Study Shows Family Violence Culprit In Video Game Violence Debate
It seems unlikely that there’ll ever be an agreed upon consensus on the topic of the effects of media violence (and video game violence specifically) on its viewers. Despite a fair amount of research that shows the links between media violence and actual violence is generally tentative at best, the sad fact is that most activists and politicians who campaign about these topics have little background in the field and no knowledge about how to critically read and analyze relevant studies. Some moral crusaders also have an unfortunate tendency to ignore any contradictory data or information, simply relying on their own personal convictions for evidence. Another study has come out saying that there’s bigger fish to fry in the endeavor of toning down the violence in our society. The participants in the first study were split up into two groups: the first played Medal of Honor: Allied Assault while the second group played Myst III: Exile. After playing both groups participated in what they believed was a reaction time contest but was actually a test designed to measure their aggression. The study found that there was no difference between the two groups (maybe because the people playing Myst III were extremely angry due to immense frustration). The second phase of the study had several hundred students filling out surveys asking questions on exposure to family violence, video game playing habits, criminal history and aggression. The results were analyzed statistically and it showed that there was no link between video game playing habits and aggressive/criminal behaviors. Interestingly the study showed that individuals with a history of exposure to family violence who played violent video games were more likely to have a criminal background or aggressive behavior. That being said, don’t interpret that statement as “people with a history of family violence will perform criminal acts due to exposure to video game violence”. Psychologists don’t presume to have determined cause and effect from a study like this. It could well be that people with a history of family violence develop aggressive behaviors and are drawn to violent video games because they’re aggressive people.