Violent Video Games Are Poisoning The New Generation... Or Are They?

Recently, I had the great misfortune opportunity to write a lengthy, excruciatingly detailed literature review on a specific topic of my choosing within my field of study. As a communications major, there were many interesting subjects that are both relevant and relatable to the digital generation, so I couldn't complain overly much about the research process. In truth, I pitied those who had to choose between the latest technology in scaffolding or in medical syringes, which would probably send me into an early grave if I had to read 20+ articles and discuss them.

Instead, I settled on violent video games and their effect on abnormal behavior– including things like aggression, violent outbursts, depression, suicidal tenancies, etc. I expected that the results of current research studies would show a distinct causational relationship between the two, and part of me feared what that might mean for me, an avid gamer and lover of a good Call of Duty free-for-all match every chance I get.

However, as I delved into a pool of articles, (and I mean one of those pools that goes to 10 feet deep with a diving board and a slide, to give you an idea of the abundance of information therein,) the general consensus of the research surprised me. It seems that most everyone is in agreement that we all expected there to be a huge correlation between these violent games and gamers' behavior... and then there wasn't. Study after study showed minimal correlation or no correlation at all! The concluding section of these articles gave some wholly unsatisfying dismissals about how the research should be reevaluated and the focus ought to shift to whatever external factors might be causing a spike in depression and aggression.


First, let me explain some of the things I found. I know the first thing to leap to your mind is that violent media is probably only likely to affect those who are predispositioned to exhibit abnormal behavior patterns anyway. I thought so too, until a study or two took that same hypothesis and found no definitive evidence that individuals with depression, ADHD, or behavioral disorders were any more or less affected by their immersion in violent gaming. Of course, the researchers gave the same disclaimer about needing more follow-up research with more sophisticated methods and a broader sample size to come to any concrete conclusions on the subject, but as of now, current research suggests that games like Grand Theft Auto aren't going to corrupt gamers with behavioral predispositions1.

One of the studies I came across gave me distinct Ready Player One vibes. (I'm referring to the book, not the movie, where the story revolves more heavily on the theme of losing reality in the movement toward virtual reality as opposed to the action-packed cinematic version.) Researchers explored the hypothesis that gamers, when exposed to the realistic game graphics of first-person shooter games (think Call of Duty, where the gamer views only the weapon in the avatar's hands as though they were the ones actually holding the gun), they would begin to see a bleed-over into their true reality. Essentially, they thought that the subjects' brains would begin to struggle to differentiate between identifying actual reality and virtual reality, and would begin to see violence from the game world as acceptable in the real world. To test it, they put a sort-of VR (virtual reality) mask over the gamer's face and played a simulation of a scene involving typical video game violence in a first-person shooter situation with basic game graphics and CGI effects. Then, they would play the same exact scene, but this time using actual footage with real actors to simulate "real" violence. These masks picked up on brainwave activity and recorded it. To their surprise, they found neural activity in opposite areas of the brain, indicating that the video game simulation sparked activity in the area that deals with creative-thinking and processing, the area you'd want to light up when trying to play a game. The "real" scenario lit up the area dealing with decision-making and sensory information, indicating that the viewer recognized reality for what it was and triggering a more urgent and physical response2.

I could go on and on about all the studies that I found, (believe me, I have a 15 page paper to prove it,) but I think I'll wrap it up here with my own takeaway from this research. We spend so much of our time living in fear of technology and how it is shaping our individual behavior and the behavior of our society as a whole. I think a healthy dose of wariness is good, even necessary, in a world overloaded by information where it can be difficult to sort out the good from the bad, the true from the false. However, I also believe that we are too quick to blame the media for the bad things in the world. It's like we've created a witch hunt for media, but now that we've caught the witch, we are too dependent upon her to burn her, so we'll just blame everything going wrong on her.

So next time you want to call out your teenager playing Halo with his or her friends, maybe take a new approach and avoid the whole "these games are going to rot your brain and turn you into a mass murderer" motif. Consider the possibility that violent video games may not be the root of the problem and search for external factors that might influence any influx in violent behavior.

Maybe violent video games are bad for us, maybe they're not. Either way, I think they've been a scapegoat for long enough. It's time to shift the focus.

In case I haven't bored you to tears already, I found a whole bunch of research that I would be happy to share if you have any interest in learning more. Comment below and I'll post some links and titles.

1Ferguson, C. J., & Olson, C. K. (2013). Video Game Violence Use Among “Vulnerable” Populations: The Impact of Violent Games on Delinquency and Bullying Among Children with Clinically Elevated Depression or Attention Deficit Symptoms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence,43(1), 127-136. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9986-5

2Regenbogen, C., Herrmann, M., & Fehr, T. (2010). The neural processing of voluntary completed, real and virtual violent and nonviolent computer game scenarios displaying predefined actions in gamers and nongamers. Social Neuroscience,5(2), 221-240. doi:10.1080/17470910903315989