Video games can increase aggression

Question

This source claims that studies show an increase of violence within men who play video games.

Comments

I very heavily agree with your research and found your article very helpful. I also agree and have seen that video games can increase aggression in people.

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Although the source of this article, American Psychological Association, is known to be peer reviewed, I think that this specific article is not the most credible. The article does include examples of two studies that can be looked up for further information and insight. Both of these studies resulted in findings that supported an increase in aggression from playing certain video games. However, these specific studies seemed to be more focused on finding out other information such as video games leading to a decrease in grades and violent games causing more aggression that violent movies, instead of focusing on the main argument. Additionally, the author did not provide enough evidence to create a strong enough claim.  In order to enhance the statement, more evidence should be collected and further elaborated on. When I searched up other articles with similar claims, a large amount appeared from reliable sources, like university research, that also shared that video games can cause aggression. Clearly, this is an accurate claim to make, but this specific article does a poor job making a strong and clear argument.

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The relationship between violent video games and the human brain has been a huge argument throughout the past decade on whether it influences dangerous behavior in kids and even adults. Some research can see a potential connection between violent video game exposure and heightened aggressive behavior. For example, a 2018 meta-analysis led by social psychologist Jay Hull found a small increase in real-world physical aggression among adolescents and pre-teens who played violent video games.
https://magazine.wsu.edu/web-extra/the-evidence-that-video-game-violence-leads-to-real-world-aggression/
However, there are many mixed opinions about this argument. Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University, found that men who commit severe acts of violence play violent video games less than the average male.
https://apnews.com/article/global-trade-games-china-texas-violence-142636cf56de4ec8a7bf277a49f9efe7?
While both of these articles share some interesting points I think In summary. At the same time, some studies suggest a link between violent video games and increased aggression, the evidence is not conclusive, and attributing violent behavior solely to video game exposure is not supported by current scientific understanding.

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The article's information is from a reliable source but isn't up to date. Many current videogames have lots more violence and realism than the videogames of the past. You would think that the aggression would be greater more recently but more recently researchers have mostly thrown out this concept. This is largely due to the fact that as males age they simply have a higher likelihood of engaging in aggressive behavior. I say males since that it the most common audience of the violent videogames. The article also states that videogames are correlated to worse grades which is obviously just because of the time spent playing them since they are addictive. The article also doesn't really have a very good measure of aggression which is a very difficult thing to consistently measure. The article also never gives a degree to which the aggression increased in the researched subjects. It could be that there was a very slight or negligible affect from the violent videogames.

Answer 1

I think this claim is exaggerated or misleading because it makes it sound like all video games can make people more aggressive. The research I found mainly focuses on violent video games, not every type of video game. Some studies have found that violent video games can be connected to aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but that does not mean everyone who plays them will become aggressive. There are also many other things that can affect someone’s behavior, such as their environment, personality, and experiences. Based on the evidence, I think there is some truth behind the claim, but it is too broad and does not explain the full story.

According to CNN, researchers have debated for years about whether violent video games actually cause aggression or violence. The article explains that some studies have found a connection between violent video games and aggressive behavior, but that does not mean video games directly cause serious violence. This is an important difference because aggression could include things like angry thoughts or behaviors, while violence is much more serious. I think this makes the original claim somewhat misleading because it does not explain what type of aggression researchers are actually studying. It also does not mention that the research mainly looks at violent video games instead of video games in general. This evidence shows why more information is needed before saying that video games simply make people aggressive.

The American Psychological Association (APA) gives evidence showing that violent video games can have an effect on aggression. In one study, researchers looked at 227 college students and compared their history of playing violent video games with aggressive behavior. Another study had 210 college students play either a violent or nonviolent video game. The researchers found that “a brief exposure to violent video games can temporarily increase aggressive behavior.” This shows that there can be a connection between violent games and aggression, but it does not mean the effect will happen to every person or last forever. I think this evidence makes the claim partly true, but also exaggerated because the claim leaves out the fact that the research is specifically about violent video games.

The National Center for Health Research also shows why the claim can be misleading. The article explains that violent video games have been linked to increases in “aggressive thoughts, behaviors, and feelings” in research. However, it also makes an important distinction by saying, “Violence is a form of aggression, but not all aggressive behaviors are violent.” The article also says there is “no clear evidence” that violent video games lead to serious criminal or lethal violence. Another important point is that violent video games are only one possible risk factor for aggressive behavior, meaning there are many other things that can affect someone. I think this evidence shows that the claim has some truth to it, but it leaves out important details and makes the connection sound stronger and simpler than it really is.