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Murillo Santos
Irene Peterson
English 1010
4/27/2015
Pixels and People
Video games are growing exponentially as a franchise and have come a long
way into becoming a major form of entertainment in popular culture, making an
average of about 12 billion dollars in revenue a year as a franchise. Many people
immerse themselves into the gaming experience, possibly becoming susceptible to
its influences, including myself. And with many recent violent acts seen on the news
such as school shootings and killings, much negative attention and speculation has
been drawn to the gaming industry and its influence on the people who play games.
Video games have become a major part of my own life and I hoped to further
understand the logic behind some of the stigma for violent video games. Are violent
video games accountable for aggressive behavior in the people who play them?
Many people do believe that video games are actually influencing behavior in
individuals and that playing violent video games may give people aggressive or
violent tendencies. But does it actually influence behavior? Is everyone actually
susceptible to this influence? Does it affect everyone differently?
The article, "Violence, Crime, and Violent Video Games; Is There a
Correlation?," attempts to understand if video games do actually have an impact on
behavior. It discusses how when some of the first research on the matter was done,
it did in fact show a positive correlation between violent video games and
aggressive behavior in people. But as the research has become more streamlined, it
began to prove otherwise. Findings have shown that exposure to violence in video
games did not always result in the same negative effect. And even if it did have a
positive correlation, meaning that violent video games spurred aggression in a
subject, it was always insignificant and less impactful than violence watched on

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television. With the wide accessibility of video games across many platforms such
as tablets, computers, consoles, phones, and more, video games have become a
growing concern for how they could impact youth and how accessible they have
become. That is what alerts the analytic interest in its matter. And even though it is
justified to worry about the matter, research has not shown any clear relationship
between a persons exposure to a violent video game and criminal acts. Although
many studies do show at least some correlation between aggressive behaviors
sparked from a violent video game, they only indicate minor arousal of aggression
that has not proven to actually lead a person to act violently.
An argument against nor for video games can really be made with the data
collected from the research in the article mentioned above. It seems to show that
when it comes to determining if there is any correlation between the aggressive
behavior and violence in video games, the results are pretty even. Perhaps there is
more to this then people might originally assume. Most people assume that any sort
of violent media may affect an individual into acting aggressively or showing
aggressive behavior more easily. But video games draw a particular negative
attention because it is an activity where the user is actively engaged with what
happens in a game and is personally responsible for the actions of the avatar onscreen. Because of this, people are especially worried that when a person commits
acts of cruelty in the game, that they are becoming accustomed to that behavior
and may project it in real life.
An article from Criminal Justice and Behavior from 2008 may shed some light
on to what may actually determine behavior. It is titled, "Violent video games and
aggression: causal relationship or byproduct of family violence and intrinsic violence
motivation?." This long article explained the use of two studies to examine the

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relationship between exposure to violent video game content and aggression or
violence in a laboratory setting and real life. Those who participated were both
randomized and made to play violent or nonviolent video game. The results of the
first studies were that neither randomized exposure nor previous real life exposure
to violent video games led to any discernible difference in levels of aggression. With
the second study, life experiences of family violence, trait aggression, and gender
were predictive of violent crime, but exposure to violent video games was not. The
results test the common belief that a prolonged exposure to violent video games
lead to aggression and show that the real structural equation behind acts of
aggression may actually stem from innate aggression and family violence.
The research provided by the previous article really sheds a lot of light on the
matter and breaks the misconception that many people have about violent media,
more particularly, violent video games. With this psychological research, it revealed
that people who showed signs of aggressive behaviors after exposure to violent
video games were, by a large margin, people who already had violent tendencies or
experienced family violence. This indicates that an individual's past experiences and
life settings are actually a key factor to determining their behavior and that the
stimulation from violent media isn't enough to make someone aggressive who
normally isn't prone to that behavior in a real life setting.
A third perspective to be considered on the matter of violent video games is
the perspective of the parents and their concerns. But are the parents being
properly represented in this issue in a political setting? Many senators and
representatives attempt to pass bills on the issue of violence in media such as video
games and have them either banned or further limit the potential for the
unintended audiences to access such media. In many cases, there are those who

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are trying to ban violent video games altogether and claim it to be what the parents
have asked for. But to most people's surprise, the parent's concern is most often
misrepresented.
In, "Parents' and Sons' Perspectives on Video Game Play: A Qualitative
Study," an article found in Journal of Adolescent Research from 2008, researchers
investigate the opinion and perspective of the parents on their concerns for their
children's exposure to the effects of video games, both violent and non-violent.
Some of the research conducted about the opinions on what the adolescents and
parents think is appropriate to play and when and whether the concerns of parents
are properly proposed in public policies. To the surprise of the researchers, the main
concern of most parents was actually that the children and adolescents were
spending far too much time playing video games rather than actively engaging face
to face with other people in a social setting and that they were not doing the things
they were supposed to or tasked with doing. Secondly, parents were aware that if a
child wanted to play a game, even if they couldn't access it in their own homes,
they could somewhere else. The concern in the type of content in the video game
varied from parent to parent, but overall, was not the primary concern. This reflects
the experience that most gamers had through childhood and into adolescence. Even
though every parents was at least a little concerned with the content of a video
game, some more than others; ultimately, it was already regulated in-home or there
were greater concerns elsewhere. And if a parent deemed a video game too violent,
they would simply deny their child permission to play such a game within the
confines of their home.
On television, many people have heard the stories of public shootings and
school massacres. Terrible events that leave scars in our society and are not easily

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forgotten. Everyone looks for a reason as to why or how an individual may be
capable of committing such acts against others, especially in such settings. When
anyone discovers that the individuals who committed these crimes have played
violent video games or had violent games in their possession, it became easy to
point a finger. But as discussed in the second article of this paper, not everyone is
affected the same way. The research does show that video games, like any other
form of media may indeed influence behavior, but not for everyone and not to the
same degree. Those who were predisposed to violence and already have violent
tendencies and traits have a greater likelihood to be affected by the media whereas
those who don't are likely to not be affected at all. A video game's influences may
be minimal. And as the research suggests, you have to actually look towards a
person's own past and their living environment to find real answers as to what may
have motivated them to commit their crimes.
The research from the first article assures that by showing that even in the
earlier days of research, studies tying violence to behavior were mostly inconclusive
and offered no real connection between the two. All of the research articles on this
paper are from studies conducted using the scientific method and offer very valid
data to support their claims. The research was all done recently enough to still be
highly relevant and provide a good perspective on this issue as it has carried on
throughout the years. There is more to be said by the fact that all three articles
analyzed different perspectives on the matter, but still had fairly similar results.
Video games just are not proving to be a sufficient source of stimulation for
aggressive behavior.
As it seems, video games have become a target of discrimination on the
news. Much like questions have been raised about violent media and entertainment

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and its effects on us, because video games are far more interactive, they have
drawn more of the public's ire. Perhaps it may even be through political
manipulation of our opinions. Many public officials have also tried to point the finger
for the cause of violent behavior on video games. It has the potential to draw
attention to their own campaigns as they try to crack down on video games when
video games are already seen with a bad image. But through the research discussed
on this paper, it can be said that, "one bad apple spoils the bunch," or that all it
takes is one bad example to ruin it for the rest of us. Violent video games and other
forms of media have become a scapegoat for the blame of violent acts from young
adults and adolescents. Perhaps to seek the real source of this problem we have to
look to something deeper. It may be that society as a whole is looking at the wrong
place and that video games don't actually have any power to manipulate us the way
many believe. But instead, we may begin to view it as the art form and
entertainment that many people have come to enjoy.

Works Cited
Ferguson, Christopher J., et al. "Violent video games and aggression: causal
relationship or byproduct of
family violence and intrinsic violence motivation?." Criminal Justice and
Behavior 2008: 311. Academic OneFile. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
Fournis, Gael, and Nidal, Nabhan Abou. Violence, Crime, and Violent Video Games;
Is There a

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Correlation?. Psychiatric Times (2014: 1-4. CINAHL Complete. Web. 23 April.
2015
Kutner, Lawrence A., et al. "Parents' And Sons' Perspectives On Video Game Play: A
Qualitative
Study." Journal Of Adolescent Research 23.1 (2008): 76-96. ERIC. Web. 19
Apr. 2015.