to playing such games. When examining both case points, a few issues stand out. The first issue is the case of the columbine shootings as evidence for aggression and video games being linked. The columbine shootings are a very sensitive topic regarding the high school shooting and murders performed by Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold at columbine High. It has been a heated topic and used to support claims that there is a correlation between violent video games and violence because Harris & Klebold were known to play the "bloody, shoot-'em-up video game Doom"(Anderson & Dill, 2000) Because of Harris and Klebold's extreme reaction towards high school social pressures and bullying, many find it an easy topic to assert and associate with video games leading to the Cause. In the book "Grand theft Childhood: The surprising truth about violent video games", Author Lawrence Kutner and his colleagues make a point to note that FBI investigations revealed that Harris displayed sociopathic tendencies, and Klebold suffered from severe depression with frequent suicidal tendencies.(Kutner & Olson, 2008)

There are numerous reasons behind the causes of extreme cases of violence, meaning that no one factor can be singled out as being the sole cause of violent and aggressive behaviour. It is always noted that violent video games are the main perpetrator to encouraging aggression, but research has found in more recent times that non-violent video games such as sports games may have more negative effects than previous expected. A study conducted by Dr Simon Goodson and Sarah Pearson from the University of Huddersfield has revealed stronger physical and emotional responses to sports games. A sample of 40 Male and females were randomly selected and exposed to either a violent video game or a football game. The results were recorded by measuring brain activity, heart rate and respiration, and it was concluded that the action of killing somebody in game caused minimal brain activity whilst scoring a goal or losing the game would highly increase activity. By the end of the study, it was hypothesized that the increase of aggression from the games is linked to the ability of a player identifying with the real-life experience, unlike the action of killing a person which is a highly unlikely situation the average person would encounter.(Goodson & Pearson, 2011)

Another reoccurring issue with data collected is the measurement of the effects of aggression over time. This is a focal point in argument with critics, with copious amounts of studies conducted measuring the immediate effects and increases in aggression within a player. Most that measure over shorter periods of time reveal either inconclusive or less than desirable results to support claims of increased aggressiveness. Bushman and Gibson reviewed the notion that aggression in players may have effects that are not seen so immediately. Using 126 college students of both genders, one half of the test subjects would play the violent video game whilst the other would play a nonviolent game. All the subjects who flipped a coin, dividing the college students into two groups, half of which were to discuss the game they had played for 20 minutes. The results revealed that, after prolonged periods of discussion and re-playing of violent video games, aggressive behaviour and thoughts increased.( Bushman & Gibson, 2010)

Figure 5 Aggressive behaviour shown on an increase as a result of discussion and time waited.(Bushman & Gibson, 2010)

Upon review of the data collected, one very apparent reoccurrence throughout the creation of this thesis was the appearance of certain researchers and their view points on video game violence. One of the most obvious is researcher Dr. Craig Anderson's persistence in proving that video games are an inherent link or contributor to violence. Though Anderson is a major patron to video game literatures and psychological studies, there is an underlying issue with his apparent bias. His studies push the idea that violence in video games is a precursor to aggressive behaviour in children and young adolescents, and though this theory is plausible, the issue with his studies is the fact that they push the notion that evidence for such a claim is definite. The evidence to support the notion that aggression and simulated violence are linked is constantly under scrutiny, and to date has not procured irrefutable results. Also under examination, is the issue with many studies conducted to date that are dulled by the reoccurrence of Anderson as a contributing member. The validity of the research is obscured by a pre established sense that Anderson is out to prove a point rather than provide new evidence and explore other possible theories. This problem does not only occur when looking at the publications that claim video games cause violence, but also in those that argue otherwise. Like Anderson, Dr. Christopher Ferguson makes a point to push forward an idea that video games do not in fact cause violence, and counters Anderson's arguments by discrediting research previously done by him. Both Ferguson and Anderson are commonly referred to in papers because of their strength in evidence and strong point of views. Most of their research and credibility is sound, leaving much of their work usable when trying to construct an opinion but precaution was taken to avoid any inconsistent or unsubstantiated claims within any papers worked on or written by Anderson or Ferguson whilst constructing this thesis. Due to Ferguson and Anderson's overwhelming contributions to the psychology of video games community, it would have been a significantly more difficult task to construct a thesis on violence in video games without acknowledging their past contributions. Overall the contributions to establishing solid evidence for both cases were substantially successful. Violence in video games will always have a constant division between the opinions of whether or not they do cause aggression in players because there is always going to be people who do not agree. There is evidence to support claims on both sides, but with any argument there is always going to be a grey area where the lines are blurred. In the case of this thesis, the line was the apparent benefits to playing violent video games, and other extraneous factors like sports games leading to aggression, or an increase to pain tolerance. There is never going to be the perfect study that is not subject to variables, and even by getting as close as possible by removing such factors there is always going to be somebody who does not agree who will exploit it's weaknesses. It is this exploitation of work that has lead to the increase in more stronger, educated results. The quality and quantity of works reviewing and examining the effects of simulated violence is more substantial, and

offers a vast array of theories which allow people to form better educated opinions regarding video games. From the evidence constructed, this thesis was able to examine and compare both sides in support and against the notion that violent video games result in negative effects within the player. The examination of more recent data was reviewed and compared to allow any persons to form a more conclusive opinion about violent video games. As quality of research into video game violence is on the rise, there will always be a need for review as new theories emerge. The purpose of this thesis was to examine new research, as the understanding of video games increases and the data supplied improves over time by avoiding past mistakes.

Cited Works
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Carnagey, N. L., Anderson, C.A., Bushman, B.J.(2007) "The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence", Journal of Experimental Psychology, 43, 489496

Cunningham,S., Engelsttter,B.,Ward, M.R. (2011) "effects of violent video games on violent crime",1,8 Dahl, G., DellaVigna, S. (2009). Does movie violence increase violent crime? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(2) 637675. Drummond, J.A., Dubow, E.F.(2012) " Violent Video Games, Aggressive Behavior, and Social/ School Adjustment" Sourced from: http://www.education.com/reference/article/violent-video-gamessocial-school-aggressive/

Ferguson, C. J., & Kilburn, J. (2010). "Much ado about nothing: The misestimation and over interpretation of violent video game effects in Eastern and Western nations Comment on Anderson et al."Psychological Bulletin, 136, 151173.

Ferguson, C.J.(2010) "Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games Be a Force for Good?" Review of General Psychology, 14, 2, 68-81

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