031 - Do Video Games Cause Violence?

Concerns over violent media started in the 50's, and have remained a controversial topic of debate ever since. In this episode, I explore whether there's any validity to the argument that video games make people violent, or whether it's a symptom of something else.

Show Notes

With tens of millions of teenagers playing violent video games such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and PUBG do parents have cause for concern? Does playing video games make you violent? If you are playing violent video games, are you at risk of committing horrific acts of murder? 

As it turns out, the answer isn't quite so black and white.

There has been a huge amount of research done on the topic of whether or not video games cause violence, and the general consensus sits somewhere in the middle.

Most people are in agreement that prolonged exposure at an early age to violent video games could increase the likelihood of aggressive behaviour in adolescence, however, aggressive doesn't necessarily mean violent.

You can find some links that I made use of throughout the episode down below, and there's a huge rabbit hole of information that you can end up getting lost in if you really want to.

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Until next time.

Useful Links:

1. Business Insider, 2018
2. APA, 2015
3. Berkowitz, 1993
4. Eron, Huesmann, Lefkowitz, & Walder, 1974
5. Ferguson et al., 2013
6. Sameroff, Bartko, Baldwin, Baldwin, & Seifer, 1988
7. Supreme Court, 2011
8. https://dana.org/article/do-violent-video-games-lead-to-violence/
9. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/05/sports/trump-violent-video-games-studies.html
10. https://www.ft.com/content/1c5914b6-bdb7-11e9-9381-78bab8a70848
11. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ulterior-motives/201908/the-evidence-video-games-lead-violence-is-weak
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_and_video_games
    
    

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