The Effect of Violent Video Games on Youth Aggression or Violence

The Effect of Violent Video Games on Youth Aggression or Violence
Abstract
The effect of violent video games on youth aggression or violence has remained a highly divisive discourse for years. Many scholars have explored this issue using different research designs, including experimental and correlational ones, to arrive at contrasting conclusions. While some researchers find minimal associations between violent video game exposure and youth aggressive behavior, others object to these findings in their studies by linking them to confounding factors. The gaps in this area informed the current research investigating how violent video games affect youth crime rates. The researcher adopted an experimental design that exposed the participants to violent video games and compared their aggression tests with those of a control group exposed to non-violent video games. The research used propensity to violent video games as a fundamental variable for addressing the study’s accuracy. The expected results of the research revealed that violent video games do not trigger aggression among youths. They also indicate that exposure reduces real-world aggression appeal among individuals. As a result, these findings further support existing literature that violent video games are not predictors of youth aggression or violence. They indicate that other factors could be significant influencers by identifying gaps due to over-emphasis on content rather than other related elements. The study also suggests exploration of the issue from a qualitative perspective.
Introduction
Violent video games have remained a significant area of exploration by psychologists investigating the causes of crime-related behaviors among the younger generations in different contexts. According to Ferguson et al. (2015), video games comprise the games that youths interact with while playing electronic format, including the console, computers, or digital phones. DeCamp and Ferguson (2016) state that stakeholders have expressed their concerns that the routine interaction with violent video games has significantly contributed to youth-related violence and aggression. This conversation has gained considerable momentum as more scholars explore it in different contexts. The author even quotes researchers who have branded these games as digital poisons because of the undesirable behavior in the growing generations. This observation has elicited widespread reactions, prompting numerous experts to direct their resources and time towards exploring the relationship between the games and violent eruptions in the target population.
Evidence from different researches illustrates contrasting findings on the relationship between violent video games and violent behavior in youths. For instance, the study by McCaffree and Proctor (2018) reveals that exposure to these games could present some convincing influence on the youths’ aggressive tendencies or possible violent outcomes. This aspect has received widespread exploration by other researchers like Ferguson et al. (2015). They indicate that the concern from this perception arises from the claims that the constant exposure and familiarization of youths with video games dominated by characters that cause harm and torture to others may eventually normalize these acts for the players. The popular argument is that children may become accustomed and cause them to start embracing the aggressiveness and violent nature of the games and project them into their lives. This issue explains why significant attention has become directed towards these studies because the findings remain contrasting.
One of the contrasting aspects is that while some studies establish positive correlations, others identify negative ones. This disagreement in findings has been fundamental because it leads to an unclear situation where the stakeholders are not conclusively aware of the effects of the ongoing video game exposure. For example, Kьhn et al. (2018) indicate that various studies have established and strongly argued that these violent games contribute to the gradual rise in players’ aggression. This aspect has also gained notable popularization by politicians who cite violent video games as the primary trigger of increasing mass shootings by youths in American society (DeCamp & Ferguson, 2016). However, Kьhn et al. (2018) further state that other studies agree that although effects are present, they remain minimal and inconsequential. Even Cunningham et al. (2016) confirm that laboratory experiments have extensively documented the impact of violent video games versus aggression, concluding that the media-related violence is not cathartic but self-reinforcing. This aspect explains why many researchers have not found any association with crime-linked data in society.
The conflicting results from different studies indicate that gaps still exist in this area of research. The increasing concerns related to violent video games and aggression among the youths have triggered a prevalent discourse among the scholarly community, the public, and other stakeholders, with each faction expressing its contrasting viewpoints. This lack of consensus indicates that, despite the many studies investigating this topic, more work remains fundamental to clarify the relationship between the different variables.
Problem Statement
Youths’ exposure to violent video games has been on the rise despite the claims from various studies that some associations between these media games and violent behavior, crimes, and increased aggression exists. Kьhn et al. (2018) indicate that different stakeholders have expressed concern about this issue’s impact due to the increasing discourse momentum in the nation. The worries have converted violent video games into a significant public matter of concern as more experts continue associating youth’s interaction with the various devices as a leading cause for alarm. According to McCaffree and Proctor (2018), due to increased technological advancements, juveniles are becoming more exposed to violent video games in the contemporary era. Access has become commonplace, leading to the current concerns about their exposure to this media.
The current worries indicate that a need exists for researchers to debunk the present perceptions and clarify whether violent video games exposure to youths relates to violence and associated ills. It has led to questions such as do exposure to violent video games increases youths’ aggressiveness. Are video games associated with the emergence of offending behavior? According to Kьhn et al. (2018), a probability exists that this age group is vulnerable to effects arising from violent video game exposure. However, no conclusive findings support this suspicion, indicating that focused studies are necessary to unravel this issue. Considering that most studies exploring this challenge focused on short-term effects, it would be groundbreaking to investigate further and determine whether prolonged exposure over a specified duration induces any effects. Thus, this aspect informs the need for this study to further enrich the literature about violent video games among youths.
Background
Trends indicate that since the surge of home video games, interacting with these media electronics has become a standard and ingrained in American culture. McCaffree and Proctor (2018) state that this practice has become commonplace since the 1970s to an extent where up to 150 million United States citizens, constituting approximately half of the nation’s population, plays video games. This frequency demonstrates the gravity of the situation because it translates that a significant proportion of the youths start interacting with these materials early in life. According to Cunningham et al. (2016), Americans have remained concerned about the ramifications of this exposure. One of the leading concerns is that youths quickly become addicted to these games. As a result, their constant exposure to their content, including violence and aggression, can have long-term life effects.
Past literature about video games indicates that specific stakeholders are concerned about the media. For instance, Ferguson et al. (2015) suggest that one category of researchers believe that violent video games negatively affect the youths playing them. As a result, they indicate that findings from different studies demonstrate that the players feel, think, and behave violently. However, their skeptics or optimists’ counterparts object to this argument by indicating that the existing data about the relationship between video game exposure and aggression remains limited or weakened by complex methodological challenges. Despite this aspect, petty street crimes involving the youths and school mass shootings have worsened the arguments by skeptics as other stakeholders, such as the politicians, join the debate to flag the games as leading triggers of violence and crime rates among the target groups. This aspect demonstrates the sophisticated discussion concerning this matter.
A challenging aspect of investigating this issue is that the potential video game effects arise from the violent media propensity depicted by the players. DeCamp and Ferguson (2016) indicate that individuals playing violent video games already represent different characteristics than their counterparts who do not interact with or prefer these games. As a result, this aspect indicates that other factors may explain the minor effects established in studies investigating the connection between playing violent video games and violent tendencies. It demonstrates that issues such as family environment and other features significantly influence an individual’s outcomes. As a result, it becomes critical to consider them while making conclusions about the impacts of video games on the youths. This literature information brings new dynamics to the discourse and informs researchers about the importance of controlling these variables during any study.
Literature proves that mixed findings dominate the various studies conducted in the past about video game exposure and emerging aggression or violent behavior. McCaffree and Proctor (2018) highlight an important discovery from existing literature that individuals ranked with increased aggression traits have a higher likelihood of identifying with the characters contained in the violent video games. Other findings reveal that engagement with video games leads to a desensitization of study participants towards aggressive acts. Concerns have also risen, citing researchers failing to distinguish between competitiveness and aggression in some situations (McCaffree & Proctor, 2018). The author also indicates that many studies have proved that individuals can distinguish reality from fiction when playing vi...