Effect of Violent Video Game on Aggressive Behaviour

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net effects of violent video games in society[2]. Consequently, they overstate the importance of

video game induced aggression as a social cost. We argue that since both aggression and time

use are a consequence of playing violent video games, then the policy relevance of violent

video game regulation depends critically on the degree to which the one outweighs the other.

If, as we find in our study, the time use effect of violent video games reduce crime by more

than the aggression effects increase it, then the case for regulatory intervention becomes

weaker. While some early work has been done on the long-term effects of video game play,

nearly all the laboratory evidence that currently[3] exists has only uncovered very short-term

effects, which is when time use effects could be the most important.

AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE

Aggression

Aggression is behavior intended to harm another individual who is motivated to avoid that harm. It is not an affect, emotion, or aggressive thought, plan, or wish. This definition excludes

accidental acts that lead to harm, such as losing control of an auto and accidentally killing a pedestrian, but includes behaviors intended to harm even if the attempt fails, such as when a bullet fired from a gun misses its human target.

Violence

Violence refers to extreme forms of aggression, such as physical assault and murder. All violence is aggression, but not all aggression is violence.

VIDEO GAME STATISTICS

The U.S. population consumes much media violence. Youths between the ages of 8 and 18 spend more than 40 hr per week using some type of media, not counting school or homework assignments. Television is most frequently used, but electronic video games are rapidly growing in popularity. About 10% of children aged 2 to 18 play console and computer video games more than 1 hr per day [4]. Among 8- to 13-year-old boys, the average is more than 7.5 hr per week[5] .

College students also play lots of video games. The Cooperative Institutional Research Program found that in 1998, 13.3% of men entering college played at least 6 hr per week as high school seniors. By 1999, that figure had increased to 14.8%. Further more, 2% of the men reported playing video games more than 20 hr per week in 1998. In 1999, that figure increased to 2.5%.

Although the first video games emerged in the late 1970s, violent video games came of age in the 1990s, with the killing games Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Wolfenstein 3D. In all three games, the main task is to maim, wound, or kill opponents. The graphics (e.g., blood) and sounds (e.g., screams) of these games were cutting-edge at the time of their introduction.

By the end of the 20th century, even more graphically violent games became available to players of all ages. Numerous educational, nonviolent strategy, and sports games exist, but the most heavily marketed and consumed games are violent ones. Fourth-grade girls (59%) and boys (73%) report that the majority of their favorite games are violent ones Another problem involves the lack of parental oversight. Teens in grades 8 through 12 report that 90% of their parents

never check the ratings of video games before allowing their purchase, and only 1% of the teens’ parents had ever prevented a purchase based on its rating (Walsh, 2000). Also, 89% reported

that their parents never limited time spent playing video games. Ratings provided by the video-game industry do not match those provided by other adults and game-playing youngsters.

Many games involving violence by cartoonlike characters are classified by the industry as appropriate for general audiences, a classification with which adults and youngsters disagree.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT VIDEO GAMES

In general, violent video games tend to be more competitive than nonviolent video games [6]. Consequently, studies that have found that violent video games produced more aggression than nonviolent video games, but failed to equate the games on competitiveness, cannot conclude that the violent content alone was responsible for the elevated levels of aggression. We propose that violence (e.g., fighting, shooting, killing), competitiveness (e.g., competing with other players or computer-controlled opponents), difficulty (e.g., how difficult the game is to successfully complete), and pace of action (e.g., rate of speed of action sequences) are four main video game characteristics that may influence aggressive behavior through the mechanisms (i.e., physiological arousal, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect) proposed by the For example, Barlett, Branch, Rodeheffer, and Harris, (2009) found that a violent video game produced greater elevations in heart rate, hostility, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive behavior compared with a nonviolent video game. Similarly, video game competition may influence heart rate, as well as aggressive thoughts and feelings. Although researchers have attempted to equate games on competitiveness, difficulty, and pace of action, no one to date has equated a violent and nonviolent game on these characteristics simultaneously. For example, Carnagey and Anderson (2005) attempted to control for competition while examining the effect of video game violence on aggressive behavior by manipulating the game-play settings of the car racing video game. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (a) awarded points for destroying other vehicles during the race (violence rewarded), (b) deducted points for destroying other vehicles during the race (violence punished), or (c) could not come into contact with other vehicles during the race (nonviolent). Because the same game was used in all three conditions, Carnagey and Anderson assumed that the level of competitiveness across the conditions was equal; however, without having participants rate each condition in terms of competitiveness, it is unclear whether they were actually equal. For instance, in the violence-punished and nonviolent conditions, there is only one competitive goal: defeat the other opponents in the race. However, in the violence-rewarded condition there are two competitive goals: